Governing the Asian Giants: Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development in China and India

Governing the Asian Giants:
Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development
in China and India

               PhD course organised by
             Oslo Academy of Global Governance
  at the Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM)
         and SUM Research School, University of Oslo

                 21 – 23 October 2015
                University of Oslo, Norway

       Application deadline: Friday 21 August 2015

Course description

In recent years, China and India have become much more assertive in international
development, trade, environment and foreign aid policies. Riding on an impressive record of
rapid economic growth and their sheer size, these countries are increasingly influencing social
and economic policies around the world. And the marked shift from the G8 to the G20 has given
these two Asian giants greater power, representation and influence in world affairs. However,
although both countries have experienced sustained economic growth in recent decades, high
levels of poverty, internal political turmoil and persistent tensions with neighbours,
environmental degradation and recurrent natural disasters pose numerous daily challenges to
effective governance.

Despite many common features, India and China differ considerably in relation to development
outcomes and democratic governance. China fares better than India on virtually all development
indicators today, but it is not a democracy. India’s success has primarily been in relation to the
resilience of its democracy, which helps to avoid large-scale crises, such as famines, although
chronic hunger has consistently been high, with the country regularly topping world hunger
charts. Both countries also exhibit large regional differences and rising rates of urbanization
coupled with increasing rural–urban disparities, which create further challenges in improving
educational facilities and providing adequate nutrition and healthcare for their rapidly growing
populations. And while average incomes have increased (in some cases very considerably) and
headcount poverty has rapidly declined, inequality is on the rise in both countries.

On the international arena, the growing middle class and their increasing purchasing power
appear to be the primary force driving the recent shift in the global terms of trade in favour of
hard commodities, and consequently the high degree of industrialization of China and India
when compared to other developing countries. In recent years, China and India have also
marked themselves as major donors to other countries, particularly in Africa. Both are
interacting through numerous channels with global institutions and poorer countries. The so-
called ‘South-South’ dialogues not only provide access to natural resources and new and
growing markets, but also reduce the dependence of other developing countries on traditional
forms of aid from the Global North. These two emerging countries and their policies thus
represent a counterweight to the policies and development aid models that have for long been
promoted directly or indirectly (e.g. through multilateral institutions) in poor countries by the
Global North. Consequently, the practice of, and attitudes to, governance within India and China
has significant and long-term implications in other parts of the world.

The course will highlight and further nuance five interrelated aspects of policies pursued by
China and India aimed at improving domestic governance as well as the impact of these policies
on global governance:

      State capacity, governance and institutional reforms
      Human development, environmental protection, and the rule of law
      Policies in practice and innovative social protection programs for combating extreme
       poverty
      Relationship with global institutions and the impact of global ideas at national levels
      Foreign policies, particularly related to aid and their impact in developing countries

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Learning outcomes

Students will:
    Obtain a nuanced understanding of how governance is understood and measured,
      including the methodological challenges involved
    Be well acquainted with the major theoretical and empirical approaches to studying
      governance at national and global levels
    Identify, differentiate and analyse major approaches to poverty reduction and
      sustainable development
    Learn how to better understand what works, how and why in relation to global and
      national interventions
    Gain insight into the explicit role of state capacity and the politics of combating poverty
      and inequality

Lecturers

      Dan Banik, Professor of Political Science, Centre for Development and the Environment
       (SUM), University of Oslo, Norway & Consulting Scholar, Center on Democracy,
       Development and the Rule of Law, Stanford University, USA
      Erik Jensen, Professor of the Practice of Law, Stanford Law School, Stanford University,
       USA
      Amit Prakash, Professor and Chairperson, Centre for the Study of Law and Governance,
       Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
      Lixia Tang, Associate Professor, College of Humanities and Development Studies, China
       Agricultural University, China
      Zuo Ting, Professor, College of Humanities and Development Studies, China Agricultural
       University, China
      Robert Wade, Professor of Political Economy and Development, London School of
       Economics and Political Science, UK

Objectives and Focus
The course will enable doctoral students to better understand key concepts, debates and
perspectives on India and China’s role in domestic as well as on global governance. The lectures
will be based on empirical work undertaken by the course faculty in both countries.

The format will be two-fold.
      Morning sessions will feature two to three short lectures.
      Afternoon sessions will be primarily dedicated to discussing on-going work (articles/
       thesis chapters) submitted by PhD students prior to the start of the course. This will
       provide an opportunity for students to receive comments and suggestions from fellow
       students as well as senior faculty.

Course capacity: 20

Language of instruction: English

Syllabus: Approx. 1000 pages of compulsory readings, which will be made available students on
a password-protected website a few weeks before the start of the course.

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Application

Who may apply?

The interdisciplinary nature of the course will appeal to doctoral students from a variety of
backgrounds, including political science, international relations, history, political economy,
Asian studies, economic history, law, development studies, anthropology, sociology, geography,
and economics.

Doctoral students will be prioritised, although a few non-PhD students may be considered only if
space permits.

Funding

The course is free.

Lunch will be provided.

The organizers have limited funds available to help cover the cost of travel and accommodation
for a few students from outside Norway.

Application procedures

Interested PhD students should submit the following by e-mail to: chind2015@sum.uio.no

    1. A cover letter signed by your PhD supervisor or another person at your
       institution/workplace, stating your academic background and academic degree(s) held,
       research interests and current research projects (if any), including estimated date of
       submission of doctoral thesis.
    2. A statement of purpose, in the form of a 1-page note where you a) briefly describe your
       current research b) explain in what respect this course will relate to your current work
       and c) inform us whether you intend to submit a revised paper for assessment upon
       completion of the course.
    3. CV
    4. Students outside Norway may apply for a modest travel grant. In order to be eligible for
       this grant, you must submit a separate document along with the course application
       clearly demonstrating need and provide an estimated budget. These travel grants are
       highly competitive and extremely limited.

The application deadline is 21 August 2015.

An early application is highly recommended due to space constraints.

Successful applicants will be notified by 30 August 2015.

Preparations

A major aim of this course is to provide an arena for critical reflection on issues of domestic and
global governance in addition to providing PhD students with feedback related to their on-going
work. It is therefore obligatory for all participants to submit a draft paper (10 pages, approx.
5000 words excluding list of references), which will be presented and discussed during the
course.

Students who are admitted to the course should submit their draft papers electronically to the
course secretariat [chind2015@sum.uio.no] by 1 October 2015.

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This paper may be revised and resubmitted for evaluation and approval after the course (please
consult the section on ‘Credits’ below).

All draft paper submissions will be posted on the course’s password protected intranet site. All
participants are expected to read all draft papers in advance and provide feedback during the
course.

Syllabus and course schedule

A complete reading list of approximately 1000 pages will be available on the course site by 30
August 2015.

Participants are expected to read the syllabus before the start of the course.

A detailed schedule for the three days will be posted on the course intranet website by 15
September.

Participants are expected to attend morning and afternoon sessions, and evening sessions when
relevant on all three days.

Credits

Participants will receive a certificate, recommending either 10 or 3 ECTS credits, but your own
institution must approve credits for the course. We recommend that you contact your PhD
coordinator regarding approval of credits prior to your participation.
For a certificate recommending 10 credits, a revised paper of 15 – 20 pages (6000 - 8000 words)
must be submitted to the course organizers no later than 8 weeks upon completion of the course,
and the paper must be graded with ‘pass’. (A member of the course faculty will assess the paper).

3 ECTS credits will be recommended for those who participate in full but choose not to submit a
revised paper for evaluation.

Contact information

Should you have any practical enquiries, please do not hesitate to e-mail the course secretariat
at: chind2015@sum.uio.no

Check for updates
Please check for updated information at the course website.

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