SUM4508 – The private sector, sustainable development, and society
Schedule, syllabus and examination date
Course content
What role should the private sector play in helping us conquer grand societal?challenges like climate change, inequality, and violent conflict? Perhaps more importantly, should the private sector be invited into positive global societal change spaces at all, given its historically well-deserved reputation as a negative contributor to this space???
This course will introduce you to the debates, activities, and tensions that define the expanding role of business actors in sustainable development, with special emphasis on business-society interactions in fragile and conflict-affected regions of the world. It explores scholarly debates on business and society, both in terms of theoretical understandings and their empirical impacts.
Cases drawn from instructor fieldwork may include Meta (Facebook) in Myanmar, Norsk Hydro in Brazil, Heineken in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Starbucks in Indonesia.?Thematic topics may include stakeholder theory, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) debates, business and polycrisis, and the role of private sector in the Anthropocene.
This course's readings cut across diverse fields, including political science/IR, development studies, and business/management, offering a window into different conceptualizations of the promise and perils of private sector engagement in sustainable?development arenas. It also studies the "Business and Peace" (BaP) paradigm, the argument that business actors can and should be more positive societal contributors in places of conflict and/or crisis.
The aim of this course is for students to be able to conceptualize and position the role of an impactful but often overlooked set of actors in spaces where truly sustainable?development can be difficult to achieve. These spaces can be physical (like in conflict settings), or conceptual?(like in efforts to combat global climate change).?
Learning outcome
By taking this course, you will:
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Gain an understanding of the state-of-the-art on business and society scholarship, including through ESG, BaP, polycrisis and stakeholder theory lenses.
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Learn how businesses engage in fragile and conflict-affected spaces, how gaps between companies and stakeholders are addressed, and the immediate and long-terms impacts of these actions.
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Become aware how the private sector sees itself as an agent of sustainable development and the debates on this new global role.
Admission to the course
You may apply to be a guest student at SUM. Please follow these instructions.
Formal prerequisite knowledge
A bachelors degree.
Recommended previous knowledge
Specialization equivalent to at least 80 ECTS within subjects from the humanities or social sciences, sustainable development, or equivalent relevant subjects.
Teaching
This is an intensive one-week course (5 ECTS), consisting of interactive 3-hour lectures each of Mon-Fri, followed by a take-home examination.
Attendance in lectures and seminars is mandatory, and active participation in class is both expected and encouraged. You must have an attendance of 80% to be eligible to take the exam. ?
Examination
3-day take-home examination that seek to demonstrate applied knowledge from the lectures and readings.
Language of examination
The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
Resit an examination
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.