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• About the Department

Assessment Information

Types of assessment .

Formative assessment helps you to learn and understand the relevant material, as well as develop your analytical and writing skills. Formative assessment does not count towards your overall degree classification but is designed to prepare you for the summative (assessed) work that you will complete later in the course. The feedback you receive from your formative work will help prepare you for your summative work. 

Summative assessment tests whether you have acquired the desired learning outcomes of a course. This is achieved through a variety of methods including examinations, presentations, essays, coursework and dissertations. Summative assessment counts towards your overall degree classification. Individual courses may be assessed by one piece of Summative work or by a combination of different types of summative work. 

Once you begin classes, you may be asked to make presentations. Students are asked either to produce an essay or a short outline of their presentation (depending on the course) for circulation to classmates. Presentation notes should be circulated by posting to Moodle seminar forums, unless otherwise instructed by the Course Academic. 

You can find more information on assessments in your relevant Handbook . 

Exams 

Course by course exam timetables will be available online on the LSE Assessments and Exams page . For January exams the timetable is usually available towards the end of Autumn term; for summer exams it is usually available in Winter Term; and for students taking in-year resit and deferral exams, it is usually available in late July. Closer to each exam season, you will also be given access to a personal exam timetable with your room and seat numbers in LSE for You. 

Anybody taking exams at LSE must read the Exam Procedures for Candidates. It contains all the information that you need to know and is updated each year. The document is less than ten pages and covers topics ranging from candidate numbers to permitted materials to what to do if things go wrong. You can download your copy from assessments and exams page . 

To help you prepare effectively for your examinations you should make yourself fully aware of the format and syllabus to be covered in the examinations. Specimen papers and guidelines to any changes are provided where appropriate, and permitted materials specified early in the year. Past papers can be found at Past Exam Papers (access restricted to LSE network only). 

Students who have failed an exam cannot retake the exam until the following year. Students cannot re-sit any exam that they have already passed.  

Consultancy Projects (MSc) 

The Consultancy Projects enable MSc students to gain practical experience of dealing with current policy issues and best practice in the fields of humanitarian assistance or international development by working on a live consultancy team project for a real client. The consultancies are based around an experiential learning format. Students receive guidance through a structured supervision process and work on the consultancy report in Autumn Term and Winter Terms with support from a staff coach. The projects are assessed through a group project and report (80%), areflective learning report (10%) and agroup presentation (10%) in Winter Term. 

Please see the DV453 course guide for more information about the International Development Consultancy Project. For DV431 there is an evening session near the start of the academic year that provides more information about the Consultancy Project. 

Find out about the Consultancy Projects that form part of the MSc learning experience here. You can also check out this blog on past ID students' experience of consultancies to learn more. 

Dissertations (MSc) 

The DV410 dissertation is a major component of the MSc in Development Management, MSc in Development Studies, MSc in Health and International Development and MSc in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies programmes, and an important part of the learning and development process involved in postgraduate education.    The objective of DV410 is to provide students with an overview of the resources available to them to research and write a 10,000 dissertation that is topical, original, scholarly, and substantial. DV410 will provide curated dissertation pathways through LSE LIFE and Methods courses, information sessions, ID-specific disciplinary teaching, topical seminars and dissertation workshops in the Spring Term. With this in mind, students will be able to design their own training pathway and set their own learning objectives in relation to their specific needs for their dissertation. From the Autumn Term (AT) through to Spring Term (ST), students will discuss and develop their ideas in consultation with their mentor or other members of the ID department staff and have access to a range of learning resources (via DV410 Moodle page) to support and develop their individual projects from within the department and across the LSE.  

The DV410 Moodle page is where you can find information about the dissertation and where you will, eventually, submit your final 10,000-word dissertation, which will be assessed and is worth 70% of your final full unit dissertation mark. 

All students in the MSc in Economic Policy for International Development are required to complete the DV495 dissertation. The DV495 dissertation comprises 1.0 unit of the Master’s degree, and provides an opportunity for students to develop a quantitative empirical piece on a topic of their choosing 

Visit the ID information page on dissertations where you can also view prizewinning dissertations from previous years. 

PhD progression (MRes/PhD) 

In order to progress from Year 1(MRes) to Year 2 of the PhD Programme, candidates must achieve: 

a pass of the MRes with an average of 65 or above in the coursework 

a pass the Research Proposal (DV510) with a mark equal to or greater than 65 

Find more information about the structure of the PhD programme on the LSE Calendar and in the Research Student Handbook . 

Research proposal (MRes/PhD) 

A research proposal on the subject of study for your PhD must be submitted in Year 1 (MRes) of the programme. The deadline for the DV510 proposal falls in August. You will receive written feedback on your DV510 proposal by the beginning of the first term of your second year. You will also be told whether your DV510 mark is sufficient for the upgrade from MRes to PhD. If for any reason your mark falls short of 65, you will be given an opportunity to revise your proposal. This won’t change your original mark, but if your resubmitted proposal is later accepted (and you have met the rest of the upgrade conditions) then you will be cleared to progress to the PhD stage. The amount of time allowed for revisions will be set by the markers and the doctoral programme director but will not be more than three months. Being asked to revise the DV510 proposal will not be considered as grounds for an extension to your thesis submission deadline later on. 

Referencing, Plagiarism and Research Ethics 

Referencing .

The International Development Department recommends that students use Chicago or Harvard style for all assessed work. This style minimises the number of words used in the text to indicate the source (thus reducing the impact on the word limit) and dictates that the full source be given in the bibliography. You may use any style you wish but remember that all words in the footnotes count towards your word limit. 

Students should not only take care in their referencing to avoid any potential accusations of plagiarism but should also be aware that they should avoid simply stringing quotations from literature together. In all cases, students will be assessed on the basis of the ideas, interpretations and analyses – the value added – expressed in their written work. 

If you are unsure about the academic referencing conventions used by the School you should seek guidance from your department, Academic Mentor, LSE LIFE or the Library. 

Plagiarism 

The work you submit for assessment must be your own and all source material must be correctly referenced. Plagiarism is not just submitting work with the intention to cheat. Plagiarism could occur simply as a result of failing to correctly reference the sources you have used. If you are found to have committed an assessment offence (such as plagiarism or exam misconduct) you could be expelled from the School. 

Any quotation from the published or unpublished works of other persons, including other candidates, must be clearly identified as such. Quotes must be placed inside quotation marks and a full reference to sources must be provided in proper form. A series of short quotations for several different sources, if not clearly identified as such, constitutes plagiarism just as much as a single unacknowledged long quotation from a single source. All paraphrased material must also be clearly and properly acknowledged. 

Any written work you produce (for classes, seminars, exams, dissertations, essays and computer programmes) must solely be your own. You must not employ a “ghost writer” to write parts or all of the work, whether in draft or as a final version, on your behalf. For further information and the School’s statement on Editorial Help visit lse.ac.uk/calendar. Any breach of the Statement will be treated in the same way as plagiarism. 

You should also be aware that a piece of work may only be submitted for assessment once (either to LSE or elsewhere). Submitting the same piece of work twice (regardless of which institution you submit it to) will be regarded as the offence of “self-plagiarism” and will also be treated in the same way as plagiarism. If you are unsure about the academic referencing conventions used by the School, seek guidance from your department, Academic Mentor, LSE LIFE or the Library as soon as possible. 

The full Regulations on Assessment Offences: Plagiarism can be found on the  LSE calendar.  

Research Ethics 

The Research Ethics Policy aims to promote a culture within the School whereby researchers conscientiously reflect on the ethical implications of their research. 

Researchers in the social sciences have responsibilities - in the first instance to the people from whom the researcher is gathering data (the research participants), but also to society at large; to those who fund their research; to the institutions that employ them or at which they study; to their colleagues and the wider academic and research community; and also for their own safety and wellbeing. Reconciling those responsibilities can be difficult and may entail ethical judgement.  

Researchers should familiarise themselves with the School’s  Research Ethics Policy  and  Code of Research Conduct . These policies form part of the School's over-arching  Ethics Code . 

Visit the Research Ethics page for full information  and if you have further queries concerning research ethics not answered here please contact Lyn Grove at  [email protected] . 

Marking and feedback

The International Development Department does not mark “on a curve” (i.e. each year a certain percentage of Distinctions, Merits, etc.). All work is marked strictly on its individual academic merit. Generally, you may expect to have formative coursework returned to you with comments within three term weeks. This period may be longer on very popular courses. If you do not receive your work back within this period, please check on the Moodle site of the course for further information, and then check with the administrative team or the Course Leader. 

Feedback on summative coursework will normally also be within five term weeks of submission. Feedback on January exams will normally be provided within six term weeks of the end of the exam period. Feedback on Summer exams will normally be provided within four term weeks of the following Autumn term. Dissertation: You will receive feedback for your dissertation, and it will normally be provided within four term weeks of the final mark being made available to students. 

Grade definitions: 

Distinction : ≥70 (≥80 = outstanding, 70-79 = excellent) 

Merit : 60-69 (65-69 = high merit, 60-64 = merit) 

Pass : 50-59 (55-59 = high pass, 50-54 = pass) 

Fail : ≤49 (40-49 = fail, ≤39 = bad fail) 

Please see the full Marking Standards Guide on the International Development Moodle site (in the section called ‘ID Assessment Information’) for what is expected of you at each level. 

The International Development Department is committed to providing students with appropriate levels of feedback. In addition to feedback that students receive on written work (formative and summative), students may, in some circumstances, also receive feedback on participation and other class activities. Students are encouraged to seek feedback from their lecturers and class teachers. Engaging with feedback is an essential part of taking independent control of your learning process. 

Late submissions and word count

Work that is submitted after the stated deadline will incur penalties of 5 marks deducted per 24-hour period, or part thereof. This applies to both essays and dissertations and applies to the time deadline, not just the date. After five working days, coursework will only be accepted with the permission of the Sub-Board of Examiners. 

Assessed coursework that exceeds the stated word limit will lose one mark for every 100 words or part thereof. 

For MRes students, 10,000 word research proposals have a fixed maximum leeway of one per cent (ie, 100 words, so a total wordcount of 10,100 words). Beyond that they - they will lose marks as per above.  

If you have difficulty with an assessment or deadline

Speak to your mentor or supervisor .

If you have a difficulty that affects your studies or ability to meet a deadline, whether academic, personal or health-related, your first point of contact should be your Academic Mentor (for MSc students) or your Supervisor (for MRes /PhD students) . Your mentor or supervisor will have been assigned to you at the beginning of your studies. Find out more about LSE's Academic Mentoring here . 

Most staff use the electronic ‘Office Hours’ system which allows students to book and cancel appointments with individual academic staff on Student Hub . If you are unable to find the availability of a particular academic listed on Student Hub, please make contact with them via email.  

Fit to Sit 

By submitting your assessment regardless of whether it is coursework, participation in a class presentation or sitting an exam, LSE considers that you have declared yourself fit enough to do so. If you have experienced disruption to your studies (illness, injury or personal difficulties for example) you must think carefully about whether you should attempt the assessment or whether you should consider requesting an extension or deferring the assessment. Requests for an extension or deferral must be made in advance of the assessment deadline. 

Deferrals, Extensions and Exceptional Circumstances

If you have difficulties in the lead up to, or during, the assessment or exam then you can seek to defer the assessment or exam. You will need permission from the Chair of your Sub-Board of Examiners to do this. For more information visit LSE's Deferral page.  

If you have difficulties in the lead up to an assessment deadline but think you may be able to successfully submit if you had extra time, you can se ek an extension request. You must make this request before the deadline has taken place and you will need permission from the Chair of your Sub-Board of Examiners to do this. For more information visit LSE's page on extension policy . 

Extensions are only granted for medical reasons (a doctor’s certificate will be required as supporting evidence), a traumatic event in the family or certain work-related issues. Any supporting evidence submitted must either be in English or accompanied by a translation which corroborates it and is done by a valid organisation, e.g. British Council, Embassy, LSE Language Centre, etc. The Extension Request form is available to download from the International Development Moodle site. You must submit the form, fully completed, along with the evidence, to the relevant course administrator before the due date. Extensions must be confirmed in writing to the student i n order to be valid.  

You can submit an Exceptional Circumstances Form and corroborating evidence to the Student Services Centre if there are any circumstances which may have affected your performance. These could include (but are not limited to): missing an assessment which you did not defer, or submitting an assessment late and incurring penalties; experiencing difficulties which could have affected your academic performance in an exam or coursework; adjustments such as IEAs, Inclusion Plans or deadline extensions being insufficient to compensate for the impact of your circumstances. 

The deadline to submit ECs is seven days after your final assessment in the academic year. Submitting an Exceptional Circumstances Form is the only way for you to alert the Sub-Board of Examiners to the circumstances under which you completed the assessment or exam. For more information visit LSE's page on Exceptional Circumstances .

Appeals 

If you wish to challenge a grade you have received, you can find full information about appeals and the Appeal Submission Form here . Please note that: 

Appeals must be submitted using the Appeal Submission Form in the section below. It should be completed in full, and together with any relevant supporting information (such as a medical certificate/doctor's letter), be submitted to [email protected] . Appeals that are not submitted using the standard form will not be accepted.  

You must submit your appeal by 11.59pm (23.59, UK time) on the relevant deadline listed. Appeals submitted after this strict deadline will not be accepted under any circumstances.  

Please clearly and concisely set out all of the information using the appeal form.  

Challenging the academic judgement of individual examiners or the Examination Boards cannot form the basis of any appeal. 

You cannot appeal against provisional marks - this means that it is not possible to appeal against January exam results until your final marks of the year are released. 

Mode of Study 

If you are studying a master’s programme, and your circumstances change, meaning that you need to adjust your study from full-time to part-time, you will need to seek authorisation from your academic department. Changing from full-time to part-time study is generally acceptable, and your course selection will be amended according to programme regulations. Your fees will also be amended. Changing from part-time to full-time may not always be possible and requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis. It is not normally possible to study an undergraduate programme on a part-time basis. For more information visit the Change Mode of study page . 

Withdrawal means that you are leaving your programme pe rmanently. Before withdrawing you may want to consider interruption so that you have some time to consider your options. For more information visit LSE's page on the withdrawal process . 

Learning Resources 

Academic mentor and faculty office hours  .

At the beginning of the year, you will be assigned an Academic Mentor, who will be your key point of contact in the Department. You will be able to meet with them regularly throughout term time, and they will keep an overview of your academic progress and overall wellbeing during your time at the School.  

All academic faculty, including your course conveners, seminar leaders/class teachers and post-graduate Programme Director hold Office Hours, and we operate an open door policy as a department.  

You can book office hours with any faculty member using Student Hub . 

Reading List 

Each course has its own detailed reading list, which is accessed via the School's virtual learning environment (VLE) called Moodle .     

The readings will normally be divided into a short section listing ‘essential’, ‘required’ or ‘recommended’ readings and longer ‘general’ or ‘further’ readings. The essential readings are meant to identify keys readings for that week’s class discussions and will be online readings. These can be accessed both on the LSE campus and remotely.  

The further readings are meant to provide a wider range of readings that you can draw on in making class presentations, writing essays, and taking part in other activities set by your class teacher. You are free to choose from these readings as you judge appropriate for the topic at hand, as well as seek advice from your class teachers and/or academic advisor on which of the further readings may be of relevance to the ideas and arguments you wish to develop. 

LSE Calendar 

The LSE calendar is the place to check for programme regulations detailing the structure of programme and which courses you are permitted to take. It also provides course guides for every course at LSE, including student feedback.  

You can also use the LSE calendar for more information on assessment and programme regulations, general academic regulations, appeals and plagiarism guidelines. 

Moodle 

Moodle is LSE’s virtual learning environment where key materials and information for courses are kept and key Programme and Department announcements are communicated to students. There is a Moodle page for all students in International Development, specific pages for each MSc Programme and a specific Moodle page for the MRes/PhD ID programme. 

The majority of taught courses have a corresponding course on Moodle, the online learning platform used at LSE. Moodle courses contain essential resources such as lecture slides, lecture recordings and reading lists. Moodle also enables activities such as quizzes and discussion forums and allows for online assignment submission, marking and feedback. How Moodle is used is determined by the course convenor and so this may vary from course to course. LSE also provides a Moodle Archive service which provides teachers and students with a snapshot of previous year’s courses. 

You can access Moodle with your LSE login here . 

Student Hub 

Student Hub is LSE’s app, designed to help you navigate your day-to-day life at LSE. With the Student Hub, you can: 

 View your timetable and upcoming deadlines 

Find your way around with the campus map 

Follow your department, LSE events, Careers the Students’ Union and more to keep up to date with news and events from around LSE 

Book appointments with academic staff (office hours) or support services 

Create or join groups with friends and coursemates to carry on the conversation outside of class. 

Download the app to help you organise your time, connect with coursemates and discover everything that LSE has to offer. Available on iOS and Android app stores or as a web app. You can find more information here and log in or register here.   

LSE Language Centre 

LN995 Academic Writing programme is an optional course for students of International Development. Further information can be accessed via the Language Centre website.   

The courses offer weekly, ongoing and tailored English Language support. 

The courses are primarily aimed at international students, but native speakers are welcome to join too. 

The courses run from weeks 1-5 and from weeks 7-11 in both Autumn Term & Winter Term. 

Weekly online 1-2-1 support is also available. 

Registration opens from Monday 4 September. 

Other LSE services to support your studies include the library, LSE LIFE and the PhD Academy  

Student Handbooks

Student Hub

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Master's research

Prize winning msc dissertations.

Master's students undertake a dissertation as part of all our MSc programmes , allowing them to further develop their research in areas of interest. Each year a prize is awarded to the dissertation with distinction that receives the highest mark across each of our MSc programmes. Read some of our students' recent prize winning MSc dissertations below.

Visit the GV499 course page for information on our masters dissertation course.

Joint Winners of the MSc Comparative Politics Prize for Best Dissertation

Varieties Of Exports, Varieties Of Growth: The Institutional Determinants Of Growth Model Variation Among Coordinated Market Economies . |  Thomas Prendergast

Issue Ownerships And Party Polarisation: Does The Effect Of Issue Ownership Considerations On The Vote Choice Depend On The (Relevant) Party Polarisation In An Individual’s Consideration Set?  | Michael Stirnimann

Joint Winners of the MSc Conflict Studies Prize for Best Dissertation

Killing The Dead: The Logic Of Cemetery Destruction During Genocidal Campaigns.  |  Noa Krikler

Second MSc Conflict Studies Joint Prize-Winning Dissertation Not Published.

Winner of the MSc Global Politics Prize for Best Dissertation

Evaluating The International Criminal Court’s Performance: An Empirical Study Of The Court’s Deterrence Effects In Darfur, Sudan. |  Maximillian Hörtnagl

Joint Winners of the MSc Political Science and Political Economy Prize for Best Dissertation

Restricting The Citizen’s Initiative: An Analysis Of Policy Adoption And Proposal In U.S. States. |  Allegra Dawes

Local Political Responsiveness To Electoral Pressures On Corruption: Evidence From An Anti-Corruption Referendum In Colombia. |  Hannah Fölsz

Joint Winners of the MSc Political Theory Excellent Dissertation Award

Towards A Postcolonial Contract: Revisiting Malaysia's Grand Bargain. |  Aiman Mohammad Caezar

The Seed Of A Good Life: Why Societies Should Support Parents. |  Felix Westerén

Winner of the MSc Public Administration  and Government Prize for Best Dissertation

Factionalism, Competition And Efficiency In Russian Banking. |  Alexander Soldatkin

Joint Winner of the Peter Self Prize (MSc Public Policy And Administration) for Best Dissertation

Determinants Of Open Government And Transparency Reforms: An Exploratory Study Of Provincial Governments In Argentina. |  Julia Amerikaner

Second MSc Public Policy and Administration Joint Prize-Winning Dissertation Not Published.

Winner of the MSc Regulation William Robson Prize for Best Dissertation

The Political Independence Of Regulatory Agencies: A Critical Appraisal Of A “Magic Concept” And Perspectives For Its Reconceptualization. |  Elisa Cartesi

Best MSc Comparative Politics Dissertation Prize-winner

'A War Against our Values?' - An Actor-Centred Comparison of Anti-Immigration Framing in the UK, Netherlands and France |  Joshua Kay

Best MSc Conflict Studies Dissertation Joint Prize-winners

Truth and Reconciliation Commissions: Global Norm or Passing Trend? |  Claire Williams

Rebel Strength and Post-Agreement Conflict: A Disaggregated Analysis |  Konrad Pialucha

Are French Muslims Constructed as a "Suspect Community"? A Critical Discourse Analysis of French Right-Wing Newspaper Coverage of Islamist Terrorism Between 1995 and 2015 |  Etienne Koeppel

Prize for Best MSc Global Politics Dissertation

The Forest Stewardship Council and Colonialism: A Critical Anti-Colonial Analysis of the Forest Stewardship Council's Normative Framework |  Yumann Siddiq

Prize for Best MSc Political Theory Dissertation

Data Ownership, Fraud and the Tainted AI: On the Unjust Means in the Development of Artificial Intelligence |  Ricky Li

Joint Prize for Best MSc Political Science and Political Economy Dissertation

The Mass Media of Remembering: The Role of TV in Coming to Terms with the Nazi Past |  Luis Bosshart

In Europe We Trust? An Examination into the Determinants of Citizen Trust in the European Union and European Institutions, and the Factors Leading to Extreme Political Views Among EU Citizens  |  Ailbhe Brioscu

Prize for best MSc Public Policy and Administration dissertation (not published).

Prize for best msc public administration and government dissertation.

Female Representation and the Substantive Representation of Women's Interests by Male MPs |  Luxia Broadbent

Prize for best MSc Regulation dissertation

What Counts in CEO Appointments in State-Owned Enterprises? Evidence from Chile, 1990-2018 |  Pablo Torres

Prize for Best MSc Comparative Politics Dissertation

Generational Effects and Support for the European Union in the UK: Political Socialisation During World War II | Kieran Devine

Prize for Best MSc Conflict Studies Dissertation

The Effectiveness of Women’s Leadership – Recognising and Addressing Wartime Sexual Violence |  Elisabet Olafsdottir

Business for Climate: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Policy Support and Opposition from Transnational Companies | Daniel Witte

The Political as a Theological Problem in the Thought of Carl Schmitt |  Jack Hutchison

Prize for best MSc Political Science and Political Economy dissertation

Ballot-Structure and Corruption: A Natural Experiment from French Municipal Elections |  Sebastian Law

Prize for best MSc Public Public Policy and Administration dissertation

Federalism’s Flaw: Does Decentralisation Enable the Violation of International Labour Law? | Evan Stubbings

Can Zombies be Rational? Investment, policy uncertainty and the Role of SOEs in China | Anthony Ng

What Affect Bureaucratic Attitudes Toward the Reform of Integrated Administrative Executive System: Evidence from the Practices in two Chinese Municipalities |  Fangda Ding

(no prize awarded)

Voting Islamist or Voting Secular? An Empirical Analysis of Election Outcomes in Tunisia’s Democratic Transition 2011-2014 |  Sapandeep Maini

Transitional Justice Beyond EU Conditionality: Post-Accession Backsliding in Croatia from a Rational Institutionalist Perspective |  Tijana Recevic

Discourse Contestation, Deliberation, and the Democratization of Global Governance: Evaluating the Labour Migration-and-Development Arena Against the ‘Discursive Democracy’ Ideal |  Cazadira Tamzil

A Disputed State: the Nature and Practice of Political Philosophy in Michael Oakeshott’s Early Writings |  Samuel Louis Bickler

The Scope of Public Reason Under Non-Ideal Conditions: Introducing the Interference View |  Henrik Dahlquist

The Revolving Door for Political Elites: An Empirical Analysis of the Linkages between Government Officials’ Professional Background and Financial Regulation |  Elisa Wirsching

Prize for best MSc Public Policy and Administration dissertation.

Measuring Transforming Rehabilitation’s Impact on Public Service Motivation |  Matthew Walker

How to apply Go to 'Study at LSE' to find out more

What do our Graduates do next? Go to 'LSE Careers' to find out more

MSc Students on GovBlog Read the latest articles from Masters Students on our blog

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Alison Carter - Blog editor

November 18th, 2021, 2020/21 msc dissertation prizewinners announced.

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

The International Relations Department is very pleased to announce the MSc dissertation prizewinners for the 2020/21 session (see below for summaries of each dissertation):

for the best 10,000 word MSc IR Dissertation

This was awarded jointly to:

Julian Erben

for the dissertation entitled “From Improvisation to Attribution: The Changing Practice of Identifying Chemical Weapon Attacks”

for the dissertation entitled “Why the Bolivarian Revolution has endured: The importance of inter-social dynamics in consolidating revolutionary regimes”

Read abstracts

for the best 10,000 word MSc IRT Dissertation

This was awarded to

Leonardo De Agostini

for the dissertation entitled “The EEAS at 10 and the Headquarters-Delegation Nexus in the EU Foreign Policy Cycle through the lenses of Practice Theory: does the way towards a stronger EEAS pass through empowered Delegations?”.

Read abstract

for the best 10,000 word MSc IPE Dissertation

This was awarded jointly to

Monica Jade Lung

for the dissertation entitled “Cooptation of the Green Agenda: Accounting for Materiality and Discursivity in Global Environmentalism”

Sonja Schaefer

for the dissertation entitled “Muddled Governance of Forced Labor: Multinational Companies, States, and Cotton from China and Uzbekistan”.

for the best 10,000 word MSc IR(R) Dissertation

Bingzhen Song

for the dissertation entitled “The Dynamics of Discourse in the US-China Relations: A Case Study of the Hong Kong Debate”.

Anand Sundar

for the highest mark in the IR410 International Politics examination.

See below for summaries of the above dissertations:

MSc International Relations Philip Windsor Dissertation Prize

Julian Erben “From Improvisation to Attribution: The Changing Practice of Identifying Chemical Weapon Attacks”

The dissertation attempts to explain why and how six different multilateral bodies were tasked with establishing if and by whom chemical weapons had been used in the Syrian civil war since 2011.

A practice theory approach of International Relations is employed as a promising framework for understanding a specific social field, such as multilateral responses to chemical weapons employment. Since the existing theorising was found to be not sufficiently satisfying in answering the empirical puzzle, the study contains a theoretical intervention that provides a satisfying framework for explaining the research object.

The interventions main argument exposes an overly focus on subconscious processes in practice theory on change which lead to an undertheorisation of the role of conscious actor-driven change plays in the establishment and development of practices in international relations. While there is some theory on the reasons for conscious change there is very little theorising on the process of change. This leads to a lacking theoretical appreciation of the role of international law as a tool to enable, constrain and guide changes of international practices.

The theoretical framework developed thereby, explains why and how the practice(s) of multilateral investigations into (potential) chemical weapons attacks developed from its start as an ad-hoc measure in the 1980s, institutionalised under the auspices of the UN Secretary General and later transitioned to the OPCW.

Ana Lankes “Why the Bolivarian Revolution has endured: The importance of inter-social dynamics in consolidating revolutionary regimes”

Venezuela has experienced the worst economic collapse outside of wartime in 50 years and the emigration of over a sixth of its population. The Bolivarian Revolution, which was initiated with the election of Hugo Chávez in 1999, has withstood multiple coup attempts, a rocky succession from Chávez to Nicolás Maduro, and changing relationships with the country’s ideological patron, Cuba, which moved closer to the US briefly under President Obama. How have the revolution and the authoritarian regime it bequeathed survived for so long, while the domestic situation implodes? This thesis uses an “inter-social” approach, drawing on the work of George Lawson (2019), to explain the role of international factors in generating and consolidating revolutionary regimes. An inter-social approach takes a historical view in which international events contain an interactive, relational dynamic with domestic outcomes. My thesis suggests that democratically-elected, populist regimes can hone revolutionary projects over time by creating counter-ordering institutions at home and abroad to circumvent hegemonic actors in international society, in this case the United States. Parallel institutions provided a shield around Venezuela that allowed the Bolivarian Revolution to radicalise domestically whilst exporting its tenets to other countries. The implication is that for mediation efforts to succeed, Venezuela must be understood not merely as a populist or authoritarian state, but as a revolutionary state, and international actors must be engaged much more thoroughly than they are now.

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MSc International Relations Theory Fred Halliday Dissertation Prize

Leonardo De Agostini “The EEAS at 10 and the Headquarters-Delegation Nexus in the EU Foreign Policy Cycle through the lenses of Practice Theory: does the way towards a stronger EEAS pass through empowered Delegations?”

After ten years from the establishment of the European External Action Service (EEAS), and the consequent transformation of EU Commission Delegations in third countries into fully-fledged EU Delegations (EUDs), this research evaluated their role in European foreign policy, trying to place them in the EU foreign policy cycle. One big lack stood out in the academic literature: a missing inquiry on the reality of the impact of Delegations in policy-making, in their coordination with Brussels headquarters (HQ). Specifically, questions regarding whether the added value of having an important – in size- diplomatic service, with 144 Delegations in third countries, was really fully exploited by the EU and its foreign policy apparatus. This research used an approach based on practice theory to analyse where things stand at the moment.

Drawing inspirations from the recent ‘practice turn’ in EU external action studies, the tenets of practice theory were applied to what I have called the ‘ Headquarters-Delegations Nexus ’ (HDN): theorised as the system of coordination that allows the exchange of policy inputs between Brussels HQ and EU Delegations in third countries. Practice Theory helped illuminating everyday (bottom-up and informal) practices in the ‘making’ of EU foreign policy, but only when put in conversation with new institutionalist approaches – by means of a ‘ sociological leeway ’- it helped creating a broader framework accounting for the big picture of EU foreign policy. I have therefore suggested that the case of the HDN could be an example of how practice theory can be put in fruitful conversation with these approaches, reanimating the debate within the field.

The analysis revolved around an original dataset of 11 semi-structured interviews with high-ranking EU officials, which findings shed light on the working practices within an evolving EEAS, in which the role of Delegations might be the foundation for its transformation into a fully-fledged policy entrepreneur. The HDN was the Bourdieusian locus for analysing this evolution. From the analysis, emerged that the Delegation’s role in the policy cycle evolved: they are now capable of impacting policy-making in its early stages. In the broader context, this more proactive role for Delegations might be crucial in the evolution of the EEAS: by enhancing coherence in EU’s external action. While it is clear that attempts of reforming the EEAS are being made, if they will succeed it is too early to say.

MSc International Political Economy Susan Strange Dissertation Prize

Monica Jade Lung “Cooptation of the Green Agenda: Accounting for Materiality and Discursivity in Global Environmentalism”

The concurrent and escalating climate and ecological crises have induced a proliferation of environmental policies and multilateral environmental agreements in recent decades, with environmental sustainability rising to the forefront of public policymaking. Yet, despite increasingly sophisticated data on these environmental crises and near unanimous political consensus concerning their existential threat, mitigation efforts remain inadequate relatively to the scale of emergency – both in commitment and practice. Many theories – including suggestions of coordination problems, international competition pressures, adjustment costs, and scientific uncertainty – have been put forward to explain this striking dissonance between scientific awareness and political action which manifests in political-economic shallowness within ‘green’ strategies. However, these perspectives uncritically assume that the rate and scale of the climate and biodiversity crises can be resolved under the status quo system of capitalist extraction and accumulation. Meanwhile, Marxist concepts of capitalism’s boundless profit drive, alienation from nature, and metabolic relationship with ecology provide a salient foundation for understanding how capitalism is fundamentally incompatible with meaningful greening of the economy, as capital requires continual self-expansion and the reduction of nature to exchange value. Nonetheless, eco-Marxism itself is unable to explain capitalism’s persistent ideological supremacy in the global economy in the face of multi-faceted existential crisis. Borrowing from Gramsci and Foucault – namely, the concepts of cultural hegemony, disciplinary power, and power-knowledge – helps to fill this gap and makes clear the role of knowledge formation in capitalism’s cooptation and subversion of green efforts.

Ultimately, a joint materialist-discursive approach to the political economy of environmental protection is better able to inform on the influence of more sedimented factors of power struggles as well as the capture of unfixed and negotiable cultural elements of society. Marxist materiality and elements of discursivity are not only compatible but also mutually-reinforcing: hegemonic ideas of the superstructure emerge from and reflect the priorities of the existing mode of production, while also serve to further maintain the economic base through its exercise of disciplinary power and its exclusion of alternative, more ambitious counterhegemonies. As a result, knowledge-power proves able to insidiously direct ‘sustainability’ strategies towards the further reification of capitalist production, as affirmed by an examination of discourses advanced by prominent international organisations. Indeed, an analysis of discursive trends in 46 materials published by the IMF, OECD, UNCTAD, UNEP, World Bank, and WTO exposes a near ubiquitous reinforcement of a particular framing of the environmental problem structure, growthism ethics, and range of potential solutions which effectively solidifies existing market logics.

Concerted environmental action thus requires the substantive denaturalisation of current economic relations as historically-contingent, socially-created, and discursively-sustained. The success of global environmentalism will ultimately depend on the profound ideological destabilisation of the principles and imperatives which perpetually sustain capitalism’s relentless expansionist mode of production.

Sonja Schaefer “Muddled Governance of Forced Labor: Multinational Companies, States, and Cotton from China and Uzbekistan”

Forced labour is prohibited by the International Labor Organization 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, United Nations Guiding Principles, United Nations Global Compact, Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, numerous domestic laws, and voluntary standards. Yet, forced labour persists in our modern global value chains.

This study grapples with how interests—that of the states and multinational companies involved in forced labour—shape private governance outcomes.  Two case studies of state-imposed forced labour in cotton production stemming from China and Uzbekistan depict a range of influences on the private governance conducted by multinational companies. These case studies show how context-specific differences in state-imposed forced labour regimes impact private governance with regard to the continuation or eradication of forced labour in global value chains. Specifically, this study utilises the political science boomerang model to analyse the structural power of multinational companies and collective action of multi-stakeholder initiatives and third-party programmes to evaluate their influence on eradication.

I argue that states that contest the existence of state-imposed forced labour shape and politicise private governance, exacerbating governance challenges. Particularly, I find that a large disputing state lowers the salience of the labour violation to multinational companies given profit and sales concerns, in turn, inhibiting private eradication efforts and muddling eradication outcomes. Building on the stream of international political economy research regarding how interests complicate private governance effectiveness, I expose a gap in the literature on the impact of state-imposed forced labour and illuminate global ramifications.

MSc International Relations Research Martin Wight Dissertation Prize

Bingzhen Song “The Dynamics of Discourse in the US-China Relations: A Case Study of the Hong Kong Debate”

The mainstream scholarship about the US-China relationship has made significant strides towards one direction: understanding the material, tangible, and security-related aspects of this relationship and proposing predictions as well as policy prescriptions accordingly. The mainstream approach to studying the US-China relationship has produced, and largely dismissed, a dominant discourse in which the ‘US’ and ‘China’ exist with particular sets of attributes and capabilities for certain actions. Trailblazing works in Poststructuralism scholarship have found that the US discursive construction of China as a threatening Other, i.e., the ‘China Threat’ narrative, risks creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

In this dissertation, I follow the trailblazing works in Poststructuralism scholarship and take a step back from the mainstream International Relations (IR) perspectives to critically analyse the process through which the entities ‘US’ and ‘China’ are produced as part of our knowledge system. Notably, I conduct critical discourse analysis (CDA) on both the US and Chinese diplomatic narratives around the Hong Kong controversies. The version of CDA adopted in this paper draws inspiration from seminal works by Lene Hansen and Roxanne Lynn Doty. The combined approach relinquishes presupposed subjects and takes seriously the intertextual influences of the texts. Additionally, in studying both the Self and the Other, this dissertation creates a unique opportunity to advance our understanding of the dynamics of discourse and performatively remedy the Eurocentrism problem in the IR scholarship.

Through a case study of the Chinese and US diplomatic narratives around the Hong Kong controversies, I find that the dominant discourses from both sides have constructed the ‘US’ and ‘China’ as subjects in binary oppositions, i.e., free/tyrannical, civilised/barbaric, good/evil, foreign/domestic. The security framework is prominent in both dominant discourses, and subjects are assigned adversarial roles of the ‘aggressor’ and the ‘defender’. I also find that the discursive constructions follow reoccurring cycles, where each side co-opts the other side’s discursive constructions into their own dominant discourse as newly interpreted evidence, which is followed by escalations in intensity. Through the empirical observations and critical analysis in this study, I conclude that the dominant discourses limit policy imagination of the US-China relations on both sides, diminish the non-adversarial space in the US-China relations, and escalate the diplomatic tensions. By revealing the discursive production of the Self and Other in the US-China relations, this paper admonishes against and, hopefully, disrupts the uncritical continuation of these discursive practices.

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BSc IR Prizewinners 2020/21 announced July 15th, 2021

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