rural livelihoods in the global south (f8017s) - University of Sussex

Supplementary material (text and/or graphics) derived from newspapers,
magazines, journals, websites, other lectures, etc.
Commentaries on television programs, movies, novels, poetry etc. that say
something to the module and your ideas about rural livelihoods in the global south.
A record of how your ideas have changed/been changed during the term.
As a conclusion, to reflect back on those aspects of the Term which you found most
interesting, and why, if at all, your views have changed.
The structure, style of presentation, length, amount of illustrative material and so on, is
yours to decide. Many students find it useful to keep a computer diary but the Learning
Diary can also be (neatly) hand-written in part or in full. This is quite a different form of
writing and expression from much of the more formal essay style of work you have
previously undertaken.
The Purpose of the Learning Diary
The Learning Diary is specifically designed to encourage reflexivity upon your own
learning and to facilitate a broad perspective during the term. It is a continuous
engagement. You will not be able to concentrate on a few selected topics, as with essay
writing, but should feel it important to create linkages between the different elements of the
module and to think carefully about the underlying meanings, connections and
relationships between the texts with which you are dealing, rather than to memorise the
surface features only, or to take a strategic approach to selective reading. All the elements
of the Term’s work will therefore count in your Diary. It should be developmental and
demonstrate a cumulative understanding of the module’s material as we go along.
In these ways, the Learning Diary is a formative exercise. Not only will you benefit from a
more reflexive approach to your studies, you will also receive feedback and comments
from the tutors that should benefit you greatly in developing a more strategic approach to
your learning in other modules and assessments. The style of writing will be different: it is
not a ‘state of the art’ presentation like an essay which demonstrates your best possible
understanding of an issue, rather, it can be a much more provisional, working document,
with unresolved queries, first thoughts and frustrations all included, which (hopefully) may
be resolved at a later stage. In a more informal sense, the word ‘I’ or ‘we’ might be used
more liberally than you might in a formal essay (for certain tutors). So, an example, the
beginning of a weekly entry might look something like:
“This week we (finally) began to tackle what exactly rural livelihoods are. I was in a
group that were required to read Bryceson’s 1999 article on livelihood
diversification (see synopsis below). This made me think about the role-play
exercise that we had done last week, where I was in the role of a poor villager.
During that exercise it had been quite difficult for me to keep quiet (as I tend to want
to speak a lot!) but I realised that in that role I wouldn’t have been able to say very
much, and actually there were very few choices available to me. Ellis’s work (which
I also read), explained that some academics have seen diversification in terms of
‘accumulating’ and ‘coping’ and I could see how Bryceson’s arguments about
Structural Adjustment might mean that people diversify to cope. Certainly the petty
trading that the woman did in the role play meant she could cope, but only just.
Another group had done some reading that looked at non-agricultural activities in
different countries. The main part of that article (Davis 2010) was incredibly
complex economics, but the results were interesting, as they showed that in many
different countries off-farm activities are more important to people’s incomes than
agriculture. It made me want to do reading on this, as I realise that I used to think
Rural Livelihoods in the Global South, 2013 - F8017 21