How does this course work?
-    This course includes a lecture and a section. While the lecture is the same for everyone, several sections on different topics are available. Choose the section that best matches your interests. You must register for a section before the start of the course, and this choice cannot be changed later.
-    A list of the offered sections can be found in the course catalogue here. 
-    Videos about the content of the sections are available on our Instagram account zuwi_va.

Title
-    Lecture title: Sustainable Economics
-    Section title: Dirty Money – Informal Economies, Shadow Markets, and Business at the Margins

Instructors
-    Lecture instructor: Prof. Jonas Bunte
-    Section instructor: Derek Basler

Language
-    Lecture language: German
-    Section language: English

Topics
-    Topics of the lecture:
The lectures in this course explore possible explanations for the decisions made by three types of actors: businesses, citizens, and politicians. How do businesses make decisions? For example, why do some businesses behave more ethically and environmentally consciously than others? Or why do some businesses engage in more lobbying than others? How do citizens make decisions? For example, why do we sometimes act rationally but other times not? Or why are some social movements successful while others are not? How do politicians make decisions? For example, why do some politicians act based on their convictions while others behave opportunistically? Or why do some politicians appear more competent than others?

-    Topics of the section: 
The overarching goal of this course is to familiarize students with the wide variety of ways that individuals and collectivities engage with entrepreneurial and economic logics beyond the legal business frameworks that we are accustomed to on a daily basis. These may range from “illegal” to semi-legal activities, but the underlying theme is that they usually exist and operate outside of the state’s purview. As noted in the broad body of literature pertaining to the study of informal economies in various contexts, a common thread coursing through the countless examples is a tendency for individuals to engage in such practices when more formal channels are either limited or insufficient at providing a feasible livelihood. The reasons for these deficiencies are manifold, and the goal of this course is to introduce students to the variety of circumstances and challenges that individuals navigate in order to make a living.  Throughout this course, we will be engaging with the following questions: What does it mean for a business to be informal or illegal? How do such enterprises compare and contrast with their formal counterparts? What motivates individuals to engage in such practices, especially if they carry dire risks? How do the state and other formal actors try to intervene or rein in these extra-legal pursuits? In doing so, do they work to rectify the root causes that yielded such illegality in the first place?

-    Actors and areas of this section: 
Citizens & Society as well as Politicians & Society.

Upon completing the course, students will have developed a solid understanding of the core topics within the Department of Socioeconomics, particularly regarding the environmental and climate crisis, globalization, inequality, and democracy. To achieve this, the course pursues three objectives:

1. Critically examine the fundamental assumptions of economic models. Are businesses truly only driven by profit, or are there other motivations? Are humans genuinely rational with fixed, exogenous preferences? Students will gain insights into the implications if such assumptions do not hold.
2. Develop and compare possible explanations. How can we explain situations where actors make different decisions despite similar circumstances? Students will learn to derive potential explanations for these puzzles, becoming familiar with various disciplinary approaches (political science, sociology, geography, history, law, and economics).
3. Explore implications for the future. Students will analyze how these insights shape the various options available to them. What do these findings imply for our future? What can we do to address current challenges?

Lecture
Attendance at the lectures is strongly recommended but not mandatory. If a lecture is missed, no explanation or excuse is required.

Section
Attendance in the sections is mandatory. This requirement is considered fulfilled if no more than one of the seven section sessions is missed. Students who are absent for the first session of their section will be unenrolled from the course. Absences known in advance must be communicated to the section instructor via email. An absence due to health reasons (e.g., accident or illness) will not count as an absence if a doctor’s note is provided. There are no make-up assignments for missed activities. Further details regarding attendance requirements will be explained during the first session of the section.

Lecture
The pedagogical approach of the lecture is designed to actively engage students. The lectures are therefore dynamic and include a mix of presentations, interactive exercises, and relevant case studies. Lectures are conducted in German.

Section
My overarching approach to this course will be predominantly dialogic in nature. I will assign several short readings that we will use to frame our discussions in the classroom. The first two classes will be devoted to a more overarching introduction to the concept and theorization of informal economies, while the following classes will be structured around specific case studies based on ethnographic works exploring these cases. Each course section will begin with a brief (roughly half-hour-long) lecture that provides an overview of the materials we will be reading and any pertinent concepts/contextual information. We will then devote around one hour to group discussions, where we will work together to examine what is at stake for the various actors involved. From the second class onward, we will also be conducting Oxford-style debates in each class based on the case studies, where small groups of students will be assigned a position to defend according to the main sets of actors.

Additional Resources

-       Instagram Account: zuwi_va

-       Youtube Account: zuwi_va

ZuWi_VA Kurs-Website

Assessment

• Lecture: A total of 25 points + 5 bonus points
  • 25 points: Final exam
  • 5 bonus points: Details will be explained during the lecture
• Section: A total of 75 points
• 25 points: Participation
• 50 points from two of the following three options, as determined by the section instructor: 
  • 25 points: Creative project
  • 25 points: Written assignment
  • 25 points: Exam with open-ended questions

Final Grade
Students can earn a maximum of 105 points in the course, with a minimum of 60 points required to pass. The grading scale is as follows: scores between 60 and 69.9 result in a grade of "4," scores between 70 and 79.9 correspond to a grade of "3," scores between 80 and 89.9 earn a grade of "2," and scores between 90 and 105 receive a grade of "1."

Details of the Final Exam for the Lecture

• Date: 27. February 2025
• The exam takes place during the Main Examination Week. The exam date is fixed and cannot be rescheduled.

o   The exam will be conducted online. 

o   The duration of the exam is 60 minutes.

• Registration

o   No separate registration is required. Students are automatically registered for the final exam upon enrolling in the course. 

• Rules

o   If participation in this session is not possible due to verifiable and serious reasons (e.g., illness, accident, death in the family), a make-up attempt during the next main examination week is allowed. Please send a (medical) certificate to your section instructor so they can register you for the next examination week.

• Content

o   The final exam will cover only the topics from the lecture, not the sections.

Course Requirements
Students must register for the course via LPIS.

The topics of the available sections varies. For this reason, students are advised to carefully review the information about each section in the course catalogue before making their choice. Select the section that best aligns with your interests, as switching between sections during the semester is not permitted.

It is expected that students enroll in “ZuWi Vertiefung & Anwendung” immediately after completing the STEOP course “Volkswirtschaftslehre und Zukunftsfähiges Wirtschaften” rather than delaying for several semesters.

Waitlist
Enrollment during the registration period is on a “first come, first served” basis, with 20 spots initially available per section. Any additional registrations will be placed on a waitlist.

After the registration period ends, the capacity of each section will be increased to 30 spots. The 10 additional spots will be allocated to waitlisted students who do not yet have valid enrollment for this course, with swap requests not considered. The allocation of these spots is determined based on urgency and academic progress and is managed by the Vice Rectorate for Teaching, without influence from the course instructors.

Students who are absent during the first session of their section will lose their spot. These unclaimed spots will be offered to waitlisted students who attend the first session of the section. This allocation is handled by the section instructors and follows the order of the waitlist.

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