Module: POL5002-20 Political Institutions and Social Change

Level: 5

Credit Value: 20

Module Tutor: TBC

Module Tutor Contact Details: TBC

1. Brief description and aims of module:

The module will examine contending approaches to the analysis of politics in its social context, and with a particular focus on its role in social change. We’ll adopt a broad understanding of ‘politics’ as a process that takes place both within and beyond state institutions, and explore interconnections between multiple arenas of political activity - the state, the economy, civil society and culture - as these are mapped out in contrasting ways within different theoretical perspectives. As such, the module will investigate both ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ forms of political activity, the ways these are connected, and the diverse strategies to transform or reproduce the social world

Aims of the module:

1. To approach political analysis as a vital part of a critical and transformative social science, and identify distinct aspects of this (e.g. normative, explanatory, praxis-related);

2. To explore and evaluate contending (narrower or broader) conceptions of what politics is, highlighting their distinctions, as well as the ways in which they commonly analyse “the distribution, exercise and consequences of power”, and thus the capacity to enable and constrain what is socially possible (see Hay, 2002, pp. 72–75);

3. To examine key arenas of political activity, including the state, the economy, civil society and culture, identifying key structures, agents, processes, etc, operating within each, and the interconnections between them, as these are understood from contending theoretical perspectives;

4. To apply relevant concepts and theories within critical analyses of contemporary or historical political issues, particularly those involving social injustices and attempts to understand and transform these; and

5. To explore ways of presenting informed critical analysis in an engaging and accessible way.

2.Outline syllabus:

The curriculum will be drawn from topics which may include:

• Tasks of emancipatory social science / Forms of social injustice

• Power, resources and people: Approaching the political

• Arenas of politics: State, economy, civil society & culture

• Power to the people? The promises of pluralism

• Power and patriarchy: Feminist political theories

• Skin in the game? Race, ethnicity and politics

• Society, state and market: political economy in a globalising world

• From the top down: Power elite theories

• Does the ‘ruling class’ really rule? Marxism & politics

• Politics is everywhere: Foucault & Bourdieu on power in social life

• Change the world without taking power? Stateless theories, localism & cultural activism

• ‘Us’ and ‘Them’: Citizens, aliens and the nation-state

• Making history: Structures, agents, ideas & social change

3.Teaching and learning activities:

The module will be delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars/workshop sessions, and the use of digital learning technologies. Lectures introduce key concepts, theories and research for each topic. Seminars/workshops may require some preparatory study, but will be practical and interactive. They will support further learning and understanding through activities that is likely to include discussion and debate, group work, presentations, and individual and group problem-solving activities.

Assessment Item 1:

• Assessment Type: Course Work

• Description: Essay (2000 words)

• % Weighting: 40%

Assessment Item 2:

• Assessment Type: Course Work

• Description: Group podcast

• % Weighting: 60%