Module: POL6004-20 Issues in World Politics

Credit Value: 20

Module Tutor: Dr Tom Wraight

Module Tutor Contact Details: t.wraight@bathspa.ac.uk

1. Brief description and aims of module

This module will enable you to broaden and deepen your understanding of world politics, by exploring how key features of the international system are implicated in efforts to tackle global challenges we face in the present day. It will equip you to examine the ways in which power is distributed, exercised and contested globally, within political, economic, civil society and cultural arenas, and at local, national, international and global levels.

To do this, the module will introduce key actors, structures and processes in world politics, examining how these help to shape the way events in the world unfold, according to contending mainstream and radical theoretical perspectives. You will discover how this knowledge enables us to better understand a range of contemporary global issues and challenges. The aim is to enable you to develop ‘practical knowledge’ to act in the world as we find it - for example, in future employment within NGOs, campaign groups, international organisations, or governments - while at the same time cultivating a critical understanding that will allow you to ‘see the bigger picture’, and identify ways that progress towards global solutions you think are desirable might be pursued.

2. Outline syllabus

The curriculum will be drawn from topics which may include:

• Global challenges & critical theory in the 21st century

• Conceptions of global ethics

• Theories: Realism & liberalism

• Theories: Constructivism & alternative approaches to world politics

• Theories: Marxism & critical theories

• States, power & people

• International regimes & organisations: The challenge of global governance

• Non-governmental organisations & the promise of global civil society

• Perspectives on global political economy

• Global production & trade

• Money, finance & economic crises

• Governing the global economy: The WTO, the IMF & the World Bank

Revisiting global challenges: Opportunities & constraints

3. Teaching and learning activities

The module will be delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars and workshops. Lectures will introduce each topic and provide guidance on indicative reading. Seminars will provide an opportunity to develop your learning through discussions, group work, presentations, and other individual and group learning activities.

Assessment Item 1:

• Assessment Type: CW

• Description: Research report & presentation (equiv. 5000 words)

• % Weighting: 100