Department of Social & Policy Sciences, Unit Catalogue 2010/11 |
SP20244: Political sociology |
 Credits:
| 6 |
| Level:
| Intermediate |
| Period: | This unit is available in... |
| Semester 1 |
| Assessment:
| ES100 |
| Supplementary Assessment: | Supplementary assessment information not currently available (this will be added shortly) |
| Requisites:
| |
| Description:
| Aims: The aims of the unit are to: 1. provide the students with an understanding of the political nature of sociological theorising and a sociological understanding for the development of recent political theory. 2. give the students a specific set of critical tools through which to define and discuss the substantive concerns of political sociology. 3. ground theoretical understanding on significant contemporary political events that occur as a result of wider processes of economic, political and social transformation. 4. promote participation and the involvement of students in a deeper awareness of their own approaches to the issues addressed during the course. Learning Outcomes: By the end of the course students should be able to: 1.identify and describe the field of political sociology. 2. identify and assess theories of the state, power and civil society. 3. critically apply theoretical knowledge to the analysis of current developments in world context. 4. identify the impact of main global transformation on political sociology as a discipline. Skills: Intellectual skills: * To think creatively and analytically * To communicate an argument. * To evaluate others' arguments and research * To critically evaluate and assess research and evidence as well as a variety of other information. * To select appropriate and relevant information from a wide source and large body of knowledge * To synthesise information from a number of sources in order to gain a coherent understanding. Transferable/Key skills: * Inter-personal and communication skills * Essay research, preparation and writing skills * To construct a bibliography of varying complexity Knowledge outcomes * Theoretical basis of political sociology perspectives * Knowledge of the current developments in practice and research in world context. Content: Political sociology is a discipline that studies 'the social circumstances of politics' (Orum, 1983). It examines the concept and reality of power in a social context, and focuses on the 'institution' through which power is fought over, mediated and dispersed in capitalist societies: the state. The unit will focus on the state, power and civil society and the relationship between them within the context of global capitalism. Part I (4 sessions) will examine the state through a number of questions such as to what extent can the state reflect equally the interests of all groups in society? Why has the state increasingly seemed to serve the interests of capital? Is it possible to reform the capitalist state? The session will cover what is political sociology, what is the state, Liberal, Managerial and Marxist theories of the state, and different political regimes (social democracy, liberalism, neo-liberalism; socialism) Part II (4 sessions) will examine issues of power and civil society. The sessions will cover what and where is power, civil society, social movement theories, the politics of resistance and autonomy, global civil society and anti-globalisation protest Part III (2 sessions) will explore how and to what extent globalisation brought about a challenge to political sociology (old and new political sociology and the paradigm shift from state-centred, class-based models of participation towards an understanding of politics as non hierarchical and potential in all social experiences, transnational social movements and governance, new conceptions of class). |