Politics MA - 2020 Entry

Course Structure

You will study a range of modules as part of your course, some examples of which are listed below.

Core

• Dissertation (Standard)

  The module involves the negotiation, design and delivery of a research project whose precise topic will be determined by the student and the project supervisor.

  The dissertation will be 20,000 words in length and is designed to provide students with the opportunity to consolidate their existing knowledge and skills base while developing new knowledge and skills made possible by its project-orientated nature.

• Theory and Methods in Postgraduate Studies

  This module serves to consolidate postgraduate research and learning support by enabling students to engage with theories, methods, and skills of direct relevance to their studies. The module is core for all PPR PGT politics students and complements core subject and discipline-specific provision in religious studies and philosophy. The module aims to equip students with the ability to reflect upon the processes and implications of research project planning, design and execution in Politics, Philosophy and/or Religion.

  The first part of the module examines the principles of research, including different disciplinary traditions of knowledge production. It goes on to set out the process of structuring a research project and explores how to develop and apply theory. The second part of the module examines a range of methods for conducting research, including interviews, surveys, and case studies. The final section covers questions of ethics and goes through how to write up and present research. Through the module, students will design research projects, develop writing and critical evaluation skills, and have the opportunity to present their research ideas as part of the annual MA conference. The module involves a combination of lectures, small group discussion, and presentations covering the following areas:

  • The academic research process.

  • Project planning, design and process management.

  • Ethics in postgraduate research.

  • Resource identification and review processes.

  • Data acquisition techniques and issues.

  • Analytical and interpretative approaches.

  • Academic conventions (e.g. making an argument, writing, referencing).

  Select Bibliography:

  Bryman, A. 2016. Social Research Methods 5th Ed.: Oxford University Press

  Cooley, L. 2003. Dissertation Writing in Practice. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.

  Creswell, J. and Creswell, J.W. 2018. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. 5th Ed.Thousand Oaks: Sage.

  Grix, J. 2010. The Foundations of Research. 2nd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

  McMillan, K. 2011. Study Skills for International Students. Harlow: Prentice Hall, 2011.

  Potter, S. (ed.) 2006. Doing Postgraduate Research. 2nd ed. London: Sage.

  Thody, A. 2006. Writing and Presenting Research. London: Sage.

  Wilkinson, D. 2005. The Essential Guide to Postgraduate Study. London: Sage.

  Wisker, G. 2008. The Postgraduate Research Handbook. 2nd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Optional

• Conflict Management and Contemporary Conflicts

  The course aims to explore a variety of approaches to conflict management in contemporary conflicts, by third parties and parties in conflict, and critically assesses their effectiveness and potential. The course draws its theoretical foundations from peace and conflict research but is aimed at enabling students to learn to assess the scope for conflict management and peace-building in practice. The module includes both academic literature as well as policy relevant papers.

  The focus of the course is on analysing peace processes and practical problems of conflict prevention, conflict management and peace-building in a range of contemporary international, internal, ethnic, community and environmental conflicts.

  Students will be divided up into groups of two or three, and each group will take responsibility for identifying and investigating a specific approach to conflict management in a conflict of their choice. The choice of cases will vary with the interest of students. In recent year topics included Afghanistan, Chechnya, Georgia, Kashmir, Kosovo, Macedonia, Northern Ireland, Liberia/Sierra Leone, Timor Elste, conflict prevention and the emergent global climate change negotiations, and peace-building in contemporary Africa and Asia.

  The course is taught in 10 2-hour lecture seminars, with the first half devoted to the lecture and the second half dedicated to substantial presentations by the student / group.

  Select Bibliography:

  Barash, David P. & Webel, Charles P. (2008) Peace and Conflict Studies, London: Sage.Darby J & Mac Ginty, R, Contemporary Peacemaking (Palgrave Macmillan, 2002)Eriksen, T. H., Ethnicity and Nationalism (Zed, 2010).Kaldor, M., New & Old Wars (Polity Press, 2006) Lyons, T. (2008) Conflict Management and African Conflicts – Ripeness, Bargaining and Mediation, London: Routledge, 2008)Misra, A. Afghanistan: The Labyrinth of Violence (Polity, 2004).Misra A., Politics of Civil Wars (Routledge 2008)Paris, R., At War’s End (Cambridge Univ. Press. 2005)Ramsbotham, O, Woodhouse T. & Miall, H, Contemporary Conflict Resolution – 3rd edition (Blackwell's, 2010)Rupesinghe, K, Civil Wars, Civil Peace (Pluto Press, 1998)Zartman, I.W., Peacemaking in International Conflict (USIP, 2005)European Centre for Conflict Prevention, People Building Peace (1999)Wallensteen, P., Understanding Conflict Resolution (Sage, 2006)

• Globalisation and Democratisation

  This course introduces students to the historical and contemporary making of the 'Third World' (the global South) with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and South Asia. It is divided into two parts. The first half explores historical processes, beginning with the creation of an international capitalist economy and its incorporation of the global South from the sixteenth century onwards and ends with an examination of neo-liberalism and the post-Washington consensus with its emphasis on poverty reduction and the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The second half explores key contemporary development policies, debates and actors such as foreign aid and international NGOs; diaspora politics and remittances; grassroots social movements; and the role of China in fostering a renewed focus on resource-based models of development including reformist, redistributive models as in Venezuela and Ecuador. The course objective is thus to equip students to critically appraise the complex interactions between Northern and Southern state and non-state actors in shaping current development policy and resistance to it.

  Select Bibliography

  Burbach, R. et al (2013) Latin America’s Turbulent Transitions.

  Eller, S. (ed) (2014) Latin America’s Radical Left: Challenges and Complexities of Political Power in the Twenty-first Century.

  Fanon, F. (1961) The Wretched of the Earth.

  James, CLR (1938) The Black Jacobins.

  Hobsbawm, E. (1968) Industry and Empire.

  Holmen, H. (2010) Snakes in Paradise: NGOs and the Aid Industry in Africa.

  Hoogvelt, A. (2001) Globalisation and the Postcolonial World: The New Political Economy of Development.

  Lewis, D. & Kanji, N. (2009) Non-governmental Organizations and Development.

  Livingstone, G. (2009) America's Backyard: the United States and Latin America from the Monroe Doctrine to the War on Terror.

  Rodney, W. (1972) How Europe Underdeveloped Africa.

  Robinson, W. (1996) Promoting Polyarchy: Globalisation, US Intervention and Hegemony.

  Robinson, W. (2008) Latin America and Global Capitalism: A Critical Globalization Perspective.

  Wills, J. et al (2009) Global Cities at Work: New Migrant Divisions of Labour.

• Globalisation: Its Meanings, Causes and Consequences

  Globalisation has become a buzzword in the social sciences and lay discourse. It is often related to the speeding up of global communication and travel, and the transnationalisation of economic, political, social and cultural institutions. The meaning and causes of globalisation are highly debatable. For the purposes of this module globalisation is defined as a complex, paradoxical set of processes, which are multi-scalar, multi-temporal, multi-centric, multi-form, and multi-causal. It produces fragmentation and integration, divergence and convergence as well as continuities and discontinuities. Their overall effect is to reconfigure asymmetries of power and knowledge and this in turn raises questions about governance, inequalities, and resistance in and across different parts of the world. Selected themes range from MacDonaldization through to Wal-Martization and the current financial crisis.

  The course is taught on the basis of ten weekly two-hour seminars with short lectures, a 15-20 min. student presentation, and a general discussion in which all are expected to participate. The topics include: the world market, finance and production, labour and migration, global cities, global media and global culture, sovereignty and nation-states, global governance, global cities as well as financial globalization and crisis.

  Select Bibliography:

  Bauman, Z., Globalization: the Human ConsequencesChossudovsky, M and Marshall, A. The Global Financial CrisisGrant, R & Short, J., Globalization and the MarginsHolton, R. Globalization and the Nation-State (2nd edition)Panitch, L. and Gindin, S. The Making of Global CapitalismPerrons, D., Globalization and Social ChangeSchirato, T & Webb, J., Understanding GlobalizationShort, J., Global DimensionsSteger, M., Globalization: The New Market Ideology

• Independent Study Module

  Tutorial rather than lecture or seminar based, this module provides opportunity to undertake a concentrated and focussed study of a topic, theme or subject which is of interest to the student and for which appropriate supervisory coverage and academic resourcing are available. Student learning is facilitated by five hours of tutorial support.

  The subject specialist tutor who supervises the student will: • advise on whether the student’s planned area of research is appropriate • give guidance regarding the nature and format of the essay• give guidance on the planning of the essay• give feedback on a draft of the essay provided by the student

  The student will: • formulate a topic as a clearly defined research problem• produce a reading list of relevant literature• produce the outline/early draft of an essay on the basis of the research for comments by the supervisor

  Assessment is a 5,000 word essay.

• Issues and Practice in Diplomacy and Foreign Policy

  Diplomacy and Foreign Policy are central to the understanding of international politics. The structure of the international system induces a constant need for political dialogue and negotiations. Besides war, diplomacy is the common language states are using to interact on the world stage.Complementing the first core module on Diplomacy and Foreign Policy which provides theoretical understanding of the subject, this module applies these theoretical tools to contemporary diplomatic and negotiation issues and great power politics (PPR.430 is NOT a prerequisite though). Indeed, the teaching and learning strategy of Diplomacy and Foreign Policy is designed to give students both theoretical and practical understanding of contemporary issues in diplomacy and foreign policy. Academic teaching will thus be complemented by lectures (diplomats, civil servants, etc.) and in-class activities such as mock negotiation exercises.

  Select Bibliography: L.-A. Broadhead, International Environmental Politics: the Limits of Green Diplomacy, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2002.M. J. Butler, International Conflict Management, Routledge, 2009.J. A. Larsen and J. J. Wirtz, Arms Control and Cooperative Security, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2009.D. Lesage et al., Global Energy Governance in a Multipolar World, Ashgate, 2010. J. H. Mittelman, Contesting Global Order: Development, Global Governance and Globalization, Routledge, 2011.I. Shapiro, Containment: Rebuilding a Strategy against Global Terror, Princeton University Press, 2008.J. G. Speth and P. M. Haas, Global Environmental Governance, Island Press, 2006. M. Telo (ed), European Union and Global Governance, Routledge/Garnet Series, 2009. A. Heywood, Global Politics, Palgrave, 2011.

• Major Approaches to the Study of International Relations

  This module aims to provide students with a broad understanding of the main areas of study within the field of international relations (IR). The introductory session addresses the general question as to what constitutes the study of IR. Subsequent sessions examine the major approaches to the discipline (both mainstream and critical), focusing upon the distinctive insights and analyses that they have brought to bear.

  Students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the nature of the wide-ranging theoretical debates that have shaped the discipline and will develop an understanding of the importance of questions of theory to the way in which we study IR. More particularly, students will be able:

  • To understand the importance and role of theories to the study of IR• To understand the interpretation of the world and of IR put forward by each theory• To identify the central assumptions and features underlying each of those theories• To analyse the points of debate between these theories and critically assess them• To evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each theory• To apply the theoretical tools to the “facts out there” (linking theory with practice)• To develop presentational and organisational skills through the seminar component of the course

  Select Bibliography:

  Scott Burchill et al., Theories of International Relations, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, Fourth edition, 2009.Tim Dunne et al., International Relations Theories: Discipline and Diversity, second edition, OUP, Oxford, 2010.

• Philosophy of mental disorder

  This module will involve an in depth study of a number of contemporary debates in the philosophy of mental disorder. Topics will vary from year to year, but may include the following:• What is mental disorder? Students will be introduced to some of the key accounts of mental disorder: What is the relationship between evolutionary dysfunction and disorder? Are disorders necessarily harmful?• Antipsychiatry/ postpsychiatry - The antipsychiatrists (and more recently postpsychiatrists) argue that the very concept of mental disorder is dubious. Are mental disorders substantially like physical disorders? Or, do diagnoses of "mental disorder" simply label behaviour that is unusual, socially stigmatised, or bad?• Classification - Are mental disorders "natural kinds"? To what extent are values involved in the construction of psychiatric classifications?• Conceptualising cultural variations - Do mental disorders vary from culture to culture? Would cultural variation mean that a disorder is less "real"?• Realism and constructionism about mental disorder - What does it mean to say that a disorder is real or constructed?• Meaning and the limits of reduction - Can symptoms be reduced to faulty brain states? Or, do symptoms such as "delusion" resist reduction?• Responsibility and disorder - Are those with mental disorders responsible for their actions? Are psychopaths ill or simply evil?• Identity and mental disorder - Can a disorder be central to someone's identity?• Values in psychiatric reseach - In what ways is research in psychiatry value-laden? What are the advantages of user-led research?

  Selected Bibliography:

  Bolton, D. (2008). What is mental disorder?: an essay in philosophy, science, and values. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Bolton, D. & J. Hill (1996) Mind, Meaning and Mental Disorder.Oxford: Oxford University Press.Bracken, P., & Thomas, P. (2005). Postpsychiatry: mental health in a postmodern world. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Cooper, R. (2005) Classifying Madness. Dordrcht: Springer.Cooper, R (2007) Psychiatry and Philosophy of Science. Stocksfield: Acumen.Foucault, M. (1988). Madness and civilization: A history of insanity in the age of reason. LLC:Random HouseGlover, J. (2014). Alien Landscapes?: Interpreting Disordered Minds. Harvard: Harvard University Press.Hacking, I. “Making up people” pp99-114 in Hacking (2002) Historical Ontology. Harvard: Harvard Uuniversity Press.Murphy, D. (2006). Psychiatry in the scientific image. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Szasz, T. (1960) The myth of mental illness American Psychologist, 15, 113-118.Wakefield, J. (1992) The concept of mental disorder - On the boundary between biological facts and social value. American Psychologist. 47, 373-388. Zachar, P. (2014). A metaphysics of psychopathology. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.

• Politics and International Relations of the Middle East

  This course familiarises you with the major issues in the politics and international relations of the contemporary Middle East region. The countries covered include all Arab states and non-Arab states such as Iran and Israel. Deliberately, the course will start with a hard look at the contemporary picture in the region and, from that, ask the questions about how we got there. Digging back will include a broad introduction to the people, society, history and politics of the Middle East. The course will then explore the interplay of factors such as religion, ethnicity, gender and class in the politics of the region; the role played by internal and external actors; issues of conflict in the region; political economies; foreign policies of major states and the perception of what those policies might be; regional integration; the concepts of political Islam and the challenge of democracy and Islam.

  The aim of the course is not in the first place to cover in detail all of the most recent events, and it will be assumed that you follow current affairs in the region. Rather, the aim is to undertake a deeper exploration of the region: to help you understand and analyse the dynamics involved in these events and processes. In other words: why did things evolve the way they did, why are they what they appear to be today, and what does this tell us about where they are likely to go in the future? This will be done through guided reading, seminar discussion, and your own research and writing. The topics covered in the course include:• The Middle East after the Arab Spring(s); the shi’i/sunni pulls for influence • “Political Islam” and the concept of the state; the “war on terror” • Where did all this come from? People, society, tribes, money and politics • Voices of the Middle East: religion, ethnicity, gender and class, salafis, language and the Qur’an • Internal and External Actors in the Middle East; diplomacy • Political economies of the region: oil power or dependency? • The Arab-Israeli conflict• Wars now in the region; containment, intervention and persuasion • Democracy in the Middle East; shi’a and sunna; the “gates of ijtihad” Select Bibliography:Mark Allen, Arabs: A New Perspective (Continuum, 2006) Olivier Roy, The Failure of Political Islam (Harvard University Press, 1994)Gilles Kepel, Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam (I. B. Taurus, 2006)Philip Bobbitt, Terror and Consent: The Wars for the Twenty-first Century (Random House, 2009)Marc Lynch, The Arab Uprising: The unfinished revolutions of the New Middle East (Public Affairs Books, 2012)Joumana Haddad, Superman is an Arab: On God, marriage, macho men and other disastrous interventions (Westbourne Press, 2012)Jonathan Schneer, The Balfour Declaration: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (Bloomsbury, 2010)Wen-chin Ouyang, Poetics of Love in the Arabic Novel: Nation-state, modernity and tradition (Edinburgh University Press, 2012)Charles Tripp, The Power and the People: Paths of Resistance in the Middle East (CUP, 2014) John Gray, Al Qaeda, And What it Means to be Modern (Faber & Faber, 2003)

• Public Policy

  This module examines comparatively the changing nature of policy-making in advanced industrial democracies, focusing primarily on government and politics in Western Europe and North America.

  At the end of the module, students will be able to: demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the academic study of public policy; display an appreciation of the different demands placed upon policy-makers; show an awareness of the different types of theoretical perspectives that have been developed in the political science literature on public policy; identify the role of governmental institutions in the policy making process; distinguish between key policy areas such as economic, social, home and foreign affairs; directly link issues discussed in the curriculum to future employability in public policy.

  The module is taught in weekly two-hour seminars. These will commence in Week 1 and will run for ten weeks, covering the topics listed below:

  1. Studying the ‘quality of democracy’2. Theories of power and organisations3. Policy-making in practice4. Government and legislation5. Multi-Level Governance6. Parties and elections7. Economic policy8. Social policy9. Home affairs and justice policy10. Foreign policy Select Bibliography: Michael Hill, The Public Policy Process, Pearson, 2013Anneliese Dodds, Comparative Public Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012Christopher Knill and Jale Tosun, Public Policy: A New Introduction, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012 Paul Cairney, Understanding Public Policy: Theories and Issues, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011

• Studying Religion

  This module aims to provide skills training for postgraduate students in religious studies from induction to completion of the master's dissertation. It supports existing taught modules by introducing a variety of research methods from other disciplines and theoretical issues within religious studies. It also introduces cross-cultural and cross-religious examination of research topics in religious studies. The module will provide students the opportunity for developing generic skills in library research, essay writing, and dissertation planning.

  • Induction in the study of religions: resources, essay planning and writing, seminar preparation and presentations • Research methodologies: examples selected from philosophical, anthropological, sociological, psychological, and phenomenological approaches • Theoretical approaches to the study of religion: examples selected from the disciplines of the humanities and social sciences • Dissertation workshop: finding a topic and supervisor, completion plan, case studies Select Bibliography: Asad, T, Genealogies of Religion (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993)Heelas & Woodhead, Spiritual Revolution (Blackwell, 2004)King, R, Orientalism and Religion (Routledge, 1999)King, U. (ed.) Gender, Religions, and Diversity (Blackwell, 1995)Reader, I. & G. Tanabe (eds.) Practically Religious (University of Hawaii Press, 1998)

• Theorising Security and War

  • Do we still know what security and war are?• How convincing are the arguments about the ‘civilizing process’ and changes in war global politics?• What will war look like in the coming century? How will war be shaped by ‘speed’ and the ‘pace of change’ transforming societies?• How serious are the new security challenges – issues like cybersecurity, climate change and urban conflict?

  Theorizing helps us to pose and answer these questions. This module introduces students to ways of conceptualizing power, security and war. Since forms of security and war are intimately correlated with forms of cultural political and economic life, theories in this module address: geopolitics, biopolitics, techno-science, digitalization, molecularization, network war, image war and virtual war. The teaching and learning strategy of Theorising Security and War is designed to make students theoretically and philosophically literate in conceptual and analytical schemes that help us understand the geopolitics of security and war. Students should be able to:• demonstrate a broad theoretical competence in relation to key texts in the study of modernity, security and war• develop a critical understanding of key areas of contemporary security studies: such as cybersecurity, environmental security, urban geopolitics and drone theory.• locate a specific theoretical tradition within its wider theoretical and philosophical assumptions and be capable also of critical comparing different traditions in relation both to these assumptions and their different logical and practical entailments

  In the process students should be able to demonstrate in written work, group presentation and discussion more refined analytical skills in the interrogation and critical engagement of empirical material and case studies drawn from a wide variety of multi-media sources

  Select Bibliography:

  Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature (Allen Lane, 2012)Gregoire Chamayou, Drone Theory (Penguin 2014)Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust (Polity, 1989)Paul Virilio, Speed and Politics (Semiotexte, 2008)Stephen Graham, Cities Under Siege (Verso, 2011)Thomas Rid, Cyberwar will not take place (Hurst 2014)Foucault, Michel, Society Must be Defended (Allen Lane, 2003)Castells, Manuel, The Rise of the Network Society (Blackwell's, 2000)Creveld, Martin van, The Transformation of War (Free Press, 1991)

• Theory and Concepts in Diplomacy and Foreign Policy

  Diplomacy and Foreign Policy are central to the understanding of international politics. The structure of the international system induces a constant need for political dialogue and negotiations. Besides war, diplomacy is the common language states are using to interact on the world stage.

  This module introduces students to ways of conceptualizing diplomacy and foreign policy in the 21st century:

  • Why do states rely on diplomacy?• What are the current forms and features of diplomacy and foreign policy?• Is diplomacy the only form of international dialogue besides war?• How do states (and statesmen) negotiate?• How has diplomacy evolved throughout history?• Does ‘global governance’ exist?

  The teaching and learning strategy of Diplomacy and Foreign Policy is designed to give students both theoretical and practical understanding of contemporary issues in diplomacy and foreign policy. Academic teaching will be complemented by lectures and in-class activities carried out by practitioners (diplomats, civil servants, etc.). Select Bibliography: R. Barston, Modern Diplomacy, Longman, 2006.G. R. Berridge, Diplomacy: Theory and Practice, Palgrave, 2002.S. Smith et al., Foreign Policy: Theories, Actors, Cases, OUP, 2012.J. P. Muldoon et al., The New Dynamics of Multilateralism Diplomacy, International Organizations, and Global Governance, Westview Press, 2005.A. Heywood, Global Politics, Palgrave, 2011.

Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, but changes may be necessary, for example as a result of student feedback, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes, and new research.