IDEAS UG3

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What you learn about on modules in this stream: This stream is for students drawn to the philosophical and theoretical foundations of politics and the life of ideas. It brings together modules in political theory, ethics, and intellectual history, encouraging critical engagement with questions of justice, freedom, power, and identity. Students examine the thinkers and traditions that have shaped political life—from early modern political thought through to contemporary critical theory—and learn to interrogate the assumptions underpinning political institutions and movements.

Career ambitions: policy analyst at a think tank, speechwriter for a politician, working in political communications or political consultancy, working as a journalist or editor for a newspaper, broadcaster, or national magazine.

AUTUMN TERM MODULES IN THIS STREAM

PR3107 – FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: CONCEPTS AND CONTROVERSIES

POL
15 credits – Autumn term

Module Description – Freedom of expression is perhaps the most important human right. This module aims to give students an in depth understanding of the nature and limits of freedom of expression (or speech) from the perspective of normative political theory. We shall investigate the values, norms and principles at issue in contexts where free speech is promoted, regulated, or denied- especially contexts where that choice is contentious, as in hate speech for instance. We shall consider some laws and social media regulations on free speech and look at plenty of real-life examples of controversial speech, especially from the UK and US. Students will be encouraged to look beyond the headlines to explore the rich academic scholarship on free speech, and to offer critical analyses of that scholarship. By the end of the module, students should be able to interrogate their own and others’ intuitive reactions in cases of controversial speech, and to develop a reasoned, nuanced approach to these controversies. Topics covered include: free speech in politics, law and philosophy; foundations of free speech (autonomy, truth, and democracy); hate speech; counterspeech; offensive speech; speech and technology: AI, social media, and privacy; no platforming; misinformation; and online public shaming.

Module Leader – Dr Jonathan Seglow

Module Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars

Assessment – Case study (1000 words) – 30%; Essay (2500 words) – 70%

What you can do to prepare for this module – You could look at Matteo Bonotti and Jonathan Seglow, Free Speech (Cambridge Polity, 2021) or our much shorter, if rather dense article Freedom of Expression, or dip into Frederick Schauer and Adrienne Stone (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Freedom of Speech. There is a short TEDx talk on What is the Point of Free Speech? And these podcasts on Free Speech, Freedom of Speech, and Should there be any limits to free speech?

PR3492 – THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF RACIAL INJUSTICE

POL/IR

15 credits – Autumn term

Module Description – Who wins and loses in the economy? How do racial and gender inequalities persist because of the way we buy homes, pay tuition, or govern banks? This module studies the ways that inequality and unfreedom are sustained in institutional arrangements and everyday practices. We study how the organization and governance of the economy has played a role in limiting access for women, people of colour, and other marginalized groups. We study the history of the global economy but with an attention to the kinds of domination and exploitation that made “progress” possible for some.

The aim of this module is to help you be a more engaged and more circumspect political actor, consumer, and member in your political community. You will be able to pick up a newspaper article about the stock market’s triumphs and understand the subtle dynamics of winning, losing, and exploitation that make this “success” possible. You will also have the chance to develop your skills as a reader, writer, and colleague. These analytical and collaborative skills will be paramount in any career and certainly as you face the challenge of communicating with people who think differently than you.

Module Leader – Dr Gauri Wagle

Module Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars

Assessment – Reading summaries (1000 words) – 30%; Essay (2500 words) – 70%

What you can do to prepare for this module – Please read Lawrie Balfour’s Democracy’s Reconstruction: Thinking Politically with W.E.B. Du Bois (Oxford: OUP, 2011).

PR3540 – RADICAL POLITICAL THEORY I: HEGEL, MARX, NIETZSCHE

POL

15 credits – Autumn term

Module Description – This module aims to introduce students to key questions and arguments concerning the relationship between identity, power, meaning and knowledge, through close examination of texts from GWF Hegel, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Nietzsche. It should lead students to appreciate critiques of modern Western societies and their values, which not only underpin recent “postmodernist” or “post-structuralist” thought but also form crucial theoretical elements in debates about gender, multiculturalism, nationalism, post-colonialism, new social movements, etc., across the social sciences and humanities. It aims to develop in students the ability to critically reflect about the nature and scope of politics and ethics through engagement with texts that have sought to provide insights and new ways of thinking about these realms.

Module Leader – Professor Nathan Widder

Module Delivery – Weekly seminars

Assessment – Textual analysis (1000 words) – 30%; Essay (2500 words) – 57%

SPRING TERM MODULES IN THIS STREAM

PR3105 – POLITICAL THEORIES OF FREEDOM

POL

15 credits – Spring term

Module Description – This module examines different theoretical understandings of freedom, and how these bear on issues relating to pluralism, gender, identity, race, and democracy. It does so by examining the work of figures from the history of Western political thought such as Mill and Berlin, and contemporary writers including Young, Reed and Pettit.

Module Leader – Dr Michael Bacon

Module Delivery – weekly lectures, seminars and guided independent study

Assessment – Essay 1 (1750 words) – 50%; Essay 2 (1750 words) – 50%

PR3541 – RADICAL POLITICAL THEORY II: CRITICAL THEORY AND POSTSTRUCTURALISM

POL

15 credits – Spring term

Module Description – This module aims to introduce students to key questions and arguments concerning the relationship between identity, power, meaning and knowledge, through close examination of texts from Theodor Adorno, Jean-François Lyotard, Michel Foucault, and Gilles Deleuze & Félix Guattari. It should lead students to appreciate critiques of modern Western societies and their values, that not only form part of the philosophical movements of critical theory and poststructuralism but that in turn have informed crucial debates about gender, multiculturalism, nationalism, post-colonialism, new social movements, etc., across the social sciences and humanities. It aims to develop in students the ability to critically reflect about the nature and scope of politics and ethics through engagement with texts that have sought to provide insights and new ways of thinking about these realms.

Module Leader – Professor Nathan Widder

Module Delivery – Weekly seminars

Assessment – Textual analysis (1000 words) – 30%; Essay (2500 words) – 70%

PR3645 – REVOLUTION & COUNTERREVOLUTION IN THE MODERN WORLD

POL/IR

15 credits – Spring term

Module Description – Revolution and Counterrevolution in the Modern World is a final-year half-unit module which offers the opportunity to acquire in-depth knowledge on theories and practices of revolution and counterrevolution. You will learn how to critically and comparatively examine different features of revolution and counterrevolution, assessing case studies using different theories, and studying the impact of revolutions on local and international systems. To do that, this module introduces various definitions and types of revolution in the context of global politics, and, additionally, it brings into this important field of study the concept of counterrevolution, in order to understand the reaction of local, regional, and international actors to revolutions. So, this module does not think of cases of revolution as strictly local phenomena. Instead, it inspires analysis at local, regional and international level. It will approach revolutions not only through academic text, but also through films and other forms of art that give these complex phenomena meaning. This module will begin by introducing the main schools of thought in studies of revolution and counterrevolution . It will then explore illuminating cases of revolution from around the world, and encourage you to apply theories of revolution and counterrevolution on those cases, and, in the process, evaluate these cases in comparative terms.

Module Leader – Dr Ibrahim Halawi

Module Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars

Assessment – Film Review (1000 words) – 30%; Essay (2500 words) – 70%

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