GG36920 - GEOGRAPHIES OF RURAL POLITICS

Module Identifier	GG36920
Module Title	GEOGRAPHIES OF RURAL POLITICS
Academic Year	2002/2003
Co-ordinator	Dr Michael J Woods
Semester	Semester 2
Course delivery	Lecture	20 Hours 10 x 2 hrs
	Seminars / Tutorials	2 Hours 1 x 2 hrs
Assessment	Semester Exam	2 Hours A 2 hour seen final exam paper, answering 2 questions from 4. All elements of the assessment must be completed to obtain a pass mark based on the aggregate performance.	50%
	Semester Assessment	A 'consultancy report' coursework assignment of 2500 words = 40% and a contribution to a roleplaying debate = 10%. Standard IGES policy on the late submission of work will apply to the coursework assignment. All elements of the assessment must be completed to obtain a pass mark based on the weighted aggregate performance.	50%
	Supplementary Assessment	Resit: For a condoned non-completion of examination or submission of a 1000 word short essay on the topic of the debate. The full range of marks on dates set in the Supplementary Examination period. Resit due to aggregate failure or non-completion of part of the assessment requires re-examination of each component if marks of <40% in both were obtained, or re-examination or re-submission of the failed component (examination or assignment(s) to obtain a maximum mark of 40% for the module). Resit due to failure or non-completion or participation in the role-playing debate will involve the submission of a 1000 word short essay on the topic of the debate.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this module, students should be able to:

Demonstrate a critical appreciation of contemporary political processes in rural areas

Discuss and evaluate theories of the State, governance, policy-making and rurality

Discuss major contemporary political issues effecting the British countryside

Demonstrate competence in individual study and in oral and written presentations.

Aims

This module aims to examine the contemporary political process in rural areas and its historical development. It seeks to critically analyse contemporary rural politics, drawing on a range of social and political theories which will be discussed in the context of empirical examples.

Content

Introduction
1. Introducing rural politics: the myth of the apolitical countryside

The Evolution of the Rural Power Structure
2. Property, paternalism and power
3. Contemporary rural local politics
4. Rural governance
5. Rural policy
6. Contesting rurality
7. Agricultural politics
8. Hunting and field sports
9. Debate
10. Houses, roads and travellers
11. Rurality and Nationalism

Reading Lists

Books
P. Cloke & J. Little. (1990) The Rural State. Oxford: Oxford University Press
H. Newby, C. Bell, D. Rose & P. Saunders. (1978) Property, Paternalism and Power. London: Hutchinson
J. Murdoch & T. Marsden. (1994) Reconstituting Rurality. London: UCL Press ISBN 1-85728-645-6
M. Winter. (1996) Rural Politics. London: Routledge ISBN 0-415-08176-9

Articles
M. Mormont. (1983) The emergence or rural struggles and their ideological effects. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 7, 559-575.