Module Identifier

GG36920

Module Title

GEOGRAPHIES OF RURAL POLITICS

Academic Year

2008/2009

Co-ordinator

Professor Michael J Woods

Semester

Semester 1

Course Delivery

Delivery Type	Delivery length / details
Lecture	18 Hours. 9 x 2 hrs
Seminars / Tutorials	2 Hours. 1 x 2 hrs

Assessment

Assessment Type	Assessment length / details	Proportion
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%
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%
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.
Supplementary Exam	2 Hours Please see below for supplementary regulations.	50%

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 Debate
9. Defending the Middle Class Countryside
10. Rural Movements and the Global Countryside

Reading List

General Text
H. Newby, C. Bell, D. Rose & P. Saunders (1978) Property, Paternalism and Power London: Hutchinson Primo search J. Murdoch & T. Marsden (1994) Reconstituting Rurality London: UCL Press Primo search M. Winter (1996) Rural Politics London: Routledge Primo search M. Woods (2005) Contesting Rurality:Politics in the British Countryside Aldershot: Ashgate Primo search M. Mormont (1983) The emergence or rural struggles and their ideological effects International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 7, 559-575. Primo search M. Woods Decontsructing rural protest: the emergence of a new social movement, Journal of Rural Studies, 19, 309-325 Primo search

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6