Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Seminars / Tutorials | 11 x 2 hours |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 3,000 word essay | 30% |
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 4,500 word essay | 50% |
| Semester Assessment | 1 x seminar presentation | 20% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Display an understanding of the nature of historical materialist analysis, with an emphasis on the historical approach to the study of concepts in international relations
2. Critically evaluate the strengths and weakness of materialist approaches to political and social issues, particularly regarding the relationship between ideas and materiality.
3. Understand the different concepts of imperialism developed by both classical and contemporary Marxist theory, and the historical development of these concepts.
4. Understand debates surrounding the relationship between states and capitalism in the development of the international system.
5. Develop an understanding of the relationship between politics and economics in IR theory and in political practice.
6. Critically analyze the reemergence of historical materialist scholarship in the discipline of IR.
7. Assess the usefulness of central concepts in historical materialist scholarship, such as class, modes of production, relations of production, to analyzing global politics.
Brief description
international relations, such as the nature of anarchy and geopolitical competition, the problems of, and solutions to, global inequality, the nature of historical development and change, issues nationalism, race, class, and the challenges posed by particularity within universality. Through these discussions the students will also engage with many of the
meta-theoretical issues that structure the main contours of debates within international relations, such as the divide between materialist and constructivism theorizing. Moreover, the module asks that students engage with the development of theoretical Ideas undertaken by political active practitioners facing concrete historical dilemmas,
and to consider how these localized and temporally particular theories influence subsequent scholarship.
Aims
This module contributes to the Department’s provision in the areas of International Relations Theory, International History, and Postcolonial Politics. It provides students with the opportunity to engage with a central strand of historical sociological thought – historical materialism - currently subject to renewed interest within the discipline of IR. The module invites students to engage with some of the key debates, and key issues, which have shaped our understanding of the modern world system, as developed both within and outside the academy. Students will have to opportunity to develop an in-depth knowledge of the problems of capitalism, the state, and ‘the international’, and in doing so better understand and analyze both theoretical concepts and political issues in a historical framework. They will also develop an in-depth knowledge of one of the most significant and influential strands of classical sociology, and consider its strengths and limitations in relation to alternative explanations of global politics.
Content
1. Marx, Engels and the Materialist Theory of History
2. Marx and the Analysis of Capital
3. Marxism After Marx and Engels
Marxism and International Relations
4. Imperialism I: Lenin and the Realist Moment in Marxism
5. Lenin and the Problems of Universalism
6. Socialism in One Country? Debating Uneven and Combined Development
7. State(s) and Capital(s): Historical Evolution and the State System
8. The Enduring Problem of Ideas and Ideologies: Hegemony, False Consciousness and Identity
9. Race and Class in Global Capitalism
10. Imperialism II: Contemporary Debates
11. State(s) and Capital(s) Redux: Globalization Neoliberalism, Future Trajectories
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | N/A |
| Communication | Students will learn how to present their ideas both verbally and in writing and how to how to present their arguments most effectively. They will learn the importance of information and clear communication and how to exploit these. They will know how to use the many sources of information available and how to use the most appropriate form of communication to best advantage. They will learn to be clear in their writing and speaking and to be direct about aims and objectives. They will learn to consider only that which is relevant to the topic, focus and objectives of their argument or discussion. This module will particularly test aural and oral communication skills as it involves assessed seminar performance. Students will also be required to submit their essays in word-processed format and the presentation of work should reflect effective expression of ideas and good use of language skills in order to ensure clarity, coherence and effective communication. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | The module aims to promote self-management but within a context in which support and assistance is available from both the convenor and fellow students alike. Students will be expected to improve their own learning and performance by undertaking their own research and exercising their own initiative, including searching for sources and deciding (under guidance) the direction of their coursework and presentation topics. The need to prepare for assessed seminar participation and to meet coursework deadlines will focus students’ attention on the need to manage their time. |
| Information Technology | Students will be expected to submit their work in word-processed format. Also, students will be encouraged to search for sources of information on the web, as well as seeking sources through electronic information sources (such as Web of Science and OCLC). Students will also be expected to make use of the resources that will be available on the Blackboard VLE. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | The discussions in particular will help to develop students’ verbal and presentation skills. Learning about the process of planning an essay and a presentation, framing the parameters of the projects, honing and developing the projects and seeing through to completion will contribute towards their portfolio of transferable skills. |
| Problem solving | Independent project work and problem solving will be one central goal of the module; the submission of two essays and preparation for seminar discussions will require that students develop independent research skills as well as problem solving skills. The ability of students to solve problems will be developed and assessed by asking them to: adopt differing points of view; organize data and estimate an answer to the problem; consider extreme cases; reason logically; construct theoretical models; consider similar cases; look for patterns; divide issues into smaller problems. |
| Research skills | Students will be required to undertake independent research for all elements of the assessed work. This will involve utilizing media and web sources, as well as more conventional academic texts. Research preparation for seminars will also enable students to develop independent research skills. |
| Subject Specific Skills | Students have the opportunity to develop, practice and test a wide range of subject specific skills that help them to understand, conceptualise and evaluate examples and ideas on the module. These subject specific skills include: • Collect and understand a wide range of data relating to the module • Evaluate competing perspectives • Demonstrate subject specific research techniques Apply a range of methodologies to complex historical and contemporary political problems |
| Team work | Seminars will consist in part of small-group discussions where students will be required to discuss as a group the core issues related to seminar topics – this is a vital component of the module. This skill will also be fostered via discussions on Blackboard, where students will be encouraged to contribute their own comments to the entries. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 7