Understanding the Modern World-System

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

1. Explain the significance of a philosophical, rather than historical or sociological, understanding of the modern world-system.
2. Demonstrate a theoretical understanding of the central dimensions of the concept of modernity.
3. Critically analyse core modern political concepts such as the state, sovereignty and the international.
4. Critically analyse core modern economic concepts such as value, capital and the world market.
5. Evaluate the analytical problem of understanding the modern world-system as a whole.

In the modern world there is, for the first time in history, a single global system, which encompasses the entire planet. This system is composed of two parallel structures: the international states-system and the global capitalist economy. Across the social sciences this modern world-system has generally been studied through the frames of sociology and/or history. The intention of this module, however, is to consider it from a theoretical or philosophical perspective in order to try to understand its basic conceptual elements. The core question that the module addresses, therefore, is: what is the modern world-system?

The overall aim of the module is to provide students with a theoretical understanding of the encompassing world-system within which modern international politics takes place.

The module approaches its core question in an introductory and exploratory way, inviting students to engage with a varied set of literatures in order to construct a theoretical understanding of the modern world-system as a whole. The content of the module is organised around three main themes: modernity, the international states-system and the capitalist world economy. In studying these themes, and considering how they are related to each other, the module will engage with topics such as the philosophy of history and the modern conception of freedom and will explore concepts such as the state, sovereignty, the international, value, capital and the world market.

This module is at CQFW Level 7