6 ECTS credits
150 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 1021091BER for all students in the 1st semester at a (B) Bachelor - advanced level.

Semester
1st semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Possible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Enrollment Requirements
Students who want to enroll for this course, must have passed ‘Introduction to Political Science’ and must have obtained at least 30 ECTS-credits on bachelor level.
Taught in
English
Partnership Agreement
Under interuniversity agreement for degree program
Faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
Department
Political Science
External partners
Universiteit Gent
Educational team
Christopher Parker (course titular)
Charlotte Vekemans
Activities and contact hours
39 contact hours Lecture
111 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

After an first class that introduces critical thinking and its application to the problem of government, the topical units are organized into three thematic clusters. 

  • The first cluster situates the rise of political liberalism within the broader histories of science, commerce and empire, culminating in the Liberal Enlightenment of the late 18th and 19th centuries. Here, we investigate early modern efforts to situate political knowledge (and, more specifically, the arrangements of sovereignty/government) on “objective” or “scientific” foundations. Starting from the scenic hypothesis of “the state of nature,” our focus is on the analytical and essentialist foundations of liberal political thought and practice, and on the calculative and ahistorical modalities of political reason that emerged from within this tradition. We introduce examine the two great figures of government to emerge from this tradition: the representative state and the self-regulating market. 
  • The second cluster examines two main lines in the post-Enlightenment critique of liberal political reason: dialectics (Marx; Frankfurt School) and genealogy (Nietzsche; Foucault). The dialectical and genealogical traditions emerged out of critical engagement with the Romantic insistence on the primacy of history and culture over and against the universalist claims of the Liberal Enlightenment. Dialectics and genealogy each—by different critical strategies—historicize critical thinking/political reason. And where mainstream Enlightenment critical thinking sought to establish objectivity on analytical foundations, dialectics and genealogy each situate “objective” knowledge within historically constituted relations, practices and processes. Key themes in this cluster include alienation, materialism, relational/emergent ontology, pragmatism, subjective v. objective reason, performativity and knowledge/power.
  • Dialectics and genealogy provide a platform from which to explore a variety of challenges to the dominant (liberal, analytical) epistemology that underpins mainstream political science. In the third cluster, we explore and apply a variety of contemporary critical perspectives—ranging from critical feminism and post-colonial theory to actor-network and assemblage persepective—to see how they might provide us with better descriptions of the political and social world. 

The overall objective of the course is to develop a non-normative, transdisciplinary critique of liberal political modernity. It also seeks to demonstrate the relevance of that critique to developing better (political) and more solid foundations upon which to address political challenges arising from our contemporary global situation.

Additional info

The course is centered around a series of interactive lectures (i.e., lectures with room for Q&A, discussion and debate), supplemented by materials designed to encourage students to actively and independently engage with the materials presented in the lectures and readings.
The reading material for his course will consist of selected texts made available for free via Ufora (the UGent online learning platform). Students will also be provided with a course summary together with a list of study questions and key terms linked to the readings for each week.
It is essential that students read the assigned literature for each week before coming to class (out of class study time for this course should be about five hours per week).
Students will also be required to complete two graded group-based assignments over the course of the semester. The instructor will—insofar as possible given available resources—provide extra mentoring in support of the group work.

Learning Outcomes

General competences

After successful completion of this course. Students will be able to:

  1. Identify key concepts, theories (both classical and contemporary) and modalities of thought that underpin critical approaches to the study of political life;
  2. Apply these concepts, theories and modalities of thought to key political phenomena; 
  3. Critically examine these phenomena in the light of the perspectives and knowledge acquired throughout the course;
  4. Independently process and review core theoretical texts and reproduce the central argument of such texts both verbally and in written format;
  5. Grasp the different conceptions of “critique” that distinguish dialectical, pragmatic and genealogical modes of inquiry from analytical modes of inquiry;
  6. Demonstrate a critical and practical awareness of the sociotechnical foundations of government, political power and contemporary political life more generally.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 70% of the final mark.
Practical Exam determines 30% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Written Exam with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 70% of the final mark.

Within the Practical Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Group Assignments with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 30% of the final mark.

    Note: Twice during the semester, students will be expected to work together in group to complete an assignment.

Additional info regarding evaluation
  • End-of-term evaluation (70% of total grade)
  • In-term (permanent) evaluation: two group work assignments (30% of total grade, or 15% for each of the two assignments).

The written exam will consist of a list of key terms to be identified and a series of open-ended questions which probe insight, the ability to link different aspects of the course and basic knowledge of the key ideas discussed throughout the lectures and in the reader. 
The group assignment will require that students read, discuss and answer a series of essay questions related to an assigned text (or texts).

The grade for this course is based for 70% on the final exam and for 30% on the two group assignments. Students do not need to pass both evaluation components in order to pass for the course.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Communication Studies
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Political Sciences
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Sociology
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Startplan