Critical Thinking in Political Science

6 ECTS credits
150 u studietijd

Aanbieding 1 met studiegidsnummer 1021091BER voor alle studenten in het 1e semester met een verdiepend bachelor niveau.

Semester

1e semester

Inschrijving onder examencontract

Mogelijk

Beoordelingsvoet

Beoordeling (0 tot 20)

2e zittijd mogelijk

Ja

Inschrijvingsvereisten

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.

Onderwijstaal

Engels

Onder samenwerkingsakkoord

Onder interuniversitair akkoord mbt. opleiding

Faculteit

Faculteit Sociale Wetensch & SolvayBusinessSchool

Verantwoordelijke vakgroep

Politieke Wetenschappen

Externe partnerinstelling(en)

Universiteit Gent

Onderwijsteam

Christopher Parker (titularis)
Charlotte Vekemans

Onderdelen en contacturen

39 contacturen Hoorcollege
111 contacturen Zelfstudie en externe werkvormen

Inhoud

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.

Bijkomende 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.

Leerresultaten

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.

Beoordelingsinformatie

De beoordeling bestaat uit volgende opdrachtcategorieën:
Examen Schriftelijk bepaalt 70% van het eindcijfer

Examen Praktijk bepaalt 30% van het eindcijfer

Binnen de categorie Examen Schriftelijk dient men volgende opdrachten af te werken:

• Written Exam met een wegingsfactor 1 en aldus 70% van het totale eindcijfer.

Binnen de categorie Examen Praktijk dient men volgende opdrachten af te werken:

• Group Assignments met een wegingsfactor 1 en aldus 30% van het totale eindcijfer.
  
  Toelichting: Twice during the semester, students will be expected to work together in group to complete an assignment.

Aanvullende info mbt evaluatie

• 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.

Toegestane onvoldoende

Kijk in het aanvullend OER van je faculteit na of een toegestane onvoldoende mogelijk is voor dit opleidingsonderdeel.

Academische context

Deze aanbieding maakt deel uit van de volgende studieplannen:
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Communication Studies (enkel aangeboden in het Engels)
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Political Sciences (enkel aangeboden in het Engels)
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Sociology (enkel aangeboden in het Engels)
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Startplan (enkel aangeboden in het Engels)