SOC40730

In this module we will look at some basic texts and discussions representing some of the most important milestones in modern social and political thought. The module consists of eleven seminars, broken down into four ‘historical’ blocks. The first section looks into what can be called pioneering ideas, first expressed in contract theories dealing with political and social unrest and the threat of civil war, and culminating one and half centuries later in the ‘Atlantic revolutions’ (R. R. Palmer). The second section looks at the ‘long’ 19th century and its struggle for inclusion and adequate social and political representation, the rise of the modern state and institutions, and how these were conceptualised at the time, and critiqued and developed further. In the third section we will discuss the rise of the modern Leviathan and the challenges posed by its ‘darker’ counterpoint, Behemoth (i.e. totalitarianism and authoritarian regimes). In this section we will also discuss the re-emergence of liberal democracy, its own complexities, blind spots and deficiencies. The final section deals with the return of the idea of civil society and how questions of justice (and injustice) can be addressed in the complex and splintered world of our time.