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CourseSyllabus 401 2024 Fall-2

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14 views4 pages

CourseSyllabus 401 2024 Fall-2

Uploaded by

seviremms
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Middle East Technical University NCC

Political Science and International Relations Program

PSIR 401 Contemporary Political Theory


Friday 13:40-16:30 (Online)
Office Hour: To be scheduled online by appointment

Instructor: Dr. Gökten Doğangün


E-Mail: [email protected]

Course Description
This course is designed to introduce students to the range and scope of contemporary
political theory. It aims to survey the contemporary political thought of the 20 th century
and familiarize you with important themes within contemporary political theory and the
ways in which they relate to the world in which we reside. We will accomplish this
through surveying the most influential concepts and political theorists of our time. We
shall investigate the main concepts of political theory including political community,
pluralism, hegemony, freedom, equality, justice, democracy and power. Each concept is
linked to a leading scholar that has a prominent place in the related the debate. Under
the discussion of these concepts, you will get familiar with the understandings of
prominent scholars such as Mouffe, Kymlicka, Rawls, Habermas, Schumpeter,
Foucault, Gramsci, Berlin and Dworkin. We will also look into some critical
approaches including the Frankfurt School, colonialism/orientalism and feminism. Our
focus of discussion is about how to apply the debates in political theory to the everyday
politics and to the understanding of political phenomena.

Course Requirements

1. Participation 10%

2. Mid-term exam 30%

3. Research presentation 20%

4. Final exam 40%

1. Participation (10%)
Participation will be graded according to your level of contribution to the class.
Discussions will centre on the readings assigned for the week and you are expected to

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do the readings and give them thoughtful consideration. Active participation and the
ability to demonstrate that you do the readings will comprise the mark.

2. Mid-term exam (30%)


The mid-term exam will be conducted face to face in the middle of the term.

3. Research presentation (20%)


You are expected to make a presentation on one of the subjects. Your presentation
should be based on the academic materials DIFFERENT THAN the weekly readings
that are put in the syllabus by the instructor. The presentations will last 15-20 minutes
and the presenters are expected to prepare discussion points for a lively in-class
discussion. The presentations are evaluated on the basis of 1) presentation skills, 2)
organization, 3) content delivery, 4) 2 discussion questions, 5) bibliography.

4. Final exam (40%)


The final exam will be conducted to face to face on the date that will be announced
later.

Course materials
The reading materials will be uploaded by the professor on ODTUCLASS.

Course Schedule
Week 1: Introduction to Course (October 4)

Week 2: Political Community – Will Kymlicka (October 11)


Shorten, Andrew (2016) Chapter 2 in Contemporary Political Theory, Palgrave.
Kymlicka, Will. (2001) Chapter 1 in Politics in the Vernacular: Nationalism,
Multiculturalism and Citizenship, Oxford University Press.

Week 3: Pluralism – Chantal Mouffe (October 18)


Shorten, Andrew (2016) Chapter 3 in Contemporary Political Theory, Palgrave.
Mouffe, Chantal. (1999) ‘Deliberative Democracy or Agonistic Pluralism?’, Vol. 66, No.
3, Prospects for Democracy, pp. 745-758.

Week 4: Democracy – Jürgen Habermas (October 25)


Shorten, Andrew (2016) Chapter 5 in Contemporary Political Theory, Palgrave.

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Susen, S. (2018). ‘Jürgen Habermas: Between Democratic Deliberation and
Deliberative Democracy’, in The Routledge Handbook of Language and Politics,
Wodak, R. & Forchtner, B. (Eds.), pp. 43-66. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

Week 5: Power – Michel Foucault (November 1)


Shorten, Andrew (2016) Chapter 6 in Contemporary Political Theory, Palgrave.
Foucault, Michel. (1980). “Two Lectures,” in Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews
and Other Writings 1972-77, ed. Colin Gordon. NY: Pantheon.

Week 6: Hegemony – Antonio Gramsci (November 8)


Femia, Joseph. (1987). Gramsci’s Political Thought: Hegemony, Consciousness, and
the Revolutionary Process. Chapter 2: The Concept of Hegemony, Oxford: Clarendon
Press.

Week 7: National Holiday (November 15)

Week 8: Mid-term (November 22)

Week 9: Justice – John Rawls (November 29)


Shorten, Andrew (2016) Chapter 9 in Contemporary Political Theory, Palgrave.
Rawls, J. (2004). “Justice as Fairness”, in Introduction to Contemporary Political
Theory, ed. by Colin Farrelly, pp. 3-13

Week 10: Freedom – Isaah Berlin (December 6)


Shorten, Andrew (2016) Chapter 7 in Contemporary Political Theory, Palgrave.
Berlin, Isaiah. (1984). “Two Concepts of Liberty,” in Liberalism and its Critics, ed.
Michael J. Sandel. NY: New York UP.

Week 11: Frankfurt School (December 13)


Bottomore, Tom (2003). The Frankfurt School and its Critics, Routledge.

Week 12: Feminism (December 20)


Tong, Rosemarie and Botts, Tina Fernandes (2017) Chapter 1 (Liberal Feminism),
Chapter 2 (Radical Feminism) and Chapter 3 (Marxist and Socialist Feminism) in
Feminist Thought A More Comprehensive Introduction, pp. 17-84.

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Week 13: Orientalism (December 27)
Said, Edward. 1978. Orientalism. Chapter 1: Knowing the Oriental, London: Penguin.
Said, Edward W. (1985). “Orientalism Reconsidered Cultural Critique”, No. 1. (Autumn,
1985), pp. 89-107.

Week 14: Final discussion (January 3)

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