BA (Hons) Sociology & Politics

What you'll study Overview

Taught jointly between the Departments of Sociology and Politics and International Relations , this degree’s main concern is with contemporary political issues, including the politics of race, gender, class and inequality, the state, nationalism, migration, social movements, the environment and new technologies.

In the first year you'll take sociology core modules that familiarise you with sociological research methods and with the distinguishing features of the subject. For the politics element you study key concepts in political theory – including the state, democracy, freedom, rights, power and authority. You also choose from three option modules.

In the second year you'll look at how to study a society, encompassing issues of agency and structure, class and conflict, political action and social change. The making of the modern world and its sociological context is also considered. Politics modules examine how the subject has become associated with social movements, environmentalism and globalisation, while theoretical debates on the concept of democracy are also studied. You also take a sociology option and a politics option.

In the third year you'll take a core module in theorising contemporary society and study for a dissertation. You also pick a sociology option and two politics options.

Year 1 (credit level 4)

Your first year gets you thinking sociologically and critically, and introduces the ways in which sociological knowledge of societies has been shaped by disputes about theories and methods. Modules address problems that have interested sociologists in their attempts to account for the world we live in. You will start to understand how the meaning derived from sociological investigations operates in cultural processes, and look at the methods that have been developed by sociologists to produce sociological knowledge.

You take three core modules – two from Sociology and one from Politics and International Relations (the first three in the list below).

You are then able to choose 30 credits from the Politics and International Relations options (the final five in the list below):

Module title Credits. Researching Society and Culture Researching Society and Culture 30 credits

This module introduces you to the methods that social scientists have developed to analyse societies and to produce social scientific knowledge. Through lectures and workshops you learn about methods in relation to various topics and research traditions.

30 credits. Modern Knowledge, Modern Power Modern Knowledge, Modern Power 30 credits

This module aims to introduce you to the ‘sociological imagination’. What is distinctive about Sociology? With a focus on knowledge and power, the module looks at how Sociology has developed, with an emphasis on the study of relations between individuals and groups in modern industrial societies.

30 credits. The Politics of Other Cultures The Politics of Other Cultures 30 credits

This module aims to provide students with an understanding of the importance of colonialism and imperialism, and resistance to these, in the shaping of our world. It treats culture, including forms of art, as central to politics.

It begins by considering non-Western forms of politics, civilization and culture prior to colonial domination. The rest of the module explores the forms of political, cultural, aesthetic and ideological interaction, and change, engendered in the module of the colonial encounter. A related aim of the module is to introduce students to a range of types of reading material and sources, beyond the conventional first year text book.

30 credits. UK and European Comparative Governance and Politics UK and European Comparative Governance and Politics 30 credits

This unit introduces students to the comparative approach to politics and government, in addition to building a understanding of the politics and governance of four key members of the European Union: the UK, Germany, Italy and France.

The first half of the unit is focused on the UK and also considers the EU as an institution, while the second half concentrates on the other three countries at the unit’s core.

Students will not only build an essential foundation for studying the politics of the UK and EU, but will also develop their skills in comparative methods.

30 credits. World Politics World Politics 30 credits

This unit will introduce students to the study of world politics, emphasising that there are different and competing perspectives on how to approach the subject.

In the first term, we focus on the three dominant paradigms (realism, pluralism and structuralism) that defined the discipline of International Relations throughout the 20th Century. We situate those paradigms in the historical context in which they were developed and critically examine both their contribution to our understanding of world politics and their shortcomings.

In the second term, the unit identifies some of the contours of the post-Cold War inter-national environment. In particular, it explores claims that contemporary world politics are defined by processes of globalisation.

30 credits. Introduction to Political Economy Introduction to Political Economy 15 credits

This module provides an introduction to the main theories, concepts, and topics in the field of political economy. The principal aim of the module is to explore how our conceptions of the economy and of economic action are inescapably political, by which I mean that they are a) based upon political assumptions concerning human agency and b) have political implications.

The module explores these hypotheses by examining the emergence and history of economics beginning with Adam Smith, progressing through the marginalist economists and neoclassical economics and finishing with modern political economists such as Joseph Stiglitz and Ha-Joon Chang.

15 credits. Introduction to Economic Policy Introduction to Economic Policy 15 credits

This module provides an introduction to the main theories, concepts, and topics concerning economic policy.

The principal aim of the module is to examine the ways in which public, economic, and international policies (which are in practice interchangeable) are bound up with political economic understandings of the economy and economic agency. Put differently, the aim of the module is to explore the deep and ineradicable links between political practice and economic ideas.

The module explores these links by progressing through the basic concepts in public policy (such as public goods and monetary/fiscal policies) before an examination of the main issues, questions and developments in modern policy such as gender, financial crises and international organisation.

15 credits. Political Theory and Ideologies Political Theory and Ideologies 30 credits

This is an introduction to political theory and an exploration of why central political ideas and concepts influence our understanding of the world around us. Assessed by: one essay and a two-hour unseen examination.

30 credits. Year 2 (credit level 5)

Core modules in your second year cover the main approaches to sociological thought, and their implications for understanding contemporary societies. You develop a rich knowledge of the variety of sociological reasoning and research.

You take four core modules (three from Sociology and one from Politics and International Relations):

Year 2 core modules Module title Credits. Central Issues in Sociological Analysis Central Issues in Sociological Analysis 15 credits

This module looks at central questions in Sociology about how to study of society. It focuses in particular on issues of agency and structure; holism and individualism; continuity and change; public and private; structure and self; laws, observation and interpretation.

15 credits. The Making of the Modern World The Making of the Modern World 15 credits

Exploring the sub-discipline of historical sociology, the module focuses on the formation of the modern state out of earlier types of political organisation, and different ways of understanding state power. It examines processes such as: revolution; the development of nationalism; the nature of imperialism; post-socialism; and the rise of fascism.

15 credits. Social Change and Political Action Social Change and Political Action 15 credits

The first part of the module is primarily concerned with establishing a firm grasp of the fundamental approaches to the political sociology of democratic societies, whist the second introduces debates – over planning, ethnic cleansing, neoliberal ‘de-democratisation’ – that will allow us to think through the relevance of the classical categories of political sociology to the study of contemporary societies.

15 credits. Modern Political Theory Modern Political Theory 30 credits

In this module we examine the modern tradition of political thought. Students will be introduced to the major figures in this tradition – English thinkers such as Hobbes, Locke and Mill – and continental thinkers such as Rousseau and Marx.

Through these thinkers, we will explore key themes and concepts such as sovereignty, justice, human nature, property, rights, liberty, democracy and equality.

30 credits.

You will then choose one Politics and International Relations option from the following list:

Year 2 Politics and International Relations modules Module title Credits. Making Modern Japan Making Modern Japan 15 credits

This module addresses a number of themes that relate to questions of nationalism, imperialism, identity and gender, focusing on Japan’s emergence as a modern nation state, its imperial project and its catastrophic defeat, culminating in the dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and its occupation by Allied forces. The historical perspective, which the module seeks to offer, is central to an understanding of Japan’s troubled relationship with its Asian neighbours, and of its claims of uniqueness, which have their legacy in its position as both coloniser and colonised. The module approaches questions of politics through a very expansive definition of the term, treating cinema, animation, manga, and other popular cultural forms as important sites for the articulation of political anxieties and concerns, which are not necessarily reflected in more conventional forms of political activity, such as political debates, deliberations of the Diet and so on.

15 credits. Chinese Politics: The Revolutionary Era Chinese Politics: The Revolutionary Era 15 credits

This is a broad, historically-based survey module of Chinese politics that takes the student from the early days of communist partisanship through to the end of the Cultural Revolution (from 1921 to 1976 or thereabouts). This module is designed to offer both an overview of and background to, contemporary Mainland Chinese political culture and an insight into a form of politics that is very different from that of liberal democracy.

This module is a lot more historically oriented than many of the other survey modules offered in the Department, but to understand this country requires an understanding of this history which is still lived very much as an on-going set of norms and values. It is difficult to understand China today without an understanding of this history and what this module offers is a survey account of this period.

15 credits. US Politics and Foreign Policy US Politics and Foreign Policy 15 credits

This module explores the interaction between US domestic and foreign politics. It seeks to understand the way that domestic political dynamics influence foreign policy and the role of the US in the broader international arena. It introduces students to the structure of US government and the main interest groups involved in the foreign policy making process, examining the broader ideological and political trends that have shaped the way the US acts on the global stage as the world’s only remaining superpower.

Part of the module will take a historical overview, looking at how US foreign policy has developed post-Second War, throughout the Cold War, and into today’s War on Terror, showing how different administrations have responded to perceived international threats, opportunities and challenges, as well as domestic political pressures and concerns.

The module will also examine a number of contemporary issues currently faced by the US, which are likely to shape US foreign policy and security strategy for the foreseeable future: conflict in the Middle east; the threat of Islamist terrorism; the economic rise of China; global nuclear proliferation; the challenges posed by Russia; and the broader issue of global climate change. It will look at how the US responds to these dilemmas, and how these issues figure in domestic political debates and the US’ perception of itself.

15 credits. Europe Since 1945 Europe Since 1945 15 credits

This module investigates the history of European society since 1945. This historical overview is divided into four thematic sections of several lectures each:

• Cold War and Post-Cold War Europe
• The Great Economic Boom and the Rise of Globalisation: Keynesianism, Neo-Liberalism and the Welfare State
• End of Empires West and East: Decolonisation and the Rise of Multicultural Europe
• European Integration and the Reconstruction of the European Nation-State

These themes reflect the unique changes in Europe since 1945, which still make this a valid periodisation today.

15 credits. Ideologies and Interests: Political Thought in Modern Britain Ideologies and Interests: Political Thought in Modern Britain 15 credits

A critical and historical study of political thinking and political argument in the United Kingdom since the early twentieth century to the present day, examining liberalism, socialism, conservatism, anarchism, feminism, the rise of the modern state, the nature of politics, and the character of the political community.

The module examines the work of important thinkers from the William Morris and the Webbs through George Orwell and Virginia Woolf to the present day.

15 credits. International Trade International Trade 15 credits

This course introduces students to the study of international trade. Topics covered include the basics of classical and neoclassical trade theory, economies of scale, international factor mobil-ity, firms in the global economy, and the effect of trade on wages and income distribution.

We will also discuss the tools used by governments to conduct trade policy (e.g. tariffs and quo-tas) and their impact on trade volumes and welfare. Finally, we will turn our attention to the experience of developing countries in the global economy in order to examine key debates on trade and development, trade liberalisation, trade policies and development strategies.

The course is designed as a mixture of lectures, tutorials, and seminars.

*Please note that students must have taken Economics modules at level 4 in order to enrol on this module.

15 credits. International Monetary Economics International Monetary Economics 15 credits

The purpose of the course is to provide students with a set of theoretical tools and concepts that will enable them to understand and systematically analyse the monetary side of the international economy.

Key topics covered include the balance of payments, the determination of ex-change rates, interest rates, and prices in open economies, different exchange rate regimes (fixed vs. floating), the interdependence of economies, and international macroeconomic policy.

We will also employ this theory to better understand recent issues such as the persistence of the US current account deficit; the creation of the Euro and the future of the US Dollar as the key international currency; the nature and consequences of financial crises.

Students are expected to come out of this course with a deeper understanding of international monetary theory and related economic policy issues.

*In order to study this module you must have taken Economics modules at level 4.

15 credits. Liberalism and its Critics Liberalism and its Critics 15 credits

With the collapse of ‘socialist’ regimes in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, liberalism today is a triumphant political theory and system. Yet from the moment of its birth, liberalism has been subjected to sharp criticism, and alternatives to it have been and continue to be urged. This module is an introduction to liberal theory; to the circumstances of its historical emergence and, in particular, to the concepts and values which are central to liberal thought.

It aims to promote critical reflection upon the political and ethical values that underlie Western liberal democracies. Having examined the core values of liberalism, we proceed to consider critiques - communitarian, feminist and Marxist - of liberalism. A second aim of this subject is to promote intellectual engagement with, and evaluation of, critiques of liberal theory and of liberal society.

15 credits. Life: A User's Manual Life: A User's Manual 15 credits

This module sets out to analyse, critique and experiment