Critical Theory - POL00017M
- Department: Politics and International Relations
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: M
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Academic year of delivery: 2022-23
- See module specification for other years: 2023-24
Module will run
Occurrence | Teaching period |
---|---|
A | Spring Term 2022-23 |
Module aims
In this module we will discuss texts by some key thinkers in the tradition of critical theory. While critical theory has come to have a broad meaning, here we’ll look at the type of social and political philosophy started in Frankfurt in the 1930s which sought to bring together philosophical reflection, social scientific inquiry, and human emancipation. Developed in circumstances where it was compelled to address the irrationalist authoritarianism of fascism, what resources does it have to diagnose contemporary crises? Themes to be addressed include the critique of instrumental reason, ideology critique, immanent critique, social ontology, critique of capitalism, progress and the postcolonial, and the politics of critical theory. Module readings will encompass classic and contemporary contributions to critical theory, its interlocutors and critics, and an indicative list includes Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, Jürgen Habermas, Herbert Marcuse, Michel Foucault, Nancy Fraser, Rahel Jaeggi, Amy Allen.
Module learning outcomes
- To understand some of the central themes in modern European critical political theory.
- To develop interpretative, analytical, and argumentative abilities, through seminar discussion and a study of key texts.
Indicative assessment
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
Students will receive written timely feedback on their formative assessment. They will also have the opportunity to discuss their feedback during the module tutor’s feedback and guidance hours.
Indicative reading
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment
Michael Foucault, Discipline and Punish
Judith Butler, Gender Trouble
Walter Benjamin, ‘Theses on the Philosophy of History’
Angela Davis, Are Prisons Obsolete?