Issues on Sociology of Politics and Democracy

Recommended Prerequisites

Students should have a background in Social Sciences and Humanities at the undergraduate level and be proficient users of the English language.

Teaching Methods

The chosen modality of seminar implies teaching/learning methods based on pro-activity, not only of teachers, but also of students, who must read the assigned papers and prepare contributions to the discussion in advance of each session.

Learning Outcomes

The aim is to provide the students with a comparative and critical perspective on theories of democracy and sociopolitical change. In view of this, a broad set of tools and theories of the Sociology of Politics will be provided to allow for the understanding of substantive issues raised by the processes of democratization.

The diversification and fragmentation of social values and life styles, in part resulting from the intensification of migration fluxes, from the raising of new social movements, but also from the decline of the employment security, will be among the issues to be dealt with.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

The 4 broad issues to be studied concur to the consubstantiation of the objectives of the curricular unit, as far as they mobilize the usage of a large spectrum of readings about some of the challenges faced by contemporary democracies, in view of the social processes of fragmentation and the decline of stable communities that originate processes of inclusion/exclusion and changing the conditions of participation in politics. The approach of issues such as human rights, religious and ethnic identities and the State feminism and mainstreaming of gender equality will allow a deeper understanding of some of the current problems faced by democratic regimes.

The seminar proposes an introduction to the main theoretical currents, lines of inquiry and debates that concern the following themes

1. Democracy and Human Rights

2. Democracy, Crisis and Social Inequalities

3. Racism and anti-racism in European and other contemporary contexts

4. State feminism – paradoxes and perspectives

Head Lecturer(s)

Hermes Augusto Tadeu Moreira da Costa

Assessment Methods

Assessment
2 Reading Notes: 20.0%
Synthesis work: 80.0%

Bibliography

ALLEN, M, “Civil rights and political human rights: contesting human rights failures within the minimally democratic state”, Politics, 29,1, 2009.

BAUMAN, Z, Living on Borrowed Time, Polity Press, 2010.

CHUN, L “Human Rights and Democracy”, The International Journal of Human Rights, 5,3, 2001.

FERREIRA, V, “The Globalisation of Equality Policies: From Social Reformism to State Reformism”, in The GEP International Conference.

HESSE, B, “Im/plausilbe Deniability: Racism's Conceptual Double Bind”, Social Identities 10,1, 2004.

LENTIN, A., “Europe and the Silence about Race”, European Journal of Social Theory, 11, 2008.

McBRIDE, D; MAZUR, The Politics of State Feminism. Temple UP, 2010.

SOMERS, M R, Genealogies of Citizenship – Markets, Statelessness, and the Right to have rights. Cambridge UP, 1-60, 2008.

VITERNA, J & K M FALLON, “Democratization, Women's Movements, and Gender-Equitable States: A Framework for Comparison”, International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 49:455-477, 2008.