Governance, Knowledge and Public Participation Seminar

Year
1
Academic year
2018-2019
Code
03017659
Subject Area
Sociology
Language of Instruction
Portuguese
Other Languages of Instruction
English
Mode of Delivery
Face-to-face
Duration
SEMESTRIAL
ECTS Credits
10.0
Type
Compulsory
Level
3rd Cycle Studies

Recommended Prerequisites

Not applicable.

Teaching Methods

The classes are theoretical-practical and composed of an expositive part followed by a discussion of pre-assigned texts with students. Specially valued is the application of the learned concepts to contemporary issues and debates and to ongoing research projects. In classes where the mandatory texts are presented, the teacher begins to make an introductory synthesis of those texts followed by the student’s presentation and collective discussion. The objective is to develop student’s autonomous interpretation capabilities and the contextualization of the texts according to the student’s

Learning Outcomes

The objective is to deepen the reflection about public participation logic and dynamics, highlighting the production of the public sphere and its contradictions. In this context, special attention will be give to media as crucial agents in creating public agendas and in the amplification and dramatisation of events.

Students must develop the following competencies: the ability to analyse and understand scientific and technical controversies; to acquire analytical tools for the construction of alternative public spheres; to acquire epistemological and methodological grounds to foster civic epistemologies on scientific and technical controversies; to acquire tools to promote dynamic logics of participation; the ability to analyse the role of scientific narratives in legitimizing dominant discourses.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

- Public spheres and forms of participation.

- Media critical theory.

- Protest and the production of public things.

- Language and the critic of capitalism.

- Participation and the democratization of science.

- Extreme events and the production of citizenship.

- Collective action and participation in Portugal.

- Narratives and the ecology of knowledges.

Head Lecturer(s)

José Manuel Oliveira Mendes

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Other: 25.0%
Synthesis work: 75.0%

Bibliography

Barry, A. (2001), Political Machines: Governing a Technological Society, London: Athlone Press.

Fairclough, N. (1995), Media Discourse. London: Arnold.

Habermas, J. (2004), Historia y crítica de la opinión pública. La transformación estructural de la vida pública. Barcelona: Editorial Gustavo Gili.

Jasanoff, S. (2005), Designs on Nature. Science and Democracy in Europe and the United States. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

Jesús, Martin-Barbero (2002), Des médias ou médiations. Communication, culture et hégémonie, Paris: CNRS.

Latour, B.; Weibel, P. (eds.), Making Things Public. Atmospheres of Democracy. Cambridge: Mass, MIT Press, pp. 14-41.

Law, J. (2004), After Method. Mess in Social Science Research. London: Routledge.

Muhlman, G. (2004), Du journalisme en démocratie, Paris: Payot.

Negt, O. (2007), L’espace public oppositionnel. Paris: Payot.

Sintomer, Y. (2007), Le pouvoir au peuple. Jurys citoyens, tirage au sort et démocratie participative. Paris: La Découverte.