The Politics of Rage

Year
3
Academic year
2019-2020
Code
01016450
Subject Area
Political Science – International Relations
Language of Instruction
English
Mode of Delivery
Face-to-face
Duration
SEMESTRIAL
ECTS Credits
6.0
Type
Elective
Level
1st Cycle Studies

Recommended Prerequisites

English due to class lectures and reading materials. 

Teaching Methods

Teaching methods include both lecture and discussion.   Each class will begin with a discussion of current events in the US, which students are expected to follow on their own. 

Learning Outcomes

This course proposes to provide the students with the knowledge on right-wing populist movements in the western world, focusing on the case of the USA which lead to President Donald J. Trump being elected. The course unit focuses on the historial, cultural, economic and political contexts surrounding populist movements. It provides a historical perspective on the populist movement in the USA, starting with the agricultural movement close to the end of the XIX century which fought against corporative elites and government corruption. This course unit also aims to analyse the growth in populist movements in the USA during the 1950's and 60's where the movement suffered a political alteration which changed from a left-wing perspective against the economic elite to a right-wing perspective against the cultural elite. Lastly, the course unit analysis how the case study of the USA compares and differes from populist european movements.   

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

Week 1: Populism: An early history

Week 2: Populism today

Week 3: The silent majority

Week 4: The Tea Party

Week 5: Research designs due

Week 6: Empathy or apologist?

Week 7: Meetings on research design

Week 8: What liberals need to learn about white workers

Week 9: Trump and the Guardrails of American Democracy

Week 10: Europe in the rear view mirror

Week 11: Research paper presentations

Week 12: Research paper presentations

Week 13: Conclusions.

 

Head Lecturer(s)

Alan Draper

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Periodic or by final exam as given in the course information: 100.0%

Bibliography

Jon Werner Muller, What is Populism? (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016)

Arlie Hochschild, Strangers in the Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right, (The New Press, 2017)

Joan C. Williams White Working Class: Overcoming Class Cluelessness (Harvard Business Press, 2017)

Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, How Democracies Die (Penguin, 2017)

Henning Meyer, Understanding the Populist Revolt (See: http://stocktaking-scenarios.blog.rosalux.de/files/2017/06/Understanding-The-Populist-Revolt-PDF.pdf)