Political Theory and the Modern State

This course will offer a genealogy of modern political philosophy, beginning with essential works by early liberal thinkers. We build up to the resurgence of the political philosophy discipline, driven by Rawls’ A Theory of Justice (1971) and the major critical interventions into the liberal individualist discourse that have been published thereafter by prominent scholars aligning with feminist, Indigenous, communitarian, etc. schools of thought.

For the majority of the course, each session will have 2 mandatory readings that present viewpoints that are often taken to be in opposition to each other. This is done to spark debate between students during the lectures.

Once the theoretical basis has been established, we will then apply the theories we have learned to concepts central to our political reality, examining the claims of states and the foundations of these claims. What is the state? Are borders justified? What makes these waters "Norwegian" and those "Russian?" Questions such as these will be tackled during this course in lectures that encourage debate and collaborative work between students. 

A student who has completed the course should have the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

• Discuss and debate the normative bases of political and social life
• Demonstrate a familiarity with the development of liberal political theory in terms of progression of ideas
• Demonstrate a familiarity with major critiques of mainstream liberal political theory

Skills

• Understand, identify, and generate philosophical arguments
• Assess real-world political institutions through a normative, philosophical lens

General competence

• Critically analyze political institutions and their outcomes, being able to make a case for what they should be and do, utilizing sound argumentation skills
• Understand the political status quo related to rights of states, as well as the arguments for the creation of these rights and their continued existence