MSc Politics and International Relations

This module introduces postgraduate students to the field of international theory, from contemplating how and why we might use theory to explain and understand post-/neo-colonial world order, to exploring key concepts and theoretical traditions in the discipline of International Relations. The module situates the narrower, US-centric field of ‘IR Theory’ within broader traditions of global social and political thought, and encourages students to think critically about its roots and functions as an intellectual project. Students are introduced to a range of key paradigms, from the traditional mainstream (realism, liberalism, constructivism) to the critical (postcolonialism, feminism, Marxism, poststructuralism).

This dissertation enables the students to work on a research topic in relation to their chosen major. They will learn how to approach the topic they have chosen from an academic angle, under the supervision of a member of staff. The dissertation is normally written over the summer period and submitted in September.

The course focuses on key issues in the study of politics in the Middle East. The main questions pertain to state-society relations and interaction. To understand the modes of governance and patterns of societal action, the course examines the forms of power deployed in the interplay between state and societal forces. Integral to this examination is reflection on the analytical and conceptual tools used to understand and explain state-society relations. Concepts such as “the state”, class, sect, and informal politics are critically examined and assessed within a larger attention to the politics of knowledge production in the Middle East. Whilst interrogating these concepts, we pay close attention to how historical context and region-transforming forces such as colonialism, modern state-formation, and neoliberalism, empirically shaped these societal formations and power dynamics as well as how they were studied in the field. The course takes a close look at the analytical assumptions underlying the main theoretical approaches to the study of the region and the empirical tools deployed to open new lines of enquiry. Finally, the course considers the ways in which some of the principal theories and analytical frameworks used to analyse state-society relations in the Middle East have been challenged by the events of the Arab Uprisings and their aftermath.

Since the age of European colonial rule in the Middle East came to an end around the Second World War, nominally independent nation-states in the region have tried to negotiate the opportunities and challenges of the Cold War, regional conflict and co-operation, underdevelopment, and more recently, globalisation. This module takes up the study of this rich politics through two different approaches, the first thematic, the second through the study of inter-state politics. After examining the methodological issues involved in the study of the Middle East and becoming familiar with the regions role during the Cold War and thereafter, we will examine important themes and debates in international politics of the Middle East, including war and militarism, ethnicity, development and globalisation, migration and ideological movements. In the latter part of the module, through a more conventional examination of inter-state politics of the Middle East, we will focus on conflict and cooperation between the Arab states in the region and their non-Arab neighbours, Israel, Iran and Turkey.

The module presents a critical overview of core concepts and debates in comparative politics as well as an introduction into the comparative method. Drawing on comparative politics debate developed in the West, the module primarily focuses on non-Western regions of the world.

The module presents a critical overview of core concepts and debates in comparative politics as well as an introduction into the comparative method. Drawing on comparative politics debate developed in the West, the module primarily focuses on non-Western regions of the world.

The module presents a critical overview of core concepts and debates in comparative politics as well as an introduction into the comparative method. Drawing on comparative politics debate developed in the West, the module primarily focuses on non-Western regions of the world.

This module will analyse the processes and dynamics of Soviet, post-Soviet and ongoing political, economic, social and cultural transformations in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan) and South Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia). This module is designed to enable students to gain an in-depth understanding of the differential nature of Soviet modernization, imperial-colonial legacies, challenges of post-Soviet transition, complexities of nation and state building, the diverse understandings of Islam and its engagement with politics, the relationship between formal and informal institutions, and the durability of authoritarian regimes in the face of societal protests and resistance.

This module introduces students to the key concepts of geopolitics and their application to the region of Central Asia and Caucasus. It analyses the multiple and shifting understandings of the notion of 'Eurasia' and 'Eurasianism' across the region, the nature of Sino-Russian partnership which shapes the regional organisations such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Eurasian Economic Union, the effects of China's BRI on the entire region, and the efforts by the states in the region to develop multivectoral foreign policies. It will focus on themes such as empire and (de)coloniality, regional security and securitization policies, energy and transport infrastructure, authoritarian regionalism, labour migration and the anti-extremism measures enacted for regime survival. It is designed to enable students to develop a broad and in-depth understanding of the role and influence of two regional hegemons Russia and China, the major external actors Turkey, Iran, India as well as efforts by the Central Asian states to balance between these actors and the Western states.

The module presents a critical overview of core concepts and debates in comparative politics as well as an introduction into the comparative method. Drawing on comparative politics debate developed in the West, the module primarily focuses on non-Western regions of the world.

This is the first of part of a 2-semester sequence entitled China and International Politics I and II. This module delves into the interrelations between China’s domestic and foreign policy, aiming to cultivate an understanding of the primary drivers and contradictions that characterize Chinese politics domestically and internationally. The module critically analyses pivotal themes in China’s political landscape, connecting them to broader discussions within the fields of politics and international relations. Further, this module investigates the dynamic processes that sustain and challenge these structures. It addresses how elements such as deviance, capital, law, and technology, among others, are constructed and operationalised within China and in its external engagements. Each feature is explored in the domestic context over five weeks, followed by five weeks on the international dimensions to analyse the process’s impact on the international arena. This module aims to illustrate the interconnectivity between China’s internal governance and its foreign policy, enhancing understanding of how domestic structures shape international relations.

This is the second part of a 2-semester sequence entitled China and International Politics I and II. This module follows on from CIP I (both modules must be selected) and delves into the interrelations between China’s domestic and foreign policy, aiming to cultivate an understanding of the primary drivers and contradictions that characterize Chinese politics domestically and internationally. The module critically analyses pivotal themes in China’s political landscape, connecting them to broader discussions within the fields of politics and international relations. Further, this module investigates the dynamic processes that sustain and challenge these structures. It addresses how elements such as deviance, capital, law, and technology, among others, are constructed and operationalised within China and in its external engagements. Each feature is explored in the domestic context over five weeks, followed by five weeks on the international dimensions to analyse the process’s impact on the international arena. This module aims to illustrate the interconnectivity between China’s internal governance and its foreign policy, enhancing understanding of how domestic structures shape international relations.

The module presents a critical overview of core concepts and debates in comparative politics as well as an introduction into the comparative method. Drawing on comparative politics debate developed in the West, the module primarily focuses on non-Western regions of the world.

The aim of this course is to provide students with a deep framework for the understanding of the trajectories of Southeast Asian politics from colonial times to the present. This framework is comparative and rooted in political sociology. It is interdisciplinary in terms of its readings, drawing on historical, anthropological, economic and other materials in addition to works in political science. The course is expected to help students develop a capacity for comparative analysis and for evaluating arguments about the roles of factors as class, race, state-building, culture, economics, international impacts and religion on the political trajectories of the region as a whole as well as that of individual countries. Through the lectures, seminar discussions, coursework and the essays, students will learn to think more rigorously and comparatively about Southeast Asia in particular and critically about central political dynamic within the region in general. In addition, students will learn more about accessing library-based and electronic resources on Southeast Asian politics.

This course is designed to equip students with a comprehensive framework for understanding the political trajectories of Southeast Asia from colonial times to the present. This framework is comparative and grounded in political sociology, incorporating interdisciplinary readings from history, anthropology, economics, and other fields, alongside political science literature. The course aims to develop students' abilities in comparative analysis and in assessing arguments about the influences of factors such as class, race, state-building, culture, economics, international impacts, and religion on the political evolution of the region and its individual countries. Through lectures, seminar discussions, coursework, and essays, students will learn to think more rigorously and comparatively about Southeast Asia and critically about the key political dynamics within the region. Additionally, students will enhance their skills in accessing both library-based and electronic resources on Southeast Asian politics.

This module is designed to provide a general introduction to problems, approaches and debates in social science methodologies (broadly understood). The aim is to make MSc students familiar with prominent methodological angles and language(s), to provide both a solid grounding in the key issues and a critical understanding of them.

This module introduces students to the sub-field of comparative political thought through critical engagement with different approaches and key debates in the field. Students will read political theory produced in Asia, Africa and the Middle East and will consider various challenges of interpretation related to comparison, perspective, time, space and translation. This module is distinct from other modules in area studies since our study is not confined to a single geographical region; rather, the focus is on the study of concepts and political thought. The module seeks to introduce the main approaches in comparative political theory and to elaborate conceptual approaches to the comparison of political thinking across regions and traditions that the module develops.

This module seeks to provide PG students in Comparative Political Thought and other interested students at the department a substantial background in political theory and approaches to the analysis of political thought. It works slowly and closely on some key texts in the history of political thought, and situates them in their global, racial, economic, and gendered contexts by considering questions of empire, class, slavery, location, and more. At the same time, and as part of an effort to re-think the curriculum, the module undoes distinctions between “primary” and “secondary” readings on several levels.

The module presents a critical overview of core concepts and debates in comparative politics as well as an introduction into the comparative method. Drawing on comparative politics debate developed in the West, the module primarily focuses on non-Western regions of the world.

This module is the second part of a two-semester 'South Asia: Politics and International Relations' sequence combining issues of political thought, comparative politics, and international relations. The module introduces students to the broad spectrum of social, economic, and strategic debates and practices that animate politics in the subcontinent. From the ideas and ideologies that undergird political mobilisation to constitutional contracts that tenuously hold together large, diverse, and stratified countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan, the module explores the evolution of modern South Asia. It then tackles questions around identity, state, and society by unpacking the ebb and flow of religious and civic nationalisms (Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, liberal, and secular) coupled with the politics of gender, caste, citizenship, and migration. Sensitive to the economic asymmetries that inform political mobilisation, the module considers the development planning, climate action, and poverty alleviation schemes adopted by South Asian states as well as their domestic and regional implications. It also examines the vast informal underbelly of the region--critical to understanding the drivers of uneven growth. Finally, the module connects these aspects with South Asia’s international and geostrategic landscape, considering the impact of China’s economic and military rise, India and Pakistan’s multi-dimensional rivalry, and continuing separatist violence in South Asia, all with an eye to the drivers that will shape the subcontinent’s future.

This module is about the politics of normative change in world politics, and more specifically, in international responses to violent conflict i.e. the contestations over the norms, institutions, and law associated with the regulation of armed conflict and the management of its effects and consequences, and, more generally, the securing of a peaceful world. The module examines these both theoretically and empirically, with a focus on key domains within world politics - including human rights, humanitarianism, international criminal justice, the laws of war, and the legitimacy of the use of armed force - and the associated frameworks that have developed over the in recent decades as a wider architecture understood as ‘liberal’ in its ostensible foundations, goals, and commitments.

This module offers historical, theoretical and empirical perspectives on the nature and causes of conflict and its impact of on social and economic development in Africa, Asia and the Middle East over the past century, as well as memory and justice responses to violence. It emphasises the crucial linkages of conflict, memory and justice, in particular the prevalence of unaddressed or manipulated memories of violence, historical grievance and impunity as causes of further conflict.

The course focuses on the contestations in the history, institutions and politics of the global human rights regime, in general terms and in relation to specific rights issues, and considers its future prospects. We begin with a look at the contested history of human rights and ask why arguments about their origins are so persistent and the implications of dominant accounts of origins for contemporary politics of human rights. We then look at the sociology of human rights, using this approach to ask where the politics of human rights are located, and how and with what consequences the human rights ‘movement’ reproduces its moral authority. We then look at both international human rights norms and the institutions that embody them, including the relationship between rights, humanitarianism and international justice. Then, in the long middle section of the course, we examine a series of core rights issues in more depth, ranging from economic and social rights – including what relation, if any, human rights have to neoliberalism; women’s rights, children’s rights, and gender-based violence; LGBT* rights; states' routine suspension of rights in the name of security ('emergencies') - the new ‘normal’ of the ‘Global War on Terror' that has intensified amid the global pandemic; and the struggle for rights in exile (including, but not limited to, asylum) and, relatedly, the inexorable rise of the carceral state.

This module explores economic development in post-colonial Sub-Saharan Africa, bringing together macroeconomic and microeconomic perspectives. It presents theoretical and policy-relevant debates that are of interest not only to those who want to learn about Sub-Saharan Africa specifically but also to those who are seeking to develop a global understanding of economic dynamics.

This module offers historical, theoretical and empirical perspectives on the nature and causes of conflict and its impact of on social and economic development in Africa, Asia and the Middle East over the past century, as well as memory and justice responses to violence. It emphasises the crucial linkages of conflict, memory and justice, in particular the prevalence of unaddressed or manipulated memories of violence, historical grievance and impunity as causes of further conflict.

The last few years have seen people rise up in many parts of the world and, in so doing, they follow long traditions of revolt and resistance, and justify the impulse to rebel with both political reform programmes and deep ethical and philosophical, not to mention religious reasoning. This module considers those reasoning and looks at work on the just rebellion from different parts of the world, and not just from Western sources. The module has the general objective of providing a comparative and multicultural approach to the political philosophies, theories, norms and practices of rebellion, both in various historical national contexts and in a contemporary global context.

This module is a seminar on ethnic violence. During the module, we will read classic and recent scholarly works that address various aspects of this question using different methods and approaches. In the first part, we will review the key debates on the concepts of ethnicity and identity, and discuss their implications for the study of ethnic violence. Then, we will shift our focus to theories of ethnic conflict and violence in order to understand examples from different parts of the world where conflict among different groups has resulted in varying degrees and types of violence. Throughout the course, we will have a strictly theoretical and empirical focus, and aim to answer the following questions: 1. How do ethnic identities become politically relevant? 2. What causes ethnic groups to engage in violent conflict? 3. Can explanations of ethnic violence help us understand non-ethnic forms of violence?

This module examines international migration and diaspora politics as transnational processes in world politics. Cross-border mobility and diasporic political projects are key features of the contemporary international environment, yet they remain undertheorized in International Relations. How do migration and diaspora politics inform or challenge our understandings of the state, national identity, sovereignty, and the nature of the international system? What is the relationship between international migration and key areas of concern for International Relations scholars such as economic development, diplomacy, international security and global normative contestation? A range of theoretical approaches and empirical examples will be covered.

This course will investigate the evolving nature of security governance and risks in the 21st century, with particular attention to emerging threats in the realms of nuclear weapons, non-state terrorism, climate change, energy, and food security, as well as emerging forms of security governance in the domains of surveillance and policing.

The course focuses on the contestations in the history, institutions and politics of the global human rights regime, in general terms and in relation to specific rights issues, and considers its future prospects. We begin with a look at the contested history of human rights and ask why arguments about their origins are so persistent and the implications of dominant accounts of origins for contemporary politics of human rights. We then look at the sociology of human rights, using this approach to ask where the politics of human rights are located, and how and with what consequences the human rights ‘movement’ reproduces its moral authority. We then look at both international human rights norms and the institutions that embody them, including the relationship between rights, humanitarianism and international justice. Then, in the long middle section of the course, we examine a series of core rights issues in more depth, ranging from economic and social rights – including what relation, if any, human rights have to neoliberalism; women’s rights, children’s rights, and gender-based violence; LGBT* rights; states' routine suspension of rights in the name of security ('emergencies') - the new ‘normal’ of the ‘Global War on Terror' that has intensified amid the global pandemic; and the struggle for rights in exile (including, but not limited to, asylum) and, relatedly, the inexorable rise of the carceral state.

The purpose of this module is to examine the effects of political factors on economic and social transformation (and vice versa) with reference to the emerging market economies (EMEs). EMEs denote those upper income economies on the cusp of transition to high income status. This module focuses on two main issues. First, how did political factors (i.e. types of regime and the conditions of their formation) facilitate the emergence of the first generation of EMEs during the GATT or pre-globalization era (c. 1950-90)? This section concentrates the varying result of attempts to foster the “capitalist developmental state” in the pursuit of economic take-off. Second, the module will examine how upper middle income economies of today are facing up to the challenges of the globalization era, notably mobile capital (financialization and the emergence of global value chains) and the complex of constraints that constitute the “middle income trap”? Given the vastly changed conditions of the contemporary era, can they learn any relevant political and governance lessons from the experience of the first generation EMEs that have already made the transition to high income status?

Democracy and Authoritarianism in Asia

This module delves into the complex regime landscape of Asia. From burgeoning democracies to firmly entrenched authoritarian regimes, the module explores the historical, cultural, and socio-political factors that shape the region's diverse governance structures. Through comparative study, students will analyze how different Asian states have navigated their paths between democratic ideals and authoritarian governance in order to situate Asian cases within broader theories.

The course  provides a nuanced understanding of political development across the varied experiences of India, Pakistan, China, Japan, South Korea, and various Southeast Asian states. Through the study of political theories, historical trajectories, external influences, and contemporary challenges, students will learn to contextualize the dynamic interaction between democracy and authoritarianism broadly defined. 

Drawing on a rich array of sources, including scholarly articles, historical documents, and multimedia content, the module encourages students to assess the strengths and weaknesses of different political systems and the theories that illuminate them. The coursework is designed to encourage a critical evaluation of the complex interplay between democratic aspirations and authoritarian tendencies in specific empirical contexts.

WEEK 1. INTRODUCTION TO DEMOCRACY AND AUTHORITARIANISM
- Overview of political theories and concepts related to democracy and authoritarianism.

WEEK 2. COLONIAL LEGACIES AND POLITICAL EVOLUTION: REGIME TYPES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
- The impact of colonialism on political structures and institutions with a focus on the full spectrum of postcolonial regime variation in Southeast Asia

WEEK 3. DEMOCRACY (AND DEMOCRATIC AUTHORITARIANISM) IN SOUTH ASIA
- Analyzing the development and challenges of democracy in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

WEEK 4. AUTHORITARIANISM (AND AUTHORITARIAN REFORM) IN CHINA
- Exploring China's political trajectory and its impact on governance and society.

WEEK 5. DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION IN JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA
- Comparative study of democratic practices and challenges in Japan and South Korea.

WEEK 6. THE MILITARY IN ASIAN POLITICS
- Assessing the influence of military institutions in countries like Pakistan, Indonesia, and Myanmar.

WEEK 7. POLITICAL PARTIES AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN ASIA
- Tracking the interaction between political parties and social movements in Taiwan.

WEEK 8. RELIGION, ETHNICITY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN ASIA
- Exploring the role of religious and ethnic identities in shaping human rights debates across Asia.

WEEK 9: POLITICS, MEDIA, AND THE (DIS)INFORMATION AGE IN ASIA
- Understanding the ways in which media drives both democratic and authoritarian trends in Asia.

WEEK 10: THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY AND AUTHORITARIANISM IN ASIA
- Speculating on future trajectories and challenges for governance in the region.

This module offers Masters students focusing on Middle East politics an opportunity to reflect critically upon ideas of counterhegemony and resistance as ways of understanding politics and political struggle in the Middle East. Much of the literature on politics in the Middle East foregrounds the dominant structures of power, dominant ideologies and the varied forms of hegemony. Less studied are the ways in which variously situated groups and individuals throughout the region have tried to negotiate with, subvert and resist these forms of hegemony and the mixed outcomes of many of these struggles. The module will take certain general themes and illustrate them through specific case studies from different countries in the Middle East.

The module introduces postgraduate students in the Department of Politics to the urban politics of the Middle East. It aims to provide them with an interdisciplinary grounding in the study of a wide range of urban issues that have implications for understanding political life in the region.

This module examines the relationship between the economy and power in the Middle East. We examine the class formations, expert knowledge, trade networks, raw materials, institutions, legal regimes and ideologies that come to produce “the economy” in the modern Middle East, and their relationship to the production of power in society, with special attention to state-society relations.

Is secularism Western? Is religious discourse the natural means of authentic, indigenous political mobilization and expression in the Middle East? This course explores how religious difference in the Middle East became a salient social and political marker in the modern era. It will also consider the various methods and frameworks that scholars have used to grapple with this manifestation of social difference.

This module examines international migration and diaspora politics as transnational processes in world politics. Cross-border mobility and diasporic political projects are key features of the contemporary international environment, yet they remain undertheorized in International Relations. How do migration and diaspora politics inform or challenge our understandings of the state, national identity, sovereignty, and the nature of the international system? What is the relationship between international migration and key areas of concern for International Relations scholars such as economic development, diplomacy, international security and global normative contestation? A range of theoretical approaches and empirical examples will be covered.

To what extent is the leader of a country free to make their own decisions, unconstrained by the material power at their disposal, the governmental bureaucracies they are trying to work through, the experts that surround them or their own socially constructed perceptions? How does a small state set its foreign policy agenda? What does it mean if a state proclaims a feminist foreign policy? What is the role of secrecy in foreign policy? These are a selection of questions we will cover in this module. There are contending approaches within Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA). FPA is a sub-field of International Relations, but also an object of analysis which is constituted and transformed by a variety of actors, practices and organisational structures. This raises the important question of how to study the multiple dimensions of foreign policy and who has the power to shape it. Each week's topic will attend to an important dimension of foreign policy, covering central actors, bureaucratic practices, issues and foreign policy tools. The module will also decentre the traditional focus on the US, which has dominated much of FPA scholarship.

This course will investigate the evolving nature of security governance and risks in the 21st century, with particular attention to emerging threats in the realms of nuclear weapons, non-state terrorism, climate change, energy, and food security, as well as emerging forms of security governance in the domains of surveillance and policing.

The course focuses on the contestations in the history, institutions and politics of the global human rights regime, in general terms and in relation to specific rights issues, and considers its future prospects. We begin with a look at the contested history of human rights and ask why arguments about their origins are so persistent and the implications of dominant accounts of origins for contemporary politics of human rights. We then look at the sociology of human rights, using this approach to ask where the politics of human rights are located, and how and with what consequences the human rights ‘movement’ reproduces its moral authority. We then look at both international human rights norms and the institutions that embody them, including the relationship between rights, humanitarianism and international justice. Then, in the long middle section of the course, we examine a series of core rights issues in more depth, ranging from economic and social rights – including what relation, if any, human rights have to neoliberalism; women’s rights, children’s rights, and gender-based violence; LGBT* rights; states' routine suspension of rights in the name of security ('emergencies') - the new ‘normal’ of the ‘Global War on Terror' that has intensified amid the global pandemic; and the struggle for rights in exile (including, but not limited to, asylum) and, relatedly, the inexorable rise of the carceral state.

The Module presents a critical analysis of Artificial Intelligence with a particular emphasis on its implication for human security. It connects current research into the ethics of AI, to comparative philosophies including the socio-economic theories of the Frankfurt School and their emphasis on the perils of modern forms of production for human existence and the threat of “perfectionism” in capitalist societies. In addition, the course will consider the “techno-politics” of Paul Virilio and the critical approaches of Iranian philosophers such as Jamal Al-e Ahmad.

This module will examine the international political economy through a framework that goes beyond traditions of state-centrism and disciplinary boundaries between politics and economics. The course will study theoretical approaches to and contemporary issues within IPE. Students will explore the theories of leading analysts in the historical development of IPE, such as liberalism, marxism, feminism and postcolonialism. Contemporary themes and issues are addressed, including economic crises, global trade, production, financialisation and development. Students will be encouraged to think critically about these issues through the study of power relationships, hierarchies, violence and exploitation.

This module examines international migration and diaspora politics as transnational processes in world politics. Cross-border mobility and diasporic political projects are key features of the contemporary international environment, yet they remain undertheorized in International Relations. How do migration and diaspora politics inform or challenge our understandings of the state, national identity, sovereignty, and the nature of the international system? What is the relationship between international migration and key areas of concern for International Relations scholars such as economic development, diplomacy, international security and global normative contestation? A range of theoretical approaches and empirical examples will be covered.

This module offers historical, theoretical and empirical perspectives on the nature and causes of conflict and its impact of on social and economic development in Africa, Asia and the Middle East over the past century, as well as memory and justice responses to violence. It emphasises the crucial linkages of conflict, memory and justice, in particular the prevalence of unaddressed or manipulated memories of violence, historical grievance and impunity as causes of further conflict.

The purpose of this module is to examine the effects of political factors on economic and social transformation (and vice versa) with reference to the emerging market economies (EMEs). EMEs denote those upper income economies on the cusp of transition to high income status. This module focuses on two main issues. First, how did political factors (i.e. types of regime and the conditions of their formation) facilitate the emergence of the first generation of EMEs during the GATT or pre-globalization era (c. 1950-90)? This section concentrates the varying result of attempts to foster the “capitalist developmental state” in the pursuit of economic take-off. Second, the module will examine how upper middle income economies of today are facing up to the challenges of the globalization era, notably mobile capital (financialization and the emergence of global value chains) and the complex of constraints that constitute the “middle income trap”? Given the vastly changed conditions of the contemporary era, can they learn any relevant political and governance lessons from the experience of the first generation EMEs that have already made the transition to high income status?

This course is designed to provide students with a theoretically informed and comparative introduction to key issues in the contemporary international politics of East Asia. East Asia is defined as the states of the Northeast Asia (in particular, China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan), and the two main external actors, the United States and Soviet Union/Russia who played a key role influencing the region’s international relations. East Asia presents fascinating case studies in the study of international relations by bringing together the world’s three largest economies (US, China, Japan), three of the UN Security Council’s permanent members (US, Russia, China) and two divided nations (China/Taiwan and the two Korea).

Democracy and Authoritarianism in Asia

This module delves into the complex regime landscape of Asia. From burgeoning democracies to firmly entrenched authoritarian regimes, the module explores the historical, cultural, and socio-political factors that shape the region's diverse governance structures. Through comparative study, students will analyze how different Asian states have navigated their paths between democratic ideals and authoritarian governance in order to situate Asian cases within broader theories.

The course  provides a nuanced understanding of political development across the varied experiences of India, Pakistan, China, Japan, South Korea, and various Southeast Asian states. Through the study of political theories, historical trajectories, external influences, and contemporary challenges, students will learn to contextualize the dynamic interaction between democracy and authoritarianism broadly defined. 

Drawing on a rich array of sources, including scholarly articles, historical documents, and multimedia content, the module encourages students to assess the strengths and weaknesses of different political systems and the theories that illuminate them. The coursework is designed to encourage a critical evaluation of the complex interplay between democratic aspirations and authoritarian tendencies in specific empirical contexts.

WEEK 1. INTRODUCTION TO DEMOCRACY AND AUTHORITARIANISM
- Overview of political theories and concepts related to democracy and authoritarianism.

WEEK 2. COLONIAL LEGACIES AND POLITICAL EVOLUTION: REGIME TYPES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
- The impact of colonialism on political structures and institutions with a focus on the full spectrum of postcolonial regime variation in Southeast Asia

WEEK 3. DEMOCRACY (AND DEMOCRATIC AUTHORITARIANISM) IN SOUTH ASIA
- Analyzing the development and challenges of democracy in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

WEEK 4. AUTHORITARIANISM (AND AUTHORITARIAN REFORM) IN CHINA
- Exploring China's political trajectory and its impact on governance and society.

WEEK 5. DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION IN JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA
- Comparative study of democratic practices and challenges in Japan and South Korea.

WEEK 6. THE MILITARY IN ASIAN POLITICS
- Assessing the influence of military institutions in countries like Pakistan, Indonesia, and Myanmar.

WEEK 7. POLITICAL PARTIES AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN ASIA
- Tracking the interaction between political parties and social movements in Taiwan.

WEEK 8. RELIGION, ETHNICITY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN ASIA
- Exploring the role of religious and ethnic identities in shaping human rights debates across Asia.

WEEK 9: POLITICS, MEDIA, AND THE (DIS)INFORMATION AGE IN ASIA
- Understanding the ways in which media drives both democratic and authoritarian trends in Asia.

WEEK 10: THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY AND AUTHORITARIANISM IN ASIA
- Speculating on future trajectories and challenges for governance in the region.

This course is designed to provide students with a theoretically informed introduction to key issues in the international political economy and foreign policy of China (People's Republic of China). This course seeks to develop an understanding of the key driving forces in China's international relations.

This course is designed to provide students with a theoretically informed and comparative introduction to key issues in the contemporary international politics of East Asia. East Asia is defined as the states of the Northeast Asia (in particular, China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan), and the two main external actors, the United States and Soviet Union/Russia who played a key role influencing the region’s international relations. East Asia presents fascinating case studies in the study of international relations by bringing together the world’s three largest economies (US, China, Japan), three of the UN Security Council’s permanent members (US, Russia, China) and two divided nations (China/Taiwan and the two Korea).

This course examines the origins, characteristics and dynamics of the political systems of Northeast Asia (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) and how they cope with the dilemmas of economic and social sustainability. This module will examine why the economic and social dilemmas of affluence” are particularly acute in Northeast Asia given their recent histories as miraculous economies (characterised by “growth with equity”). It will also reveal whether Northeast Asia is generating its own distinctive responses to these dilemmas.

Democracy and Authoritarianism in Asia

This module delves into the complex regime landscape of Asia. From burgeoning democracies to firmly entrenched authoritarian regimes, the module explores the historical, cultural, and socio-political factors that shape the region's diverse governance structures. Through comparative study, students will analyze how different Asian states have navigated their paths between democratic ideals and authoritarian governance in order to situate Asian cases within broader theories.

The course  provides a nuanced understanding of political development across the varied experiences of India, Pakistan, China, Japan, South Korea, and various Southeast Asian states. Through the study of political theories, historical trajectories, external influences, and contemporary challenges, students will learn to contextualize the dynamic interaction between democracy and authoritarianism broadly defined. 

Drawing on a rich array of sources, including scholarly articles, historical documents, and multimedia content, the module encourages students to assess the strengths and weaknesses of different political systems and the theories that illuminate them. The coursework is designed to encourage a critical evaluation of the complex interplay between democratic aspirations and authoritarian tendencies in specific empirical contexts.

WEEK 1. INTRODUCTION TO DEMOCRACY AND AUTHORITARIANISM
- Overview of political theories and concepts related to democracy and authoritarianism.

WEEK 2. COLONIAL LEGACIES AND POLITICAL EVOLUTION: REGIME TYPES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
- The impact of colonialism on political structures and institutions with a focus on the full spectrum of postcolonial regime variation in Southeast Asia

WEEK 3. DEMOCRACY (AND DEMOCRATIC AUTHORITARIANISM) IN SOUTH ASIA
- Analyzing the development and challenges of democracy in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

WEEK 4. AUTHORITARIANISM (AND AUTHORITARIAN REFORM) IN CHINA
- Exploring China's political trajectory and its impact on governance and society.

WEEK 5. DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION IN JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA
- Comparative study of democratic practices and challenges in Japan and South Korea.

WEEK 6. THE MILITARY IN ASIAN POLITICS
- Assessing the influence of military institutions in countries like Pakistan, Indonesia, and Myanmar.

WEEK 7. POLITICAL PARTIES AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN ASIA
- Tracking the interaction between political parties and social movements in Taiwan.

WEEK 8. RELIGION, ETHNICITY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN ASIA
- Exploring the role of religious and ethnic identities in shaping human rights debates across Asia.

WEEK 9: POLITICS, MEDIA, AND THE (DIS)INFORMATION AGE IN ASIA
- Understanding the ways in which media drives both democratic and authoritarian trends in Asia.

WEEK 10: THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY AND AUTHORITARIANISM IN ASIA
- Speculating on future trajectories and challenges for governance in the region.

This unique module provides an introduction to Taiwan’s international and domestic politics. Taiwan’s political democratization, its identity politics and its contested international status have all contributed to making its politics one of the most researched topics in the fields of East Asian and Chinese politics. The module seeks to examine the political processes that have shaped Taiwan since 1949, with particular emphasis on the last three decades. It also explores the evolution of Cross-Strait relations, their enduring rivalry, ongoing conflicts, and Taiwan's contested statehood. We focus on two core themes (1) an analysis of Taiwan’s domestic politics and (2) analysis of Cross-Strait and international relations. Units on Taiwan’s domestic politics will address a variety of issues, including the island’s democratic transition, Taiwan’s party and electoral politics and the quality of its democracy. The sessions on Taiwan’s external relations will examine Taiwan's international status and sovereignty, international relations, as well as the evolution of cross-Strait relations under the early administrations.

This module builds on Taiwan and International Politics Part 1 by delving more deeply into Taiwan’s international and domestic politics. Students will be encouraged to apply a range of theoretical approaches including comparative politics, sociology, and international relations to analyse the politics of modern Taiwan. The domestic politics part of the module will look at three interrelated themes of Taiwan’s electoral and party politics, politics of gender and its social movements. This will involve an examination of a range of topical election, social movement and party case studies. In the final five weeks of the module, the focus will return to Taiwan’s external relations. Topics will include Taiwan's strategies for navigating its increasingly isolated international space and mounting military threats from China, as well as Cross-strait soft power competition. Additionally, we will examine China's evolving policy aimed at bringing Taiwan into its orbit and the dynamics of the US-China-Taiwan triangle.

This module outlines the development of African Philosophy in the 20th century, a discourse that hinges on the following questions: does philosophy exist in Africa? What are the specific qualities that distinguish it from Western philosophy? We will survey the trends in African philosophical thought classified under the rubrics of ethnophilosophy", "nationalist-ideological philosophy", "sage philosophy", and "professional philosophy", and discuss specific concepts with philosophical reference or resonance, such as race, time, but also development or art. Several classes will be devoted to influential contemporary philosophers, in particular Paulin Hountondji, Kwame Anthony Appiah, V.-Y. Mudimbe, Henry Odera Oruka, and Kwasi Wiredu."

This course is intended to provide both an introduction to queer theory, as well as to engage with the question of its relevance in contemporary Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. This course will use struggles for sexual self-determination as a prism through which to consider broader questions about the constitution of modernity, the proliferation of identities, rights and claims for justice, the consolidation and deconstruction of postcolonial national identities, the aspirations and anxieties of postcolonial elites, etc. These questions will be studied contextually, with topics in many weeks focusing on a single area case study, or a comparison of two or more country-contexts.

This module critically explores the different theoretical perspectives of the relationship between Human Rights and Islamic law and examines the practices of some relevant Muslim-majority States in that regard.

This module offers an investigation into the theories and key texts that inform the dynamic field(s) of postcolonial, decolonial and anticolonial studies, with a specific focus on law. Whilst anticolonial uprisings are as old as the global project of Euro-American colonialism and imperialism itself, the long twentieth century saw the emergence of a body of thought that critically addressed the realities of both an enduring ‘coloniality of being’ around the world and the prospects of a Third Worldist approach to social, political and legal justice claims. This body of thought is the core preoccupation of the module, taught by a diverse team of experts in the field. No prior knowledge of law is required to attend the module.

This module critically explores the different theoretical perspectives of the relationship between Human Rights and Islamic law and examines the practices of some relevant Muslim-majority States in that regard.

This module critically explores the different theoretical perspectives of the relationship between Human Rights and Islamic law and examines the practices of some relevant Muslim-majority States in that regard. Following on from Part 1, this module focuses on substantive issues, States practices and application of the law.

The course focuses on key issues in the study of politics in the Middle East. The main questions pertain to state-society relations and interaction. To understand the modes of governance and patterns of societal action, the course examines the forms of power deployed in the interplay between state and societal forces. Integral to this examination is reflection on the analytical and conceptual tools used to understand and explain state-society relations. Concepts such as “the state”, class, sect, and informal politics are critically examined and assessed within a larger attention to the politics of knowledge production in the Middle East. Whilst interrogating these concepts, we pay close attention to how historical context and region-transforming forces such as colonialism, modern state-formation, and neoliberalism, empirically shaped these societal formations and power dynamics as well as how they were studied in the field. The course takes a close look at the analytical assumptions underlying the main theoretical approaches to the study of the region and the empirical tools deployed to open new lines of enquiry. Finally, the course considers the ways in which some of the principal theories and analytical frameworks used to analyse state-society relations in the Middle East have been challenged by the events of the Arab Uprisings and their aftermath.

This module will analyse the processes and dynamics of Soviet, post-Soviet and ongoing political, economic, social and cultural transformations in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan) and South Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia). This module is designed to enable students to gain an in-depth understanding of the differential nature of Soviet modernization, imperial-colonial legacies, challenges of post-Soviet transition, complexities of nation and state building, the diverse understandings of Islam and its engagement with politics, the relationship between formal and informal institutions, and the durability of authoritarian regimes in the face of societal protests and resistance.

This module introduces students to the key concepts of geopolitics and their application to the region of Central Asia and Caucasus. It analyses the multiple and shifting understandings of the notion of 'Eurasia' and 'Eurasianism' across the region, the nature of Sino-Russian partnership which shapes the regional organisations such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Eurasian Economic Union, the effects of China's BRI on the entire region, and the efforts by the states in the region to develop multivectoral foreign policies. It will focus on themes such as empire and (de)coloniality, regional security and securitization policies, energy and transport infrastructure, authoritarian regionalism, labour migration and the anti-extremism measures enacted for regime survival. It is designed to enable students to develop a broad and in-depth understanding of the role and influence of two regional hegemons Russia and China, the major external actors Turkey, Iran, India as well as efforts by the Central Asian states to balance between these actors and the Western states.

The aim of this course is to provide students with a deep framework for the understanding of the trajectories of Southeast Asian politics from colonial times to the present. This framework is comparative and rooted in political sociology. It is interdisciplinary in terms of its readings, drawing on historical, anthropological, economic and other materials in addition to works in political science. The course is expected to help students develop a capacity for comparative analysis and for evaluating arguments about the roles of factors as class, race, state-building, culture, economics, international impacts and religion on the political trajectories of the region as a whole as well as that of individual countries. Through the lectures, seminar discussions, coursework and the essays, students will learn to think more rigorously and comparatively about Southeast Asia in particular and critically about central political dynamic within the region in general. In addition, students will learn more about accessing library-based and electronic resources on Southeast Asian politics.

This course is designed to equip students with a comprehensive framework for understanding the political trajectories of Southeast Asia from colonial times to the present. This framework is comparative and grounded in political sociology, incorporating interdisciplinary readings from history, anthropology, economics, and other fields, alongside political science literature. The course aims to develop students' abilities in comparative analysis and in assessing arguments about the influences of factors such as class, race, state-building, culture, economics, international impacts, and religion on the political evolution of the region and its individual countries. Through lectures, seminar discussions, coursework, and essays, students will learn to think more rigorously and comparatively about Southeast Asia and critically about the key political dynamics within the region. Additionally, students will enhance their skills in accessing both library-based and electronic resources on Southeast Asian politics.

This module is the second part of a two-semester 'South Asia: Politics and International Relations' sequence combining issues of political thought, comparative politics, and international relations. The module introduces students to the broad spectrum of social, economic, and strategic debates and practices that animate politics in the subcontinent. From the ideas and ideologies that undergird political mobilisation to constitutional contracts that tenuously hold together large, diverse, and stratified countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan, the module explores the evolution of modern South Asia. It then tackles questions around identity, state, and society by unpacking the ebb and flow of religious and civic nationalisms (Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, liberal, and secular) coupled with the politics of gender, caste, citizenship, and migration. Sensitive to the economic asymmetries that inform political mobilisation, the module considers the development planning, climate action, and poverty alleviation schemes adopted by South Asian states as well as their domestic and regional implications. It also examines the vast informal underbelly of the region--critical to understanding the drivers of uneven growth. Finally, the module connects these aspects with South Asia’s international and geostrategic landscape, considering the impact of China’s economic and military rise, India and Pakistan’s multi-dimensional rivalry, and continuing separatist violence in South Asia, all with an eye to the drivers that will shape the subcontinent’s future.

This is the first of part of a 2-semester sequence entitled China and International Politics I and II. This module delves into the interrelations between China’s domestic and foreign policy, aiming to cultivate an understanding of the primary drivers and contradictions that characterize Chinese politics domestically and internationally. The module critically analyses pivotal themes in China’s political landscape, connecting them to broader discussions within the fields of politics and international relations. Further, this module investigates the dynamic processes that sustain and challenge these structures. It addresses how elements such as deviance, capital, law, and technology, among others, are constructed and operationalised within China and in its external engagements. Each feature is explored in the domestic context over five weeks, followed by five weeks on the international dimensions to analyse the process’s impact on the international arena. This module aims to illustrate the interconnectivity between China’s internal governance and its foreign policy, enhancing understanding of how domestic structures shape international relations.

This is the second part of a 2-semester sequence entitled China and International Politics I and II. This module follows on from CIP I (both modules must be selected) and delves into the interrelations between China’s domestic and foreign policy, aiming to cultivate an understanding of the primary drivers and contradictions that characterize Chinese politics domestically and internationally. The module critically analyses pivotal themes in China’s political landscape, connecting them to broader discussions within the fields of politics and international relations. Further, this module investigates the dynamic processes that sustain and challenge these structures. It addresses how elements such as deviance, capital, law, and technology, among others, are constructed and operationalised within China and in its external engagements. Each feature is explored in the domestic context over five weeks, followed by five weeks on the international dimensions to analyse the process’s impact on the international arena. This module aims to illustrate the interconnectivity between China’s internal governance and its foreign policy, enhancing understanding of how domestic structures shape international relations.

This unique module provides an introduction to Taiwan’s international and domestic politics. Taiwan’s political democratization, its identity politics and its contested international status have all contributed to making its politics one of the most researched topics in the fields of East Asian and Chinese politics. The module seeks to examine the political processes that have shaped Taiwan since 1949, with particular emphasis on the last three decades. It also explores the evolution of Cross-Strait relations, their enduring rivalry, ongoing conflicts, and Taiwan's contested statehood. We focus on two core themes (1) an analysis of Taiwan’s domestic politics and (2) analysis of Cross-Strait and international relations. Units on Taiwan’s domestic politics will address a variety of issues, including the island’s democratic transition, Taiwan’s party and electoral politics and the quality of its democracy. The sessions on Taiwan’s external relations will examine Taiwan's international status and sovereignty, international relations, as well as the evolution of cross-Strait relations under the early administrations.

This module builds on Taiwan and International Politics Part 1 by delving more deeply into Taiwan’s international and domestic politics. Students will be encouraged to apply a range of theoretical approaches including comparative politics, sociology, and international relations to analyse the politics of modern Taiwan. The domestic politics part of the module will look at three interrelated themes of Taiwan’s electoral and party politics, politics of gender and its social movements. This will involve an examination of a range of topical election, social movement and party case studies. In the final five weeks of the module, the focus will return to Taiwan’s external relations. Topics will include Taiwan's strategies for navigating its increasingly isolated international space and mounting military threats from China, as well as Cross-strait soft power competition. Additionally, we will examine China's evolving policy aimed at bringing Taiwan into its orbit and the dynamics of the US-China-Taiwan triangle.

The so-called ‘resurgence’ of religion in the public sphere in recent decades is now a significant area of interdisciplinary scholarship eliciting a complex array of responses, ranging from vehement opposition to the very idea that religious concepts and commitments have a right to expression in public, political debates to a reassessment of the provenance and implications of divisions between the secular and the religious and their relationship to the nation state. The current geopolitical landscape wherein ‘religion’ has become a force to be reckoned with has demanded a reassessment of once predominant understandings of processes of secularisation, as well as the meanings of, and tensions inherent within, secular assumptions and secularist positions. The notion that there is no singular secularism, but rather a plurality of secularisms, and of religion as an invention of European modernity and colonialist exigencies are two of many emerging efforts to reconceptualise the meanings of religion and the secular and the entangled relationship between them. This course will offer a comprehensive overview of the various debates around the nature of the secularism and the role of religion in the public sphere.

This module constitutes the core course for the MA Buddhist Studies. It is designed to provide students with a broad understanding of the major processes and dynamics at work in the growth and development of Buddhism as a pan-Asian religion and with the key methodological tools required to approach this major cultural force in its fascinating diversity. This course is co-taught by the four key scholars of Buddhism in the Department of the Study of Religions at SOAS, whose regional and disciplinary expertise fully complement each other, thereby offering the course its unique breadth. As a foundation in Buddhist Studies, the course will offer the necessary background to the other courses of the MA, which possess a more regional, thematic or disciplinary focus.

This module explores major developments in thought, and the politics of knowledge, in the Islamic world since 1500. We emphasize reading our authors faithfully in their contexts; but unlike Islamic philosophy as frequently taught, we address the politics of knowledge in the modern world as well, approaching Islamic thinkers throughout history as dynamic interlocutors for us, not merely objects of historical study.

This module builds on the first term module ‘Religion and Global Politics: Theories and Genealogies’ in order to question dominant approaches to religion and politics. Taking a thematic approach, we will examine a range of topics where the seemingly self-evident division between religion and politics is subjected to critical, applied analysis that engages specifically with contexts, perspectives, and practices in the global south. Themes will include religion, sectarianism and democratisation processes, the relationship between religious discourses and political violence or conflict resolution, the legislative difficulties presented by contradictions in liberalist political principles that underpin the political systems of the global North and its models of multiculturalism, variant conceptions of state-religion relationships, the role of religion in identity politics, state responses to religious identity claims and priorities, free speech and blasphemy, and religious discrimination in the framework of international human rights discourses, amongst others

The so-called ‘resurgence’ of religion in the public sphere and the domain of the political more generally in recent decades is now a significant area of interdisciplinary scholarship, eliciting a complex array of responses, ranging from vehement opposition to the very idea that religious concepts and commitments have a right to expression in public, political debates to a reassessment of the provenance and implications of divisions between the secular and the religious and their relationship to the nation state and the post-colony. The current geopolitical landscape wherein ‘religion’ has apparently become a force to be reckoned with has demanded a reassessment of once predominant understandings of processes of secularisation, as well as the meanings of, and tensions inherent within secular assumptions and secularist positions. The notion that there is no singular secularism, but rather a plurality of secularisms, and of religion as an invention of European modernity and colonialist exigencies are two of many emerging efforts to reconceptualise the meanings of religion, politics, and the secular and the entangled relationship between them.
This course will offer a comprehensive overview of these debates focusing particularly on theorisations of the nature of secularism and the role of religion in the public sphere as well as the genealogies of these debates in order to attend to the central issue of how the relationship between religion and politics is constituted, understood, and instantiated in a global context.

This module provides an introduction to development practice. It examines some of the key challenges and constraints faced by development practitioners in the light of trends in development theory and policy, as well as some of the tools and frameworks commonly used in the world of development practice.

The module examines the early modern and contemporary reformulations of Islamic thought and practices in response to modern challenges (19th, 20th & 21st centuries). The module will begin by examining the nature of these challenges, and how modern Muslims responded to them. The module will identify the similarities and differences between the premodern and modern reformist movements throughout Muslim-majority societies, and how Muslims have reformulated foundational dimensions of Islamic jurisprudence and theology in their efforts to adapted to modern developments. The module will also examine?the main features and characteristics of the prominent trends in contemporary Islamic thought (Islamist, Salafi, Progressive and Neo-Traditionalist), highlighting similarities and differences between them in relation to how they engage with the authoritative texts (Qur’an & hadiths), as well as the diversity of expressions within these trends. The module will identify how these diverse modern reformulations and trends are based on criticisms of classical developments in Islamic thought and practices, and how they attempt to ‘reform’ (i?la?) these using different methodologies. The module will also emphasise how these modern reformulations invoke the classical Islamic legacy of renewal (tajdid) in different ways resulting in different modern understandings of ‘Islam’. The module aims to develop a theoretical foundation for understanding these modern Islamic trends, and this foundation underpins the subsequent examination of expressions of these trends in relation to particular themes in the module convened in term two: Modern Trends in Islam (ii): Manifestations.

This term 2 module builds on and follows from the term 1 module: Modern Trends in Islam (i): Foundations (Modern Trends in Islam (i): Foundations is a pre-requisite for the Modern Trends in Islam (ii): Manifestations). It examines how the diversity of reformulations in Islamic thought and practices by the different modern trends (Islamist, Salafi, Progressive and Neo-Traditional) are expressed with reference to different themes that are significant for contemporary Muslims (and non-Muslims). Building on the theoretical framework examined in the term 1 module, this term 2 module will examine in significant detail how modern Muslims develop different methodologies and theories that give rise to different responses to contemporary challenges. It will also explore that diversity of views within the trends themselves (i.e. diversity of views and methodologies within Salafism). Each week there will be an examination of how the different trends reformulate Islamic thought and practices in relation to the theme in question, but there will also be further focus on how a specific trend develop these reformulations (for example, concerning the theme of gender relations there will be an examination of how the different trends like Salafism, Neo-traditionalism and Islamism develop reformulations in Islamic jurisprudence in the lecture, but there will be focus on how Progressives develop different methodologies in response to the challenge of patriarchy in the lecture and tutorial). Students will be able to examine in detailed and evaluate the different trends within the framework of specific themes (themes like gender relations, violence and terrorism, democracy and human rights). The module will also examine the significance of neo-theological reformulations beyond the jurisprudential ones.

To what extent is the leader of a country free to make their own decisions, unconstrained by the material power at their disposal, the governmental bureaucracies they are trying to work through, the experts that surround them or their own socially constructed perceptions? How does a small state set its foreign policy agenda? What does it mean if a state proclaims a feminist foreign policy? What is the role of secrecy in foreign policy? These are a selection of questions we will cover in this module. There are contending approaches within Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA). FPA is a sub-field of International Relations, but also an object of analysis which is constituted and transformed by a variety of actors, practices and organisational structures. This raises the important question of how to study the multiple dimensions of foreign policy and who has the power to shape it. Each week's topic will attend to an important dimension of foreign policy, covering central actors, bureaucratic practices, issues and foreign policy tools. The module will also decentre the traditional focus on the US, which has dominated much of FPA scholarship.

This module offers historical, theoretical and empirical perspectives on the nature and causes of conflict and its impact of on social and economic development in Africa, Asia and the Middle East over the past century, as well as memory and justice responses to violence. It emphasises the crucial linkages of conflict, memory and justice, in particular the prevalence of unaddressed or manipulated memories of violence, historical grievance and impunity as causes of further conflict.

This module introduces students to the sub-field of comparative political thought through critical engagement with different approaches and key debates in the field. Students will read political theory produced in Asia, Africa and the Middle East and will consider various challenges of interpretation related to comparison, perspective, time, space and translation. This module is distinct from other modules in area studies since our study is not confined to a single geographical region; rather, the focus is on the study of concepts and political thought. The module seeks to introduce the main approaches in comparative political theory and to elaborate conceptual approaches to the comparison of political thinking across regions and traditions that the module develops.

This half-unit module seeks to critically engage with the politic and theory of state violence. It will begin with a close reading of some primary philosophies of violence to try and understand both the phenomena itself and its schemes of justification.

This course will interrogate a series of core concepts in contemporary political theory. Rather than treating theoretical concepts as purely abstract, they will be explored through a series of topics of global significance where we can see the concepts at work. We will cover areas such as the climate crisis, structural racism, repressive use of state power, and interventionism. Through these explorations we will come to a better understanding of what is at stake in theoretical concepts such as sovereignty, rights, justice, and democracy. These reflections are couched in a larger consideration of how political theory may contribute to a liberatory politics, and how we reflect our role as political theorists. This module provides students an opportunity to engage systematically with key normative concepts and their valences in the World.

This module seeks to provide PG students in Comparative Political Thought and other interested students at the department a substantial background in political theory and approaches to the analysis of political thought. It works slowly and closely on some key texts in the history of political thought, and situates them in their global, racial, economic, and gendered contexts by considering questions of empire, class, slavery, location, and more. At the same time, and as part of an effort to re-think the curriculum, the module undoes distinctions between “primary” and “secondary” readings on several levels.

Since the age of European colonial rule in the Middle East came to an end around the Second World War, nominally independent nation-states in the region have tried to negotiate the opportunities and challenges of the Cold War, regional conflict and co-operation, underdevelopment, and more recently, globalisation. This module takes up the study of this rich politics through two different approaches, the first thematic, the second through the study of inter-state politics. After examining the methodological issues involved in the study of the Middle East and becoming familiar with the regions role during the Cold War and thereafter, we will examine important themes and debates in international politics of the Middle East, including war and militarism, ethnicity, development and globalisation, migration and ideological movements. In the latter part of the module, through a more conventional examination of inter-state politics of the Middle East, we will focus on conflict and cooperation between the Arab states in the region and their non-Arab neighbours, Israel, Iran and Turkey.

The Module presents a critical analysis of Artificial Intelligence with a particular emphasis on its implication for human security. It connects current research into the ethics of AI, to comparative philosophies including the socio-economic theories of the Frankfurt School and their emphasis on the perils of modern forms of production for human existence and the threat of “perfectionism” in capitalist societies. In addition, the course will consider the “techno-politics” of Paul Virilio and the critical approaches of Iranian philosophers such as Jamal Al-e Ahmad.

This course is designed to provide students with a theoretically informed introduction to key issues in the international political economy and foreign policy of China (People's Republic of China). This course seeks to develop an understanding of the key driving forces in China's international relations.

This module will examine the international political economy through a framework that goes beyond traditions of state-centrism and disciplinary boundaries between politics and economics. The course will study theoretical approaches to and contemporary issues within IPE. Students will explore the theories of leading analysts in the historical development of IPE, such as liberalism, marxism, feminism and postcolonialism. Contemporary themes and issues are addressed, including economic crises, global trade, production, financialisation and development. Students will be encouraged to think critically about these issues through the study of power relationships, hierarchies, violence and exploitation.

This module is the second part of a two-semester 'South Asia: Politics and International Relations' sequence combining issues of political thought, comparative politics, and international relations. The module introduces students to the broad spectrum of social, economic, and strategic debates and practices that animate politics in the subcontinent. From the ideas and ideologies that undergird political mobilisation to constitutional contracts that tenuously hold together large, diverse, and stratified countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan, the module explores the evolution of modern South Asia. It then tackles questions around identity, state, and society by unpacking the ebb and flow of religious and civic nationalisms (Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, liberal, and secular) coupled with the politics of gender, caste, citizenship, and migration. Sensitive to the economic asymmetries that inform political mobilisation, the module considers the development planning, climate action, and poverty alleviation schemes adopted by South Asian states as well as their domestic and regional implications. It also examines the vast informal underbelly of the region--critical to understanding the drivers of uneven growth. Finally, the module connects these aspects with South Asia’s international and geostrategic landscape, considering the impact of China’s economic and military rise, India and Pakistan’s multi-dimensional rivalry, and continuing separatist violence in South Asia, all with an eye to the drivers that will shape the subcontinent’s future.

This is the first of part of a 2-semester sequence entitled China and International Politics I and II. This module delves into the interrelations between China’s domestic and foreign policy, aiming to cultivate an understanding of the primary drivers and contradictions that characterize Chinese politics domestically and internationally. The module critically analyses pivotal themes in China’s political landscape, connecting them to broader discussions within the fields of politics and international relations. Further, this module investigates the dynamic processes that sustain and challenge these structures. It addresses how elements such as deviance, capital, law, and technology, among others, are constructed and operationalised within China and in its external engagements. Each feature is explored in the domestic context over five weeks, followed by five weeks on the international dimensions to analyse the process’s impact on the international arena. This module aims to illustrate the interconnectivity between China’s internal governance and its foreign policy, enhancing understanding of how domestic structures shape international relations.

This is the second part of a 2-semester sequence entitled China and International Politics I and II. This module follows on from CIP I (both modules must be selected) and delves into the interrelations between China’s domestic and foreign policy, aiming to cultivate an understanding of the primary drivers and contradictions that characterize Chinese politics domestically and internationally. The module critically analyses pivotal themes in China’s political landscape, connecting them to broader discussions within the fields of politics and international relations. Further, this module investigates the dynamic processes that sustain and challenge these structures. It addresses how elements such as deviance, capital, law, and technology, among others, are constructed and operationalised within China and in its external engagements. Each feature is explored in the domestic context over five weeks, followed by five weeks on the international dimensions to analyse the process’s impact on the international arena. This module aims to illustrate the interconnectivity between China’s internal governance and its foreign policy, enhancing understanding of how domestic structures shape international relations.

This course provides an introduction to the post-1950 evolution of the main economies of the Asia-Pacific region (comprising Northeast and Southeast Asia). It looks at macroeconomic issues, with a particular focus on growth, trade and investment flows, and fluctuations in economic indicators since the middle of the 1990s.

This course looks at the interaction between China's economic transformation and world development since the late 1970s until the present time. The emphasis is on critically analyzing and assessing this interaction from alternative historical and theoretical perspectives.

This module addresses the historical emergence of the ‘Chinese nation’. It focuses on socio-cultural identity as well as the ideological frameworks which were employed by different political regimes to promote the concept of China as a modern nation state. It begins with an analysis of the changing relationship between the Han majority, the ruling Manchu elite and the other major ethnic groups forming the Qing empire (1644-1911). It subsequently examines the panoply of new intellectual currents at the turn of the twentieth century, and political responses to the volatile situation following the transition to the Republic of China. The module analyses the tension between socialist internationalism, modern nationalism and traditional Chinese values, while focusing on differing interpretations of ‘Chinese tradition’ during the early People’s Republic.

This module examines international migration and diaspora politics as transnational processes in world politics. Cross-border mobility and diasporic political projects are key features of the contemporary international environment, yet they remain undertheorized in International Relations. How do migration and diaspora politics inform or challenge our understandings of the state, national identity, sovereignty, and the nature of the international system? What is the relationship between international migration and key areas of concern for International Relations scholars such as economic development, diplomacy, international security and global normative contestation? A range of theoretical approaches and empirical examples will be covered.

To what extent is the leader of a country free to make their own decisions, unconstrained by the material power at their disposal, the governmental bureaucracies they are trying to work through, the experts that surround them or their own socially constructed perceptions? How does a small state set its foreign policy agenda? What does it mean if a state proclaims a feminist foreign policy? What is the role of secrecy in foreign policy? These are a selection of questions we will cover in this module. There are contending approaches within Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA). FPA is a sub-field of International Relations, but also an object of analysis which is constituted and transformed by a variety of actors, practices and organisational structures. This raises the important question of how to study the multiple dimensions of foreign policy and who has the power to shape it. Each week's topic will attend to an important dimension of foreign policy, covering central actors, bureaucratic practices, issues and foreign policy tools. The module will also decentre the traditional focus on the US, which has dominated much of FPA scholarship.

The course focuses on the contestations in the history, institutions and politics of the global human rights regime, in general terms and in relation to specific rights issues, and considers its future prospects. We begin with a look at the contested history of human rights and ask why arguments about their origins are so persistent and the implications of dominant accounts of origins for contemporary politics of human rights. We then look at the sociology of human rights, using this approach to ask where the politics of human rights are located, and how and with what consequences the human rights ‘movement’ reproduces its moral authority. We then look at both international human rights norms and the institutions that embody them, including the relationship between rights, humanitarianism and international justice. Then, in the long middle section of the course, we examine a series of core rights issues in more depth, ranging from economic and social rights – including what relation, if any, human rights have to neoliberalism; women’s rights, children’s rights, and gender-based violence; LGBT* rights; states' routine suspension of rights in the name of security ('emergencies') - the new ‘normal’ of the ‘Global War on Terror' that has intensified amid the global pandemic; and the struggle for rights in exile (including, but not limited to, asylum) and, relatedly, the inexorable rise of the carceral state.

This half-unit module seeks to critically engage with the politic and theory of state violence. It will begin with a close reading of some primary philosophies of violence to try and understand both the phenomena itself and its schemes of justification.

This course will interrogate a series of core concepts in contemporary political theory. Rather than treating theoretical concepts as purely abstract, they will be explored through a series of topics of global significance where we can see the concepts at work. We will cover areas such as the climate crisis, structural racism, repressive use of state power, and interventionism. Through these explorations we will come to a better understanding of what is at stake in theoretical concepts such as sovereignty, rights, justice, and democracy. These reflections are couched in a larger consideration of how political theory may contribute to a liberatory politics, and how we reflect our role as political theorists. This module provides students an opportunity to engage systematically with key normative concepts and their valences in the World.

The Module presents a critical analysis of Artificial Intelligence with a particular emphasis on its implication for human security. It connects current research into the ethics of AI, to comparative philosophies including the socio-economic theories of the Frankfurt School and their emphasis on the perils of modern forms of production for human existence and the threat of “perfectionism” in capitalist societies. In addition, the course will consider the “techno-politics” of Paul Virilio and the critical approaches of Iranian philosophers such as Jamal Al-e Ahmad.

The purpose of this module is to examine the effects of political factors on economic and social transformation (and vice versa) with reference to the emerging market economies (EMEs). EMEs denote those upper income economies on the cusp of transition to high income status. This module focuses on two main issues. First, how did political factors (i.e. types of regime and the conditions of their formation) facilitate the emergence of the first generation of EMEs during the GATT or pre-globalization era (c. 1950-90)? This section concentrates the varying result of attempts to foster the “capitalist developmental state” in the pursuit of economic take-off. Second, the module will examine how upper middle income economies of today are facing up to the challenges of the globalization era, notably mobile capital (financialization and the emergence of global value chains) and the complex of constraints that constitute the “middle income trap”? Given the vastly changed conditions of the contemporary era, can they learn any relevant political and governance lessons from the experience of the first generation EMEs that have already made the transition to high income status?

This module will examine the international political economy through a framework that goes beyond traditions of state-centrism and disciplinary boundaries between politics and economics. The course will study theoretical approaches to and contemporary issues within IPE. Students will explore the theories of leading analysts in the historical development of IPE, such as liberalism, marxism, feminism and postcolonialism. Contemporary themes and issues are addressed, including economic crises, global trade, production, financialisation and development. Students will be encouraged to think critically about these issues through the study of power relationships, hierarchies, violence and exploitation.

This module will analyse the processes and dynamics of Soviet, post-Soviet and ongoing political, economic, social and cultural transformations in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan) and South Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia). This module is designed to enable students to gain an in-depth understanding of the differential nature of Soviet modernization, imperial-colonial legacies, challenges of post-Soviet transition, complexities of nation and state building, the diverse understandings of Islam and its engagement with politics, the relationship between formal and informal institutions, and the durability of authoritarian regimes in the face of societal protests and resistance.

This module introduces students to the key concepts of geopolitics and their application to the region of Central Asia and Caucasus. It analyses the multiple and shifting understandings of the notion of 'Eurasia' and 'Eurasianism' across the region, the nature of Sino-Russian partnership which shapes the regional organisations such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Eurasian Economic Union, the effects of China's BRI on the entire region, and the efforts by the states in the region to develop multivectoral foreign policies. It will focus on themes such as empire and (de)coloniality, regional security and securitization policies, energy and transport infrastructure, authoritarian regionalism, labour migration and the anti-extremism measures enacted for regime survival. It is designed to enable students to develop a broad and in-depth understanding of the role and influence of two regional hegemons Russia and China, the major external actors Turkey, Iran, India as well as efforts by the Central Asian states to balance between these actors and the Western states.

The aim of this course is to provide students with a deep framework for the understanding of the trajectories of Southeast Asian politics from colonial times to the present. This framework is comparative and rooted in political sociology. It is interdisciplinary in terms of its readings, drawing on historical, anthropological, economic and other materials in addition to works in political science. The course is expected to help students develop a capacity for comparative analysis and for evaluating arguments about the roles of factors as class, race, state-building, culture, economics, international impacts and religion on the political trajectories of the region as a whole as well as that of individual countries. Through the lectures, seminar discussions, coursework and the essays, students will learn to think more rigorously and comparatively about Southeast Asia in particular and critically about central political dynamic within the region in general. In addition, students will learn more about accessing library-based and electronic resources on Southeast Asian politics.

This course is designed to equip students with a comprehensive framework for understanding the political trajectories of Southeast Asia from colonial times to the present. This framework is comparative and grounded in political sociology, incorporating interdisciplinary readings from history, anthropology, economics, and other fields, alongside political science literature. The course aims to develop students' abilities in comparative analysis and in assessing arguments about the influences of factors such as class, race, state-building, culture, economics, international impacts, and religion on the political evolution of the region and its individual countries. Through lectures, seminar discussions, coursework, and essays, students will learn to think more rigorously and comparatively about Southeast Asia and critically about the key political dynamics within the region. Additionally, students will enhance their skills in accessing both library-based and electronic resources on Southeast Asian politics.

This module is the second part of a two-semester 'South Asia: Politics and International Relations' sequence combining issues of political thought, comparative politics, and international relations. The module introduces students to the broad spectrum of social, economic, and strategic debates and practices that animate politics in the subcontinent. From the ideas and ideologies that undergird political mobilisation to constitutional contracts that tenuously hold together large, diverse, and stratified countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan, the module explores the evolution of modern South Asia. It then tackles questions around identity, state, and society by unpacking the ebb and flow of religious and civic nationalisms (Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, liberal, and secular) coupled with the politics of gender, caste, citizenship, and migration. Sensitive to the economic asymmetries that inform political mobilisation, the module considers the development planning, climate action, and poverty alleviation schemes adopted by South Asian states as well as their domestic and regional implications. It also examines the vast informal underbelly of the region--critical to understanding the drivers of uneven growth. Finally, the module connects these aspects with South Asia’s international and geostrategic landscape, considering the impact of China’s economic and military rise, India and Pakistan’s multi-dimensional rivalry, and continuing separatist violence in South Asia, all with an eye to the drivers that will shape the subcontinent’s future.

This course is intended to provide both an introduction to queer theory, as well as to engage with the question of its relevance in contemporary Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. This course will use struggles for sexual self-determination as a prism through which to consider broader questions about the constitution of modernity, the proliferation of identities, rights and claims for justice, the consolidation and deconstruction of postcolonial national identities, the aspirations and anxieties of postcolonial elites, etc. These questions will be studied contextually, with topics in many weeks focusing on a single area case study, or a comparison of two or more country-contexts.

This module provides a critical understanding of the theoretical and conceptual approaches to the relationship between communication, culture, arts and politics in the Middle East.

The aim of the course is to provide an overview of the ways in which varying bodies of scholarship across and intra-various disciplines engage and study Palestine, and also an examination of how the study of Palestine cuts across and informs scholarly, theoretical, political and disciplinary approaches. The course addresses issues relating to the questions of conflict and political economy, development, cultural politics, social and economic relations, identity, and other major concerns of humanities and social sciences.

To what extent is the leader of a country free to make their own decisions, unconstrained by the material power at their disposal, the governmental bureaucracies they are trying to work through, the experts that surround them or their own socially constructed perceptions? How does a small state set its foreign policy agenda? What does it mean if a state proclaims a feminist foreign policy? What is the role of secrecy in foreign policy? These are a selection of questions we will cover in this module. There are contending approaches within Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA). FPA is a sub-field of International Relations, but also an object of analysis which is constituted and transformed by a variety of actors, practices and organisational structures. This raises the important question of how to study the multiple dimensions of foreign policy and who has the power to shape it. Each week's topic will attend to an important dimension of foreign policy, covering central actors, bureaucratic practices, issues and foreign policy tools. The module will also decentre the traditional focus on the US, which has dominated much of FPA scholarship.

This course will investigate the evolving nature of security governance and risks in the 21st century, with particular attention to emerging threats in the realms of nuclear weapons, non-state terrorism, climate change, energy, and food security, as well as emerging forms of security governance in the domains of surveillance and policing.

The course focuses on the contestations in the history, institutions and politics of the global human rights regime, in general terms and in relation to specific rights issues, and considers its future prospects. We begin with a look at the contested history of human rights and ask why arguments about their origins are so persistent and the implications of dominant accounts of origins for contemporary politics of human rights. We then look at the sociology of human rights, using this approach to ask where the politics of human rights are located, and how and with what consequences the human rights ‘movement’ reproduces its moral authority. We then look at both international human rights norms and the institutions that embody them, including the relationship between rights, humanitarianism and international justice. Then, in the long middle section of the course, we examine a series of core rights issues in more depth, ranging from economic and social rights – including what relation, if any, human rights have to neoliberalism; women’s rights, children’s rights, and gender-based violence; LGBT* rights; states' routine suspension of rights in the name of security ('emergencies') - the new ‘normal’ of the ‘Global War on Terror' that has intensified amid the global pandemic; and the struggle for rights in exile (including, but not limited to, asylum) and, relatedly, the inexorable rise of the carceral state.

The last few years have seen people rise up in many parts of the world and, in so doing, they follow long traditions of revolt and resistance, and justify the impulse to rebel with both political reform programmes and deep ethical and philosophical, not to mention religious reasoning. This module considers those reasoning and looks at work on the just rebellion from different parts of the world, and not just from Western sources. The module has the general objective of providing a comparative and multicultural approach to the political philosophies, theories, norms and practices of rebellion, both in various historical national contexts and in a contemporary global context.

This half-unit module seeks to critically engage with the politic and theory of state violence. It will begin with a close reading of some primary philosophies of violence to try and understand both the phenomena itself and its schemes of justification.

This course will interrogate a series of core concepts in contemporary political theory. Rather than treating theoretical concepts as purely abstract, they will be explored through a series of topics of global significance where we can see the concepts at work. We will cover areas such as the climate crisis, structural racism, repressive use of state power, and interventionism. Through these explorations we will come to a better understanding of what is at stake in theoretical concepts such as sovereignty, rights, justice, and democracy. These reflections are couched in a larger consideration of how political theory may contribute to a liberatory politics, and how we reflect our role as political theorists. This module provides students an opportunity to engage systematically with key normative concepts and their valences in the World.

This module seeks to provide PG students in Comparative Political Thought and other interested students at the department a substantial background in political theory and approaches to the analysis of political thought. It works slowly and closely on some key texts in the history of political thought, and situates them in their global, racial, economic, and gendered contexts by considering questions of empire, class, slavery, location, and more. At the same time, and as part of an effort to re-think the curriculum, the module undoes distinctions between “primary” and “secondary” readings on several levels.

The Module presents a critical analysis of Artificial Intelligence with a particular emphasis on its implication for human security. It connects current research into the ethics of AI, to comparative philosophies including the socio-economic theories of the Frankfurt School and their emphasis on the perils of modern forms of production for human existence and the threat of “perfectionism” in capitalist societies. In addition, the course will consider the “techno-politics” of Paul Virilio and the critical approaches of Iranian philosophers such as Jamal Al-e Ahmad.

The purpose of this module is to examine the effects of political factors on economic and social transformation (and vice versa) with reference to the emerging market economies (EMEs). EMEs denote those upper income economies on the cusp of transition to high income status. This module focuses on two main issues. First, how did political factors (i.e. types of regime and the conditions of their formation) facilitate the emergence of the first generation of EMEs during the GATT or pre-globalization era (c. 1950-90)? This section concentrates the varying result of attempts to foster the “capitalist developmental state” in the pursuit of economic take-off. Second, the module will examine how upper middle income economies of today are facing up to the challenges of the globalization era, notably mobile capital (financialization and the emergence of global value chains) and the complex of constraints that constitute the “middle income trap”? Given the vastly changed conditions of the contemporary era, can they learn any relevant political and governance lessons from the experience of the first generation EMEs that have already made the transition to high income status?

This module critically explores the different theoretical perspectives of the relationship between Human Rights and Islamic law and examines the practices of some relevant Muslim-majority States in that regard.

This module introduces students to the range of international laws which govern war and armed conflict. International law on the use of force forms the core content. Each seminar will introduce students to mainstream approaches and debates on the use of force before contrasting these with topical and controversial views on the law on the use of force. Students will be encouraged to follow current developments and practice while being introduced to the Charter system for collective security and the role of state justifications on the use of force.

This module provides a critical introduction to the law of armed conflict ( also known as international humanitarian law). We will explore its history and sources, its relationship to the law on the use of force, and the basic principles that have governed its development. We then examine a range of historical and contemporary challenges to the law of armed conflict including colonial warfare and wars of national liberation, the classification of conflicts, lawful and unlawful combatants, the protection of the civilian population, weaponry, and human rights. Throughout the course we will think critically about the legal regulation of violence and the history of legal efforts to humanise war.

This module critically explores the different theoretical perspectives of the relationship between Human Rights and Islamic law and examines the practices of some relevant Muslim-majority States in that regard.

This module critically explores the different theoretical perspectives of the relationship between Human Rights and Islamic law and examines the practices of some relevant Muslim-majority States in that regard. Following on from Part 1, this module focuses on substantive issues, States practices and application of the law.

The course focuses on key issues in the study of politics in the Middle East. The main questions pertain to state-society relations and interaction. To understand the modes of governance and patterns of societal action, the course examines the forms of power deployed in the interplay between state and societal forces. Integral to this examination is reflection on the analytical and conceptual tools used to understand and explain state-society relations. Concepts such as “the state”, class, sect, and informal politics are critically examined and assessed within a larger attention to the politics of knowledge production in the Middle East. Whilst interrogating these concepts, we pay close attention to how historical context and region-transforming forces such as colonialism, modern state-formation, and neoliberalism, empirically shaped these societal formations and power dynamics as well as how they were studied in the field. The course takes a close look at the analytical assumptions underlying the main theoretical approaches to the study of the region and the empirical tools deployed to open new lines of enquiry. Finally, the course considers the ways in which some of the principal theories and analytical frameworks used to analyse state-society relations in the Middle East have been challenged by the events of the Arab Uprisings and their aftermath.

This course will investigate the evolving nature of security governance and risks in the 21st century, with particular attention to emerging threats in the realms of nuclear weapons, non-state terrorism, climate change, energy, and food security, as well as emerging forms of security governance in the domains of surveillance and policing.

This module seeks to provide PG students in Comparative Political Thought and other interested students at the department a substantial background in political theory and approaches to the analysis of political thought. It works slowly and closely on some key texts in the history of political thought, and situates them in their global, racial, economic, and gendered contexts by considering questions of empire, class, slavery, location, and more. At the same time, and as part of an effort to re-think the curriculum, the module undoes distinctions between “primary” and “secondary” readings on several levels.

Since the age of European colonial rule in the Middle East came to an end around the Second World War, nominally independent nation-states in the region have tried to negotiate the opportunities and challenges of the Cold War, regional conflict and co-operation, underdevelopment, and more recently, globalisation. This module takes up the study of this rich politics through two different approaches, the first thematic, the second through the study of inter-state politics. After examining the methodological issues involved in the study of the Middle East and becoming familiar with the regions role during the Cold War and thereafter, we will examine important themes and debates in international politics of the Middle East, including war and militarism, ethnicity, development and globalisation, migration and ideological movements. In the latter part of the module, through a more conventional examination of inter-state politics of the Middle East, we will focus on conflict and cooperation between the Arab states in the region and their non-Arab neighbours, Israel, Iran and Turkey.

The purpose of this module is to examine the effects of political factors on economic and social transformation (and vice versa) with reference to the emerging market economies (EMEs). EMEs denote those upper income economies on the cusp of transition to high income status. This module focuses on two main issues. First, how did political factors (i.e. types of regime and the conditions of their formation) facilitate the emergence of the first generation of EMEs during the GATT or pre-globalization era (c. 1950-90)? This section concentrates the varying result of attempts to foster the “capitalist developmental state” in the pursuit of economic take-off. Second, the module will examine how upper middle income economies of today are facing up to the challenges of the globalization era, notably mobile capital (financialization and the emergence of global value chains) and the complex of constraints that constitute the “middle income trap”? Given the vastly changed conditions of the contemporary era, can they learn any relevant political and governance lessons from the experience of the first generation EMEs that have already made the transition to high income status?

This course examines the origins, characteristics and dynamics of the political systems of Northeast Asia (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) and how they cope with the dilemmas of economic and social sustainability. This module will examine why the economic and social dilemmas of affluence” are particularly acute in Northeast Asia given their recent histories as miraculous economies (characterised by “growth with equity”). It will also reveal whether Northeast Asia is generating its own distinctive responses to these dilemmas.

Is secularism Western? Is religious discourse the natural means of authentic, indigenous political mobilization and expression in the Middle East? This course explores how religious difference in the Middle East became a salient social and political marker in the modern era. It will also consider the various methods and frameworks that scholars have used to grapple with this manifestation of social difference.

This module will analyse the processes and dynamics of Soviet, post-Soviet and ongoing political, economic, social and cultural transformations in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan) and South Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia). This module is designed to enable students to gain an in-depth understanding of the differential nature of Soviet modernization, imperial-colonial legacies, challenges of post-Soviet transition, complexities of nation and state building, the diverse understandings of Islam and its engagement with politics, the relationship between formal and informal institutions, and the durability of authoritarian regimes in the face of societal protests and resistance.

This module introduces students to the key concepts of geopolitics and their application to the region of Central Asia and Caucasus. It analyses the multiple and shifting understandings of the notion of 'Eurasia' and 'Eurasianism' across the region, the nature of Sino-Russian partnership which shapes the regional organisations such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Eurasian Economic Union, the effects of China's BRI on the entire region, and the efforts by the states in the region to develop multivectoral foreign policies. It will focus on themes such as empire and (de)coloniality, regional security and securitization policies, energy and transport infrastructure, authoritarian regionalism, labour migration and the anti-extremism measures enacted for regime survival. It is designed to enable students to develop a broad and in-depth understanding of the role and influence of two regional hegemons Russia and China, the major external actors Turkey, Iran, India as well as efforts by the Central Asian states to balance between these actors and the Western states.

The aim of this course is to provide students with a deep framework for the understanding of the trajectories of Southeast Asian politics from colonial times to the present. This framework is comparative and rooted in political sociology. It is interdisciplinary in terms of its readings, drawing on historical, anthropological, economic and other materials in addition to works in political science. The course is expected to help students develop a capacity for comparative analysis and for evaluating arguments about the roles of factors as class, race, state-building, culture, economics, international impacts and religion on the political trajectories of the region as a whole as well as that of individual countries. Through the lectures, seminar discussions, coursework and the essays, students will learn to think more rigorously and comparatively about Southeast Asia in particular and critically about central political dynamic within the region in general. In addition, students will learn more about accessing library-based and electronic resources on Southeast Asian politics.

This course is designed to equip students with a comprehensive framework for understanding the political trajectories of Southeast Asia from colonial times to the present. This framework is comparative and grounded in political sociology, incorporating interdisciplinary readings from history, anthropology, economics, and other fields, alongside political science literature. The course aims to develop students' abilities in comparative analysis and in assessing arguments about the influences of factors such as class, race, state-building, culture, economics, international impacts, and religion on the political evolution of the region and its individual countries. Through lectures, seminar discussions, coursework, and essays, students will learn to think more rigorously and comparatively about Southeast Asia and critically about the key political dynamics within the region. Additionally, students will enhance their skills in accessing both library-based and electronic resources on Southeast Asian politics.

This module is the second part of a two-semester 'South Asia: Politics and International Relations' sequence combining issues of political thought, comparative politics, and international relations. The module introduces students to the broad spectrum of social, economic, and strategic debates and practices that animate politics in the subcontinent. From the ideas and ideologies that undergird political mobilisation to constitutional contracts that tenuously hold together large, diverse, and stratified countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan, the module explores the evolution of modern South Asia. It then tackles questions around identity, state, and society by unpacking the ebb and flow of religious and civic nationalisms (Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, liberal, and secular) coupled with the politics of gender, caste, citizenship, and migration. Sensitive to the economic asymmetries that inform political mobilisation, the module considers the development planning, climate action, and poverty alleviation schemes adopted by South Asian states as well as their domestic and regional implications. It also examines the vast informal underbelly of the region--critical to understanding the drivers of uneven growth. Finally, the module connects these aspects with South Asia’s international and geostrategic landscape, considering the impact of China’s economic and military rise, India and Pakistan’s multi-dimensional rivalry, and continuing separatist violence in South Asia, all with an eye to the drivers that will shape the subcontinent’s future.

This is the first of part of a 2-semester sequence entitled China and International Politics I and II. This module delves into the interrelations between China’s domestic and foreign policy, aiming to cultivate an understanding of the primary drivers and contradictions that characterize Chinese politics domestically and internationally. The module critically analyses pivotal themes in China’s political landscape, connecting them to broader discussions within the fields of politics and international relations. Further, this module investigates the dynamic processes that sustain and challenge these structures. It addresses how elements such as deviance, capital, law, and technology, among others, are constructed and operationalised within China and in its external engagements. Each feature is explored in the domestic context over five weeks, followed by five weeks on the international dimensions to analyse the process’s impact on the international arena. This module aims to illustrate the interconnectivity between China’s internal governance and its foreign policy, enhancing understanding of how domestic structures shape international relations.

This is the second part of a 2-semester sequence entitled China and International Politics I and II. This module follows on from CIP I (both modules must be selected) and delves into the interrelations between China’s domestic and foreign policy, aiming to cultivate an understanding of the primary drivers and contradictions that characterize Chinese politics domestically and internationally. The module critically analyses pivotal themes in China’s political landscape, connecting them to broader discussions within the fields of politics and international relations. Further, this module investigates the dynamic processes that sustain and challenge these structures. It addresses how elements such as deviance, capital, law, and technology, among others, are constructed and operationalised within China and in its external engagements. Each feature is explored in the domestic context over five weeks, followed by five weeks on the international dimensions to analyse the process’s impact on the international arena. This module aims to illustrate the interconnectivity between China’s internal governance and its foreign policy, enhancing understanding of how domestic structures shape international relations.

This unique module provides an introduction to Taiwan’s international and domestic politics. Taiwan’s political democratization, its identity politics and its contested international status have all contributed to making its politics one of the most researched topics in the fields of East Asian and Chinese politics. The module seeks to examine the political processes that have shaped Taiwan since 1949, with particular emphasis on the last three decades. It also explores the evolution of Cross-Strait relations, their enduring rivalry, ongoing conflicts, and Taiwan's contested statehood. We focus on two core themes (1) an analysis of Taiwan’s domestic politics and (2) analysis of Cross-Strait and international relations. Units on Taiwan’s domestic politics will address a variety of issues, including the island’s democratic transition, Taiwan’s party and electoral politics and the quality of its democracy. The sessions on Taiwan’s external relations will examine Taiwan's international status and sovereignty, international relations, as well as the evolution of cross-Strait relations under the early administrations.

This module builds on Taiwan and International Politics Part 1 by delving more deeply into Taiwan’s international and domestic politics. Students will be encouraged to apply a range of theoretical approaches including comparative politics, sociology, and international relations to analyse the politics of modern Taiwan. The domestic politics part of the module will look at three interrelated themes of Taiwan’s electoral and party politics, politics of gender and its social movements. This will involve an examination of a range of topical election, social movement and party case studies. In the final five weeks of the module, the focus will return to Taiwan’s external relations. Topics will include Taiwan's strategies for navigating its increasingly isolated international space and mounting military threats from China, as well as Cross-strait soft power competition. Additionally, we will examine China's evolving policy aimed at bringing Taiwan into its orbit and the dynamics of the US-China-Taiwan triangle.

The so-called ‘resurgence’ of religion in the public sphere in recent decades is now a significant area of interdisciplinary scholarship eliciting a complex array of responses, ranging from vehement opposition to the very idea that religious concepts and commitments have a right to expression in public, political debates to a reassessment of the provenance and implications of divisions between the secular and the religious and their relationship to the nation state. The current geopolitical landscape wherein ‘religion’ has become a force to be reckoned with has demanded a reassessment of once predominant understandings of processes of secularisation, as well as the meanings of, and tensions inherent within, secular assumptions and secularist positions. The notion that there is no singular secularism, but rather a plurality of secularisms, and of religion as an invention of European modernity and colonialist exigencies are two of many emerging efforts to reconceptualise the meanings of religion and the secular and the entangled relationship between them. This course will offer a comprehensive overview of the various debates around the nature of the secularism and the role of religion in the public sphere.

This module builds on the first term module ‘Religion and Global Politics: Theories and Genealogies’ in order to question dominant approaches to religion and politics. Taking a thematic approach, we will examine a range of topics where the seemingly self-evident division between religion and politics is subjected to critical, applied analysis that engages specifically with contexts, perspectives, and practices in the global south. Themes will include religion, sectarianism and democratisation processes, the relationship between religious discourses and political violence or conflict resolution, the legislative difficulties presented by contradictions in liberalist political principles that underpin the political systems of the global North and its models of multiculturalism, variant conceptions of state-religion relationships, the role of religion in identity politics, state responses to religious identity claims and priorities, free speech and blasphemy, and religious discrimination in the framework of international human rights discourses, amongst others

The so-called ‘resurgence’ of religion in the public sphere and the domain of the political more generally in recent decades is now a significant area of interdisciplinary scholarship, eliciting a complex array of responses, ranging from vehement opposition to the very idea that religious concepts and commitments have a right to expression in public, political debates to a reassessment of the provenance and implications of divisions between the secular and the religious and their relationship to the nation state and the post-colony. The current geopolitical landscape wherein ‘religion’ has apparently become a force to be reckoned with has demanded a reassessment of once predominant understandings of processes of secularisation, as well as the meanings of, and tensions inherent within secular assumptions and secularist positions. The notion that there is no singular secularism, but rather a plurality of secularisms, and of religion as an invention of European modernity and colonialist exigencies are two of many emerging efforts to reconceptualise the meanings of religion, politics, and the secular and the entangled relationship between them.
This course will offer a comprehensive overview of these debates focusing particularly on theorisations of the nature of secularism and the role of religion in the public sphere as well as the genealogies of these debates in order to attend to the central issue of how the relationship between religion and politics is constituted, understood, and instantiated in a global context.

Since the age of European colonial rule in the Middle East came to an end around the Second World War, nominally independent nation-states in the region have tried to negotiate the opportunities and challenges of the Cold War, regional conflict and co-operation, underdevelopment, and more recently, globalisation. This module takes up the study of this rich politics through two different approaches, the first thematic, the second through the study of inter-state politics. After examining the methodological issues involved in the study of the Middle East and becoming familiar with the regions role during the Cold War and thereafter, we will examine important themes and debates in international politics of the Middle East, including war and militarism, ethnicity, development and globalisation, migration and ideological movements. In the latter part of the module, through a more conventional examination of inter-state politics of the Middle East, we will focus on conflict and cooperation between the Arab states in the region and their non-Arab neighbours, Israel, Iran and Turkey.

The purpose of this module is to examine the effects of political factors on economic and social transformation (and vice versa) with reference to the emerging market economies (EMEs). EMEs denote those upper income economies on the cusp of transition to high income status. This module focuses on two main issues. First, how did political factors (i.e. types of regime and the conditions of their formation) facilitate the emergence of the first generation of EMEs during the GATT or pre-globalization era (c. 1950-90)? This section concentrates the varying result of attempts to foster the “capitalist developmental state” in the pursuit of economic take-off. Second, the module will examine how upper middle income economies of today are facing up to the challenges of the globalization era, notably mobile capital (financialization and the emergence of global value chains) and the complex of constraints that constitute the “middle income trap”? Given the vastly changed conditions of the contemporary era, can they learn any relevant political and governance lessons from the experience of the first generation EMEs that have already made the transition to high income status?

This course is designed to provide students with a theoretically informed introduction to key issues in the international political economy and foreign policy of China (People's Republic of China). This course seeks to develop an understanding of the key driving forces in China's international relations.

This course is designed to provide students with a theoretically informed and comparative introduction to key issues in the contemporary international politics of East Asia. East Asia is defined as the states of the Northeast Asia (in particular, China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan), and the two main external actors, the United States and Soviet Union/Russia who played a key role influencing the region’s international relations. East Asia presents fascinating case studies in the study of international relations by bringing together the world’s three largest economies (US, China, Japan), three of the UN Security Council’s permanent members (US, Russia, China) and two divided nations (China/Taiwan and the two Korea).

This course examines the origins, characteristics and dynamics of the political systems of Northeast Asia (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) and how they cope with the dilemmas of economic and social sustainability. This module will examine why the economic and social dilemmas of affluence” are particularly acute in Northeast Asia given their recent histories as miraculous economies (characterised by “growth with equity”). It will also reveal whether Northeast Asia is generating its own distinctive responses to these dilemmas.

This module will analyse the processes and dynamics of Soviet, post-Soviet and ongoing political, economic, social and cultural transformations in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan) and South Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia). This module is designed to enable students to gain an in-depth understanding of the differential nature of Soviet modernization, imperial-colonial legacies, challenges of post-Soviet transition, complexities of nation and state building, the diverse understandings of Islam and its engagement with politics, the relationship between formal and informal institutions, and the durability of authoritarian regimes in the face of societal protests and resistance.

This module introduces students to the key concepts of geopolitics and their application to the region of Central Asia and Caucasus. It analyses the multiple and shifting understandings of the notion of 'Eurasia' and 'Eurasianism' across the region, the nature of Sino-Russian partnership which shapes the regional organisations such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Eurasian Economic Union, the effects of China's BRI on the entire region, and the efforts by the states in the region to develop multivectoral foreign policies. It will focus on themes such as empire and (de)coloniality, regional security and securitization policies, energy and transport infrastructure, authoritarian regionalism, labour migration and the anti-extremism measures enacted for regime survival. It is designed to enable students to develop a broad and in-depth understanding of the role and influence of two regional hegemons Russia and China, the major external actors Turkey, Iran, India as well as efforts by the Central Asian states to balance between these actors and the Western states.

The aim of this course is to provide students with a deep framework for the understanding of the trajectories of Southeast Asian politics from colonial times to the present. This framework is comparative and rooted in political sociology. It is interdisciplinary in terms of its readings, drawing on historical, anthropological, economic and other materials in addition to works in political science. The course is expected to help students develop a capacity for comparative analysis and for evaluating arguments about the roles of factors as class, race, state-building, culture, economics, international impacts and religion on the political trajectories of the region as a whole as well as that of individual countries. Through the lectures, seminar discussions, coursework and the essays, students will learn to think more rigorously and comparatively about Southeast Asia in particular and critically about central political dynamic within the region in general. In addition, students will learn more about accessing library-based and electronic resources on Southeast Asian politics.

This course is designed to equip students with a comprehensive framework for understanding the political trajectories of Southeast Asia from colonial times to the present. This framework is comparative and grounded in political sociology, incorporating interdisciplinary readings from history, anthropology, economics, and other fields, alongside political science literature. The course aims to develop students' abilities in comparative analysis and in assessing arguments about the influences of factors such as class, race, state-building, culture, economics, international impacts, and religion on the political evolution of the region and its individual countries. Through lectures, seminar discussions, coursework, and essays, students will learn to think more rigorously and comparatively about Southeast Asia and critically about the key political dynamics within the region. Additionally, students will enhance their skills in accessing both library-based and electronic resources on Southeast Asian politics.

This module is the second part of a two-semester 'South Asia: Politics and International Relations' sequence combining issues of political thought, comparative politics, and international relations. The module introduces students to the broad spectrum of social, economic, and strategic debates and practices that animate politics in the subcontinent. From the ideas and ideologies that undergird political mobilisation to constitutional contracts that tenuously hold together large, diverse, and stratified countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan, the module explores the evolution of modern South Asia. It then tackles questions around identity, state, and society by unpacking the ebb and flow of religious and civic nationalisms (Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, liberal, and secular) coupled with the politics of gender, caste, citizenship, and migration. Sensitive to the economic asymmetries that inform political mobilisation, the module considers the development planning, climate action, and poverty alleviation schemes adopted by South Asian states as well as their domestic and regional implications. It also examines the vast informal underbelly of the region--critical to understanding the drivers of uneven growth. Finally, the module connects these aspects with South Asia’s international and geostrategic landscape, considering the impact of China’s economic and military rise, India and Pakistan’s multi-dimensional rivalry, and continuing separatist violence in South Asia, all with an eye to the drivers that will shape the subcontinent’s future.

This is the first of part of a 2-semester sequence entitled China and International Politics I and II. This module delves into the interrelations between China’s domestic and foreign policy, aiming to cultivate an understanding of the primary drivers and contradictions that characterize Chinese politics domestically and internationally. The module critically analyses pivotal themes in China’s political landscape, connecting them to broader discussions within the fields of politics and international relations. Further, this module investigates the dynamic processes that sustain and challenge these structures. It addresses how elements such as deviance, capital, law, and technology, among others, are constructed and operationalised within China and in its external engagements. Each feature is explored in the domestic context over five weeks, followed by five weeks on the international dimensions to analyse the process’s impact on the international arena. This module aims to illustrate the interconnectivity between China’s internal governance and its foreign policy, enhancing understanding of how domestic structures shape international relations.

This is the second part of a 2-semester sequence entitled China and International Politics I and II. This module follows on from CIP I (both modules must be selected) and delves into the interrelations between China’s domestic and foreign policy, aiming to cultivate an understanding of the primary drivers and contradictions that characterize Chinese politics domestically and internationally. The module critically analyses pivotal themes in China’s political landscape, connecting them to broader discussions within the fields of politics and international relations. Further, this module investigates the dynamic processes that sustain and challenge these structures. It addresses how elements such as deviance, capital, law, and technology, among others, are constructed and operationalised within China and in its external engagements. Each feature is explored in the domestic context over five weeks, followed by five weeks on the international dimensions to analyse the process’s impact on the international arena. This module aims to illustrate the interconnectivity between China’s internal governance and its foreign policy, enhancing understanding of how domestic structures shape international relations.

This unique module provides an introduction to Taiwan’s international and domestic politics. Taiwan’s political democratization, its identity politics and its contested international status have all contributed to making its politics one of the most researched topics in the fields of East Asian and Chinese politics. The module seeks to examine the political processes that have shaped Taiwan since 1949, with particular emphasis on the last three decades. It also explores the evolution of Cross-Strait relations, their enduring rivalry, ongoing conflicts, and Taiwan's contested statehood. We focus on two core themes (1) an analysis of Taiwan’s domestic politics and (2) analysis of Cross-Strait and international relations. Units on Taiwan’s domestic politics will address a variety of issues, including the island’s democratic transition, Taiwan’s party and electoral politics and the quality of its democracy. The sessions on Taiwan’s external relations will examine Taiwan's international status and sovereignty, international relations, as well as the evolution of cross-Strait relations under the early administrations.

This module builds on Taiwan and International Politics Part 1 by delving more deeply into Taiwan’s international and domestic politics. Students will be encouraged to apply a range of theoretical approaches including comparative politics, sociology, and international relations to analyse the politics of modern Taiwan. The domestic politics part of the module will look at three interrelated themes of Taiwan’s electoral and party politics, politics of gender and its social movements. This will involve an examination of a range of topical election, social movement and party case studies. In the final five weeks of the module, the focus will return to Taiwan’s external relations. Topics will include Taiwan's strategies for navigating its increasingly isolated international space and mounting military threats from China, as well as Cross-strait soft power competition. Additionally, we will examine China's evolving policy aimed at bringing Taiwan into its orbit and the dynamics of the US-China-Taiwan triangle.

This module uses diverse legal, historical, anthropological and sociological literature to introduce the dynamic region of Southeast Asia to SOAS postgraduate students. We are guided by a law and society approach, which places an emphasis on empirical, interdisciplinary understandings of the historical and present-day Southeast Asian polities; their social, religious and legal regimes; and the ways they have interacted with one another. You are not required to possess any prior knowledge of legal studies or, indeed, of Southeast Asia. Your weekly classes will be led by experts in the field of Southeast Asian Studies, and you will be able to learn a great deal about the historical, social and legal dimensions of life across Southeast Asia.

This module introduces students to fundamental concepts and approaches in the study of the links between language and society. Using numerous examples, students will learn about the interplay of language with social factors such as class, gender, ethnicity and age, including how language varies and changes.

This module is a seminar on ethnic violence. During the module, we will read classic and recent scholarly works that address various aspects of this question using different methods and approaches. In the first part, we will review the key debates on the concepts of ethnicity and identity, and discuss their implications for the study of ethnic violence. Then, we will shift our focus to theories of ethnic conflict and violence in order to understand examples from different parts of the world where conflict among different groups has resulted in varying degrees and types of violence. Throughout the course, we will have a strictly theoretical and empirical focus, and aim to answer the following questions: 1. How do ethnic identities become politically relevant? 2. What causes ethnic groups to engage in violent conflict? 3. Can explanations of ethnic violence help us understand non-ethnic forms of violence?

To what extent is the leader of a country free to make their own decisions, unconstrained by the material power at their disposal, the governmental bureaucracies they are trying to work through, the experts that surround them or their own socially constructed perceptions? How does a small state set its foreign policy agenda? What does it mean if a state proclaims a feminist foreign policy? What is the role of secrecy in foreign policy? These are a selection of questions we will cover in this module. There are contending approaches within Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA). FPA is a sub-field of International Relations, but also an object of analysis which is constituted and transformed by a variety of actors, practices and organisational structures. This raises the important question of how to study the multiple dimensions of foreign policy and who has the power to shape it. Each week's topic will attend to an important dimension of foreign policy, covering central actors, bureaucratic practices, issues and foreign policy tools. The module will also decentre the traditional focus on the US, which has dominated much of FPA scholarship.

This module is about the politics of normative change in world politics, and more specifically, in international responses to violent conflict i.e. the contestations over the norms, institutions, and law associated with the regulation of armed conflict and the management of its effects and consequences, and, more generally, the securing of a peaceful world. The module examines these both theoretically and empirically, with a focus on key domains within world politics - including human rights, humanitarianism, international criminal justice, the laws of war, and the legitimacy of the use of armed force - and the associated frameworks that have developed over the in recent decades as a wider architecture understood as ‘liberal’ in its ostensible foundations, goals, and commitments.

The course focuses on the contestations in the history, institutions and politics of the global human rights regime, in general terms and in relation to specific rights issues, and considers its future prospects. We begin with a look at the contested history of human rights and ask why arguments about their origins are so persistent and the implications of dominant accounts of origins for contemporary politics of human rights. We then look at the sociology of human rights, using this approach to ask where the politics of human rights are located, and how and with what consequences the human rights ‘movement’ reproduces its moral authority. We then look at both international human rights norms and the institutions that embody them, including the relationship between rights, humanitarianism and international justice. Then, in the long middle section of the course, we examine a series of core rights issues in more depth, ranging from economic and social rights – including what relation, if any, human rights have to neoliberalism; women’s rights, children’s rights, and gender-based violence; LGBT* rights; states' routine suspension of rights in the name of security ('emergencies') - the new ‘normal’ of the ‘Global War on Terror' that has intensified amid the global pandemic; and the struggle for rights in exile (including, but not limited to, asylum) and, relatedly, the inexorable rise of the carceral state.

This module introduces students to the sub-field of comparative political thought through critical engagement with different approaches and key debates in the field. Students will read political theory produced in Asia, Africa and the Middle East and will consider various challenges of interpretation related to comparison, perspective, time, space and translation. This module is distinct from other modules in area studies since our study is not confined to a single geographical region; rather, the focus is on the study of concepts and political thought. The module seeks to introduce the main approaches in comparative political theory and to elaborate conceptual approaches to the comparison of political thinking across regions and traditions that the module develops.

The last few years have seen people rise up in many parts of the world and, in so doing, they follow long traditions of revolt and resistance, and justify the impulse to rebel with both political reform programmes and deep ethical and philosophical, not to mention religious reasoning. This module considers those reasoning and looks at work on the just rebellion from different parts of the world, and not just from Western sources. The module has the general objective of providing a comparative and multicultural approach to the political philosophies, theories, norms and practices of rebellion, both in various historical national contexts and in a contemporary global context.

This half-unit module seeks to critically engage with the politic and theory of state violence. It will begin with a close reading of some primary philosophies of violence to try and understand both the phenomena itself and its schemes of justification.

This course will interrogate a series of core concepts in contemporary political theory. Rather than treating theoretical concepts as purely abstract, they will be explored through a series of topics of global significance where we can see the concepts at work. We will cover areas such as the climate crisis, structural racism, repressive use of state power, and interventionism. Through these explorations we will come to a better understanding of what is at stake in theoretical concepts such as sovereignty, rights, justice, and democracy. These reflections are couched in a larger consideration of how political theory may contribute to a liberatory politics, and how we reflect our role as political theorists. This module provides students an opportunity to engage systematically with key normative concepts and their valences in the World.

This module seeks to provide PG students in Comparative Political Thought and other interested students at the department a substantial background in political theory and approaches to the analysis of political thought. It works slowly and closely on some key texts in the history of political thought, and situates them in their global, racial, economic, and gendered contexts by considering questions of empire, class, slavery, location, and more. At the same time, and as part of an effort to re-think the curriculum, the module undoes distinctions between “primary” and “secondary” readings on several levels.

The Module presents a critical analysis of Artificial Intelligence with a particular emphasis on its implication for human security. It connects current research into the ethics of AI, to comparative philosophies including the socio-economic theories of the Frankfurt School and their emphasis on the perils of modern forms of production for human existence and the threat of “perfectionism” in capitalist societies. In addition, the course will consider the “techno-politics” of Paul Virilio and the critical approaches of Iranian philosophers such as Jamal Al-e Ahmad.

This course is designed to provide students with a theoretically informed introduction to key issues in the international political economy and foreign policy of China (People's Republic of China). This course seeks to develop an understanding of the key driving forces in China's international relations.

This module will examine the international political economy through a framework that goes beyond traditions of state-centrism and disciplinary boundaries between politics and economics. The course will study theoretical approaches to and contemporary issues within IPE. Students will explore the theories of leading analysts in the historical development of IPE, such as liberalism, marxism, feminism and postcolonialism. Contemporary themes and issues are addressed, including economic crises, global trade, production, financialisation and development. Students will be encouraged to think critically about these issues through the study of power relationships, hierarchies, violence and exploitation.

This module is the second part of a two-semester 'South Asia: Politics and International Relations' sequence combining issues of political thought, comparative politics, and international relations. The module introduces students to the broad spectrum of social, economic, and strategic debates and practices that animate politics in the subcontinent. From the ideas and ideologies that undergird political mobilisation to constitutional contracts that tenuously hold together large, diverse, and stratified countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan, the module explores the evolution of modern South Asia. It then tackles questions around identity, state, and society by unpacking the ebb and flow of religious and civic nationalisms (Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, liberal, and secular) coupled with the politics of gender, caste, citizenship, and migration. Sensitive to the economic asymmetries that inform political mobilisation, the module considers the development planning, climate action, and poverty alleviation schemes adopted by South Asian states as well as their domestic and regional implications. It also examines the vast informal underbelly of the region--critical to understanding the drivers of uneven growth. Finally, the module connects these aspects with South Asia’s international and geostrategic landscape, considering the impact of China’s economic and military rise, India and Pakistan’s multi-dimensional rivalry, and continuing separatist violence in South Asia, all with an eye to the drivers that will shape the subcontinent’s future.

This is the first of part of a 2-semester sequence entitled China and International Politics I and II. This module delves into the interrelations between China’s domestic and foreign policy, aiming to cultivate an understanding of the primary drivers and contradictions that characterize Chinese politics domestically and internationally. The module critically analyses pivotal themes in China’s political landscape, connecting them to broader discussions within the fields of politics and international relations. Further, this module investigates the dynamic processes that sustain and challenge these structures. It addresses how elements such as deviance, capital, law, and technology, among others, are constructed and operationalised within China and in its external engagements. Each feature is explored in the domestic context over five weeks, followed by five weeks on the international dimensions to analyse the process’s impact on the international arena. This module aims to illustrate the interconnectivity between China’s internal governance and its foreign policy, enhancing understanding of how domestic structures shape international relations.

This is the second part of a 2-semester sequence entitled China and International Politics I and II. This module follows on from CIP I (both modules must be selected) and delves into the interrelations between China’s domestic and foreign policy, aiming to cultivate an understanding of the primary drivers and contradictions that characterize Chinese politics domestically and internationally. The module critically analyses pivotal themes in China’s political landscape, connecting them to broader discussions within the fields of politics and international relations. Further, this module investigates the dynamic processes that sustain and challenge these structures. It addresses how elements such as deviance, capital, law, and technology, among others, are constructed and operationalised within China and in its external engagements. Each feature is explored in the domestic context over five weeks, followed by five weeks on the international dimensions to analyse the process’s impact on the international arena. This module aims to illustrate the interconnectivity between China’s internal governance and its foreign policy, enhancing understanding of how domestic structures shape international relations.

This module will examine the key issues pertaining to the representation of war, revolution and independence in a selection of literary works in English translation by South East Asian authors. The module will encourage the critical appreciation of literary works, which range from poetry to novels and short stories.

The module will examine key issues pertaining to the representation of genders and sexualities in a selection of films made by South East Asian filmmakers.

This module is a seminar on ethnic violence. During the module, we will read classic and recent scholarly works that address various aspects of this question using different methods and approaches. In the first part, we will review the key debates on the concepts of ethnicity and identity, and discuss their implications for the study of ethnic violence. Then, we will shift our focus to theories of ethnic conflict and violence in order to understand examples from different parts of the world where conflict among different groups has resulted in varying degrees and types of violence. Throughout the course, we will have a strictly theoretical and empirical focus, and aim to answer the following questions: 1. How do ethnic identities become politically relevant? 2. What causes ethnic groups to engage in violent conflict? 3. Can explanations of ethnic violence help us understand non-ethnic forms of violence?

This module offers Masters students focusing on Middle East politics an opportunity to reflect critically upon ideas of counterhegemony and resistance as ways of understanding politics and political struggle in the Middle East. Much of the literature on politics in the Middle East foregrounds the dominant structures of power, dominant ideologies and the varied forms of hegemony. Less studied are the ways in which variously situated groups and individuals throughout the region have tried to negotiate with, subvert and resist these forms of hegemony and the mixed outcomes of many of these struggles. The module will take certain general themes and illustrate them through specific case studies from different countries in the Middle East.

The course focuses on key issues in the study of politics in the Middle East. The main questions pertain to state-society relations and interaction. To understand the modes of governance and patterns of societal action, the course examines the forms of power deployed in the interplay between state and societal forces. Integral to this examination is reflection on the analytical and conceptual tools used to understand and explain state-society relations. Concepts such as “the state”, class, sect, and informal politics are critically examined and assessed within a larger attention to the politics of knowledge production in the Middle East. Whilst interrogating these concepts, we pay close attention to how historical context and region-transforming forces such as colonialism, modern state-formation, and neoliberalism, empirically shaped these societal formations and power dynamics as well as how they were studied in the field. The course takes a close look at the analytical assumptions underlying the main theoretical approaches to the study of the region and the empirical tools deployed to open new lines of enquiry. Finally, the course considers the ways in which some of the principal theories and analytical frameworks used to analyse state-society relations in the Middle East have been challenged by the events of the Arab Uprisings and their aftermath.

This module examines international migration and diaspora politics as transnational processes in world politics. Cross-border mobility and diasporic political projects are key features of the contemporary international environment, yet they remain undertheorized in International Relations. How do migration and diaspora politics inform or challenge our understandings of the state, national identity, sovereignty, and the nature of the international system? What is the relationship between international migration and key areas of concern for International Relations scholars such as economic development, diplomacy, international security and global normative contestation? A range of theoretical approaches and empirical examples will be covered.

To what extent is the leader of a country free to make their own decisions, unconstrained by the material power at their disposal, the governmental bureaucracies they are trying to work through, the experts that surround them or their own socially constructed perceptions? How does a small state set its foreign policy agenda? What does it mean if a state proclaims a feminist foreign policy? What is the role of secrecy in foreign policy? These are a selection of questions we will cover in this module. There are contending approaches within Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA). FPA is a sub-field of International Relations, but also an object of analysis which is constituted and transformed by a variety of actors, practices and organisational structures. This raises the important question of how to study the multiple dimensions of foreign policy and who has the power to shape it. Each week's topic will attend to an important dimension of foreign policy, covering central actors, bureaucratic practices, issues and foreign policy tools. The module will also decentre the traditional focus on the US, which has dominated much of FPA scholarship.

This course will investigate the evolving nature of security governance and risks in the 21st century, with particular attention to emerging threats in the realms of nuclear weapons, non-state terrorism, climate change, energy, and food security, as well as emerging forms of security governance in the domains of surveillance and policing.

This module offers historical, theoretical and empirical perspectives on the nature and causes of conflict and its impact of on social and economic development in Africa, Asia and the Middle East over the past century, as well as memory and justice responses to violence. It emphasises the crucial linkages of conflict, memory and justice, in particular the prevalence of unaddressed or manipulated memories of violence, historical grievance and impunity as causes of further conflict.

The course focuses on the contestations in the history, institutions and politics of the global human rights regime, in general terms and in relation to specific rights issues, and considers its future prospects. We begin with a look at the contested history of human rights and ask why arguments about their origins are so persistent and the implications of dominant accounts of origins for contemporary politics of human rights. We then look at the sociology of human rights, using this approach to ask where the politics of human rights are located, and how and with what consequences the human rights ‘movement’ reproduces its moral authority. We then look at both international human rights norms and the institutions that embody them, including the relationship between rights, humanitarianism and international justice. Then, in the long middle section of the course, we examine a series of core rights issues in more depth, ranging from economic and social rights – including what relation, if any, human rights have to neoliberalism; women’s rights, children’s rights, and gender-based violence; LGBT* rights; states' routine suspension of rights in the name of security ('emergencies') - the new ‘normal’ of the ‘Global War on Terror' that has intensified amid the global pandemic; and the struggle for rights in exile (including, but not limited to, asylum) and, relatedly, the inexorable rise of the carceral state.

The last few years have seen people rise up in many parts of the world and, in so doing, they follow long traditions of revolt and resistance, and justify the impulse to rebel with both political reform programmes and deep ethical and philosophical, not to mention religious reasoning. This module considers those reasoning and looks at work on the just rebellion from different parts of the world, and not just from Western sources. The module has the general objective of providing a comparative and multicultural approach to the political philosophies, theories, norms and practices of rebellion, both in various historical national contexts and in a contemporary global context.

This half-unit module seeks to critically engage with the politic and theory of state violence. It will begin with a close reading of some primary philosophies of violence to try and understand both the phenomena itself and its schemes of justification.

The module introduces postgraduate students in the Department of Politics to the urban politics of the Middle East. It aims to provide them with an interdisciplinary grounding in the study of a wide range of urban issues that have implications for understanding political life in the region.

This course will interrogate a series of core concepts in contemporary political theory. Rather than treating theoretical concepts as purely abstract, they will be explored through a series of topics of global significance where we can see the concepts at work. We will cover areas such as the climate crisis, structural racism, repressive use of state power, and interventionism. Through these explorations we will come to a better understanding of what is at stake in theoretical concepts such as sovereignty, rights, justice, and democracy. These reflections are couched in a larger consideration of how political theory may contribute to a liberatory politics, and how we reflect our role as political theorists. This module provides students an opportunity to engage systematically with key normative concepts and their valences in the World.

This module seeks to provide PG students in Comparative Political Thought and other interested students at the department a substantial background in political theory and approaches to the analysis of political thought. It works slowly and closely on some key texts in the history of political thought, and situates them in their global, racial, economic, and gendered contexts by considering questions of empire, class, slavery, location, and more. At the same time, and as part of an effort to re-think the curriculum, the module undoes distinctions between “primary” and “secondary” readings on several levels.

Since the age of European colonial rule in the Middle East came to an end around the Second World War, nominally independent nation-states in the region have tried to negotiate the opportunities and challenges of the Cold War, regional conflict and co-operation, underdevelopment, and more recently, globalisation. This module takes up the study of this rich politics through two different approaches, the first thematic, the second through the study of inter-state politics. After examining the methodological issues involved in the study of the Middle East and becoming familiar with the regions role during the Cold War and thereafter, we will examine important themes and debates in international politics of the Middle East, including war and militarism, ethnicity, development and globalisation, migration and ideological movements. In the latter part of the module, through a more conventional examination of inter-state politics of the Middle East, we will focus on conflict and cooperation between the Arab states in the region and their non-Arab neighbours, Israel, Iran and Turkey.

The Module presents a critical analysis of Artificial Intelligence with a particular emphasis on its implication for human security. It connects current research into the ethics of AI, to comparative philosophies including the socio-economic theories of the Frankfurt School and their emphasis on the perils of modern forms of production for human existence and the threat of “perfectionism” in capitalist societies. In addition, the course will consider the “techno-politics” of Paul Virilio and the critical approaches of Iranian philosophers such as Jamal Al-e Ahmad.

The purpose of this module is to examine the effects of political factors on economic and social transformation (and vice versa) with reference to the emerging market economies (EMEs). EMEs denote those upper income economies on the cusp of transition to high income status. This module focuses on two main issues. First, how did political factors (i.e. types of regime and the conditions of their formation) facilitate the emergence of the first generation of EMEs during the GATT or pre-globalization era (c. 1950-90)? This section concentrates the varying result of attempts to foster the “capitalist developmental state” in the pursuit of economic take-off. Second, the module will examine how upper middle income economies of today are facing up to the challenges of the globalization era, notably mobile capital (financialization and the emergence of global value chains) and the complex of constraints that constitute the “middle income trap”? Given the vastly changed conditions of the contemporary era, can they learn any relevant political and governance lessons from the experience of the first generation EMEs that have already made the transition to high income status?

This course is designed to provide students with a theoretically informed introduction to key issues in the international political economy and foreign policy of China (People's Republic of China). This course seeks to develop an understanding of the key driving forces in China's international relations.

This course is designed to provide students with a theoretically informed and comparative introduction to key issues in the contemporary international politics of East Asia. East Asia is defined as the states of the Northeast Asia (in particular, China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan), and the two main external actors, the United States and Soviet Union/Russia who played a key role influencing the region’s international relations. East Asia presents fascinating case studies in the study of international relations by bringing together the world’s three largest economies (US, China, Japan), three of the UN Security Council’s permanent members (US, Russia, China) and two divided nations (China/Taiwan and the two Korea).

This course examines the origins, characteristics and dynamics of the political systems of Northeast Asia (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) and how they cope with the dilemmas of economic and social sustainability. This module will examine why the economic and social dilemmas of affluence” are particularly acute in Northeast Asia given their recent histories as miraculous economies (characterised by “growth with equity”). It will also reveal whether Northeast Asia is generating its own distinctive responses to these dilemmas.

This module examines the relationship between the economy and power in the Middle East. We examine the class formations, expert knowledge, trade networks, raw materials, institutions, legal regimes and ideologies that come to produce “the economy” in the modern Middle East, and their relationship to the production of power in society, with special attention to state-society relations.

Is secularism Western? Is religious discourse the natural means of authentic, indigenous political mobilization and expression in the Middle East? This course explores how religious difference in the Middle East became a salient social and political marker in the modern era. It will also consider the various methods and frameworks that scholars have used to grapple with this manifestation of social difference.

Democracy and Authoritarianism in Asia

This module delves into the complex regime landscape of Asia. From burgeoning democracies to firmly entrenched authoritarian regimes, the module explores the historical, cultural, and socio-political factors that shape the region's diverse governance structures. Through comparative study, students will analyze how different Asian states have navigated their paths between democratic ideals and authoritarian governance in order to situate Asian cases within broader theories.

The course  provides a nuanced understanding of political development across the varied experiences of India, Pakistan, China, Japan, South Korea, and various Southeast Asian states. Through the study of political theories, historical trajectories, external influences, and contemporary challenges, students will learn to contextualize the dynamic interaction between democracy and authoritarianism broadly defined. 

Drawing on a rich array of sources, including scholarly articles, historical documents, and multimedia content, the module encourages students to assess the strengths and weaknesses of different political systems and the theories that illuminate them. The coursework is designed to encourage a critical evaluation of the complex interplay between democratic aspirations and authoritarian tendencies in specific empirical contexts.

WEEK 1. INTRODUCTION TO DEMOCRACY AND AUTHORITARIANISM
- Overview of political theories and concepts related to democracy and authoritarianism.

WEEK 2. COLONIAL LEGACIES AND POLITICAL EVOLUTION: REGIME TYPES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
- The impact of colonialism on political structures and institutions with a focus on the full spectrum of postcolonial regime variation in Southeast Asia

WEEK 3. DEMOCRACY (AND DEMOCRATIC AUTHORITARIANISM) IN SOUTH ASIA
- Analyzing the development and challenges of democracy in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

WEEK 4. AUTHORITARIANISM (AND AUTHORITARIAN REFORM) IN CHINA
- Exploring China's political trajectory and its impact on governance and society.

WEEK 5. DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION IN JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA
- Comparative study of democratic practices and challenges in Japan and South Korea.

WEEK 6. THE MILITARY IN ASIAN POLITICS
- Assessing the influence of military institutions in countries like Pakistan, Indonesia, and Myanmar.

WEEK 7. POLITICAL PARTIES AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN ASIA
- Tracking the interaction between political parties and social movements in Taiwan.

WEEK 8. RELIGION, ETHNICITY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN ASIA
- Exploring the role of religious and ethnic identities in shaping human rights debates across Asia.

WEEK 9: POLITICS, MEDIA, AND THE (DIS)INFORMATION AGE IN ASIA
- Understanding the ways in which media drives both democratic and authoritarian trends in Asia.

WEEK 10: THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY AND AUTHORITARIANISM IN ASIA
- Speculating on future trajectories and challenges for governance in the region.

This module will analyse the processes and dynamics of Soviet, post-Soviet and ongoing political, economic, social and cultural transformations in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan) and South Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia). This module is designed to enable students to gain an in-depth understanding of the differential nature of Soviet modernization, imperial-colonial legacies, challenges of post-Soviet transition, complexities of nation and state building, the diverse understandings of Islam and its engagement with politics, the relationship between formal and informal institutions, and the durability of authoritarian regimes in the face of societal protests and resistance.

This module introduces students to the key concepts of geopolitics and their application to the region of Central Asia and Caucasus. It analyses the multiple and shifting understandings of the notion of 'Eurasia' and 'Eurasianism' across the region, the nature of Sino-Russian partnership which shapes the regional organisations such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Eurasian Economic Union, the effects of China's BRI on the entire region, and the efforts by the states in the region to develop multivectoral foreign policies. It will focus on themes such as empire and (de)coloniality, regional security and securitization policies, energy and transport infrastructure, authoritarian regionalism, labour migration and the anti-extremism measures enacted for regime survival. It is designed to enable students to develop a broad and in-depth understanding of the role and influence of two regional hegemons Russia and China, the major external actors Turkey, Iran, India as well as efforts by the Central Asian states to balance between these actors and the Western states.

The aim of this course is to provide students with a deep framework for the understanding of the trajectories of Southeast Asian politics from colonial times to the present. This framework is comparative and rooted in political sociology. It is interdisciplinary in terms of its readings, drawing on historical, anthropological, economic and other materials in addition to works in political science. The course is expected to help students develop a capacity for comparative analysis and for evaluating arguments about the roles of factors as class, race, state-building, culture, economics, international impacts and religion on the political trajectories of the region as a whole as well as that of individual countries. Through the lectures, seminar discussions, coursework and the essays, students will learn to think more rigorously and comparatively about Southeast Asia in particular and critically about central political dynamic within the region in general. In addition, students will learn more about accessing library-based and electronic resources on Southeast Asian politics.

This course is designed to equip students with a comprehensive framework for understanding the political trajectories of Southeast Asia from colonial times to the present. This framework is comparative and grounded in political sociology, incorporating interdisciplinary readings from history, anthropology, economics, and other fields, alongside political science literature. The course aims to develop students' abilities in comparative analysis and in assessing arguments about the influences of factors such as class, race, state-building, culture, economics, international impacts, and religion on the political evolution of the region and its individual countries. Through lectures, seminar discussions, coursework, and essays, students will learn to think more rigorously and comparatively about Southeast Asia and critically about the key political dynamics within the region. Additionally, students will enhance their skills in accessing both library-based and electronic resources on Southeast Asian politics.

This module is the second part of a two-semester 'South Asia: Politics and International Relations' sequence combining issues of political thought, comparative politics, and international relations. The module introduces students to the broad spectrum of social, economic, and strategic debates and practices that animate politics in the subcontinent. From the ideas and ideologies that undergird political mobilisation to constitutional contracts that tenuously hold together large, diverse, and stratified countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan, the module explores the evolution of modern South Asia. It then tackles questions around identity, state, and society by unpacking the ebb and flow of religious and civic nationalisms (Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, liberal, and secular) coupled with the politics of gender, caste, citizenship, and migration. Sensitive to the economic asymmetries that inform political mobilisation, the module considers the development planning, climate action, and poverty alleviation schemes adopted by South Asian states as well as their domestic and regional implications. It also examines the vast informal underbelly of the region--critical to understanding the drivers of uneven growth. Finally, the module connects these aspects with South Asia’s international and geostrategic landscape, considering the impact of China’s economic and military rise, India and Pakistan’s multi-dimensional rivalry, and continuing separatist violence in South Asia, all with an eye to the drivers that will shape the subcontinent’s future.

This is the first of part of a 2-semester sequence entitled China and International Politics I and II. This module delves into the interrelations between China’s domestic and foreign policy, aiming to cultivate an understanding of the primary drivers and contradictions that characterize Chinese politics domestically and internationally. The module critically analyses pivotal themes in China’s political landscape, connecting them to broader discussions within the fields of politics and international relations. Further, this module investigates the dynamic processes that sustain and challenge these structures. It addresses how elements such as deviance, capital, law, and technology, among others, are constructed and operationalised within China and in its external engagements. Each feature is explored in the domestic context over five weeks, followed by five weeks on the international dimensions to analyse the process’s impact on the international arena. This module aims to illustrate the interconnectivity between China’s internal governance and its foreign policy, enhancing understanding of how domestic structures shape international relations.

This is the second part of a 2-semester sequence entitled China and International Politics I and II. This module follows on from CIP I (both modules must be selected) and delves into the interrelations between China’s domestic and foreign policy, aiming to cultivate an understanding of the primary drivers and contradictions that characterize Chinese politics domestically and internationally. The module critically analyses pivotal themes in China’s political landscape, connecting them to broader discussions within the fields of politics and international relations. Further, this module investigates the dynamic processes that sustain and challenge these structures. It addresses how elements such as deviance, capital, law, and technology, among others, are constructed and operationalised within China and in its external engagements. Each feature is explored in the domestic context over five weeks, followed by five weeks on the international dimensions to analyse the process’s impact on the international arena. This module aims to illustrate the interconnectivity between China’s internal governance and its foreign policy, enhancing understanding of how domestic structures shape international relations.

This unique module provides an introduction to Taiwan’s international and domestic politics. Taiwan’s political democratization, its identity politics and its contested international status have all contributed to making its politics one of the most researched topics in the fields of East Asian and Chinese politics. The module seeks to examine the political processes that have shaped Taiwan since 1949, with particular emphasis on the last three decades. It also explores the evolution of Cross-Strait relations, their enduring rivalry, ongoing conflicts, and Taiwan's contested statehood. We focus on two core themes (1) an analysis of Taiwan’s domestic politics and (2) analysis of Cross-Strait and international relations. Units on Taiwan’s domestic politics will address a variety of issues, including the island’s democratic transition, Taiwan’s party and electoral politics and the quality of its democracy. The sessions on Taiwan’s external relations will examine Taiwan's international status and sovereignty, international relations, as well as the evolution of cross-Strait relations under the early administrations.

This module builds on Taiwan and International Politics Part 1 by delving more deeply into Taiwan’s international and domestic politics. Students will be encouraged to apply a range of theoretical approaches including comparative politics, sociology, and international relations to analyse the politics of modern Taiwan. The domestic politics part of the module will look at three interrelated themes of Taiwan’s electoral and party politics, politics of gender and its social movements. This will involve an examination of a range of topical election, social movement and party case studies. In the final five weeks of the module, the focus will return to Taiwan’s external relations. Topics will include Taiwan's strategies for navigating its increasingly isolated international space and mounting military threats from China, as well as Cross-strait soft power competition. Additionally, we will examine China's evolving policy aimed at bringing Taiwan into its orbit and the dynamics of the US-China-Taiwan triangle.

This module examines the historical grounding of domestic and international politics in Africa. In particular it explores how ideas and processes that animated African struggles against slavery and colonisation have played out within the constraints of the international system. It traces the history of ideas and the collaborative practices underpinning the African campaigns that secured the independence of the continent, and considers the challenges of collaborating and ruling after it was won. It explores how new states emerged within the Cold War and how they balanced relationships within their societies, with each other, and with powerful international actors.

African and International Politics II builds on Africa and International Politics I, exploring how African countries have dealt with new challenges and opportunities since the end of the Cold War. It explores the wave of 'democratisation' that swept Africa at 'the end of history' and the ways in which regime types have been contested since, including a recent increase in authoritarian developmental and military regimes. These developments are understood in their international contexts: the turn of the millennium saw increased Western military and broader political intervention in Africa, as well as African efforts to reckon with Western 'monopoly diplomacy'. This included a search for 'African solutions' to security problems, ongoing economic marginalisation and climate crisis addressed through regional and continental bodies including the African Union, and through relations with rising powers including Russia and China.

This course provides an advanced introduction to global advocacy. The aim of the module is to teach the theories and skills that allow an individual to be a more effective in achieving their advocacy objectives.

This module is a seminar on ethnic violence. During the module, we will read classic and recent scholarly works that address various aspects of this question using different methods and approaches. In the first part, we will review the key debates on the concepts of ethnicity and identity, and discuss their implications for the study of ethnic violence. Then, we will shift our focus to theories of ethnic conflict and violence in order to understand examples from different parts of the world where conflict among different groups has resulted in varying degrees and types of violence. Throughout the course, we will have a strictly theoretical and empirical focus, and aim to answer the following questions: 1. How do ethnic identities become politically relevant? 2. What causes ethnic groups to engage in violent conflict? 3. Can explanations of ethnic violence help us understand non-ethnic forms of violence?

This module examines international migration and diaspora politics as transnational processes in world politics. Cross-border mobility and diasporic political projects are key features of the contemporary international environment, yet they remain undertheorized in International Relations. How do migration and diaspora politics inform or challenge our understandings of the state, national identity, sovereignty, and the nature of the international system? What is the relationship between international migration and key areas of concern for International Relations scholars such as economic development, diplomacy, international security and global normative contestation? A range of theoretical approaches and empirical examples will be covered.

This module offers historical, theoretical and empirical perspectives on the nature and causes of conflict and its impact of on social and economic development in Africa, Asia and the Middle East over the past century, as well as memory and justice responses to violence. It emphasises the crucial linkages of conflict, memory and justice, in particular the prevalence of unaddressed or manipulated memories of violence, historical grievance and impunity as causes of further conflict.

The course focuses on the contestations in the history, institutions and politics of the global human rights regime, in general terms and in relation to specific rights issues, and considers its future prospects. We begin with a look at the contested history of human rights and ask why arguments about their origins are so persistent and the implications of dominant accounts of origins for contemporary politics of human rights. We then look at the sociology of human rights, using this approach to ask where the politics of human rights are located, and how and with what consequences the human rights ‘movement’ reproduces its moral authority. We then look at both international human rights norms and the institutions that embody them, including the relationship between rights, humanitarianism and international justice. Then, in the long middle section of the course, we examine a series of core rights issues in more depth, ranging from economic and social rights – including what relation, if any, human rights have to neoliberalism; women’s rights, children’s rights, and gender-based violence; LGBT* rights; states' routine suspension of rights in the name of security ('emergencies') - the new ‘normal’ of the ‘Global War on Terror' that has intensified amid the global pandemic; and the struggle for rights in exile (including, but not limited to, asylum) and, relatedly, the inexorable rise of the carceral state.

The last few years have seen people rise up in many parts of the world and, in so doing, they follow long traditions of revolt and resistance, and justify the impulse to rebel with both political reform programmes and deep ethical and philosophical, not to mention religious reasoning. This module considers those reasoning and looks at work on the just rebellion from different parts of the world, and not just from Western sources. The module has the general objective of providing a comparative and multicultural approach to the political philosophies, theories, norms and practices of rebellion, both in various historical national contexts and in a contemporary global context.

This half-unit module seeks to critically engage with the politic and theory of state violence. It will begin with a close reading of some primary philosophies of violence to try and understand both the phenomena itself and its schemes of justification.

The Module presents a critical analysis of Artificial Intelligence with a particular emphasis on its implication for human security. It connects current research into the ethics of AI, to comparative philosophies including the socio-economic theories of the Frankfurt School and their emphasis on the perils of modern forms of production for human existence and the threat of “perfectionism” in capitalist societies. In addition, the course will consider the “techno-politics” of Paul Virilio and the critical approaches of Iranian philosophers such as Jamal Al-e Ahmad.

This module offers historical, theoretical and empirical perspectives on the nature and causes of conflict and its impact of on social and economic development in Africa, Asia and the Middle East over the past century, as well as memory and justice responses to violence. It emphasises the crucial linkages of conflict, memory and justice, in particular the prevalence of unaddressed or manipulated memories of violence, historical grievance and impunity as causes of further conflict.

The last few years have seen people rise up in many parts of the world and, in so doing, they follow long traditions of revolt and resistance, and justify the impulse to rebel with both political reform programmes and deep ethical and philosophical, not to mention religious reasoning. This module considers those reasoning and looks at work on the just rebellion from different parts of the world, and not just from Western sources. The module has the general objective of providing a comparative and multicultural approach to the political philosophies, theories, norms and practices of rebellion, both in various historical national contexts and in a contemporary global context.

This half-unit module seeks to critically engage with the politic and theory of state violence. It will begin with a close reading of some primary philosophies of violence to try and understand both the phenomena itself and its schemes of justification.

This course will interrogate a series of core concepts in contemporary political theory. Rather than treating theoretical concepts as purely abstract, they will be explored through a series of topics of global significance where we can see the concepts at work. We will cover areas such as the climate crisis, structural racism, repressive use of state power, and interventionism. Through these explorations we will come to a better understanding of what is at stake in theoretical concepts such as sovereignty, rights, justice, and democracy. These reflections are couched in a larger consideration of how political theory may contribute to a liberatory politics, and how we reflect our role as political theorists. This module provides students an opportunity to engage systematically with key normative concepts and their valences in the World.

Is secularism Western? Is religious discourse the natural means of authentic, indigenous political mobilization and expression in the Middle East? This course explores how religious difference in the Middle East became a salient social and political marker in the modern era. It will also consider the various methods and frameworks that scholars have used to grapple with this manifestation of social difference.

Democracy and Authoritarianism in Asia

This module delves into the complex regime landscape of Asia. From burgeoning democracies to firmly entrenched authoritarian regimes, the module explores the historical, cultural, and socio-political factors that shape the region's diverse governance structures. Through comparative study, students will analyze how different Asian states have navigated their paths between democratic ideals and authoritarian governance in order to situate Asian cases within broader theories.

The course  provides a nuanced understanding of political development across the varied experiences of India, Pakistan, China, Japan, South Korea, and various Southeast Asian states. Through the study of political theories, historical trajectories, external influences, and contemporary challenges, students will learn to contextualize the dynamic interaction between democracy and authoritarianism broadly defined. 

Drawing on a rich array of sources, including scholarly articles, historical documents, and multimedia content, the module encourages students to assess the strengths and weaknesses of different political systems and the theories that illuminate them. The coursework is designed to encourage a critical evaluation of the complex interplay between democratic aspirations and authoritarian tendencies in specific empirical contexts.

WEEK 1. INTRODUCTION TO DEMOCRACY AND AUTHORITARIANISM
- Overview of political theories and concepts related to democracy and authoritarianism.

WEEK 2. COLONIAL LEGACIES AND POLITICAL EVOLUTION: REGIME TYPES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
- The impact of colonialism on political structures and institutions with a focus on the full spectrum of postcolonial regime variation in Southeast Asia

WEEK 3. DEMOCRACY (AND DEMOCRATIC AUTHORITARIANISM) IN SOUTH ASIA
- Analyzing the development and challenges of democracy in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

WEEK 4. AUTHORITARIANISM (AND AUTHORITARIAN REFORM) IN CHINA
- Exploring China's political trajectory and its impact on governance and society.

WEEK 5. DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION IN JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA
- Comparative study of democratic practices and challenges in Japan and South Korea.

WEEK 6. THE MILITARY IN ASIAN POLITICS
- Assessing the influence of military institutions in countries like Pakistan, Indonesia, and Myanmar.

WEEK 7. POLITICAL PARTIES AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN ASIA
- Tracking the interaction between political parties and social movements in Taiwan.

WEEK 8. RELIGION, ETHNICITY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN ASIA
- Exploring the role of religious and ethnic identities in shaping human rights debates across Asia.

WEEK 9: POLITICS, MEDIA, AND THE (DIS)INFORMATION AGE IN ASIA
- Understanding the ways in which media drives both democratic and authoritarian trends in Asia.

WEEK 10: THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY AND AUTHORITARIANISM IN ASIA
- Speculating on future trajectories and challenges for governance in the region.

This module outlines the development of African Philosophy in the 20th century, a discourse that hinges on the following questions: does philosophy exist in Africa? What are the specific qualities that distinguish it from Western philosophy? We will survey the trends in African philosophical thought classified under the rubrics of ethnophilosophy", "nationalist-ideological philosophy", "sage philosophy", and "professional philosophy", and discuss specific concepts with philosophical reference or resonance, such as race, time, but also development or art. Several classes will be devoted to influential contemporary philosophers, in particular Paulin Hountondji, Kwame Anthony Appiah, V.-Y. Mudimbe, Henry Odera Oruka, and Kwasi Wiredu."

The module gives students a good general introduction to Contemporary African Literature(s) and to demonstrate to them some of the ways in which creative writing in the form of prose narratives, the novel, poetry, drama, etc help create an understanding of the socio-cultural, economic and political issues that define life and existence on the African continent and its diaspora. The module is also meant to help encourage students develop critical and analytical skills that move away from dominant Eurocentric and Western perspectives and to present the teaching, researching, understanding and analysis of Africa from African-centred perspectives.

This module discusses the question how language is related to the conceptions of identity and society in the African context. The module offers different perspectives on the relation between language and identity, and on the dynamics of language use in Africa.

The module introduces students to different conceptual and methodological approaches to the study of Africa and provides a wider intellectual background for the MA African Studies programme. We will look at how Africa has been conceptualized and represented at different times and from different perspectives, and investigate different views of Africa as a physi-cal, social and cultural space. We will explore how Africa relates to its Di-aspora and the wider world, through historical links and connections, trade and migration, and new digital communication. Particular attention will be placed on colonialism and colonial legacies, as well as on recent discours-es on decolonizing currently underway in many public domains.

This course offers an exploration of the formation of diasporas and their cultural politics. It looks at how diasporic subjectivities are formed through gendered aesthetic practices and performances, which can take on and signify religious, cultural, political meanings, which are in turn constantly negotiated, hybridised and re-fashioned across bodies, times and spaces.

This course is intended to provide both an introduction to queer theory, as well as to engage with the question of its relevance in contemporary Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. This course will use struggles for sexual self-determination as a prism through which to consider broader questions about the constitution of modernity, the proliferation of identities, rights and claims for justice, the consolidation and deconstruction of postcolonial national identities, the aspirations and anxieties of postcolonial elites, etc. These questions will be studied contextually, with topics in many weeks focusing on a single area case study, or a comparison of two or more country-contexts.

This module is concerned with South Africa's tumultuous twentieth-century history. It commences with the reconstruction of the South African state following the end of the South African War (1899-1902), and examines the respective origins and consequences of formal segregation (1910s - 1930s) and apartheid (1940s - 1980s). It is especially concerned with the ways in which ordinary Africans negotiated daily life within the strictures of these forms of state repression. A significant part of the module is concerned with the emergence of African nationalism, resistance to apartheid, and the collapse of the apartheid state at the end of the twentieth century, a conflict that engulfed all of southern Africa.

This module explores historical and contemporary dimensions of the relationship between International Law and colonialism/ imperialism.

In the first part of the course, we will consider the historical mappings of the colonial endeavour within international law as well as theoretical debates concerning colonialism, post-colonialism and neo-colonialism. In the second half, we will focus on a variety of contemporary international law issues – e.g., statehood and recognition; self-determination of peoples; failed states; administration of territory; racialisation and capitalism; and reparations- in light of the historical and theoretical perspectives introduced in the earlier part of the term.

This module is a seminar on ethnic violence. During the module, we will read classic and recent scholarly works that address various aspects of this question using different methods and approaches. In the first part, we will review the key debates on the concepts of ethnicity and identity, and discuss their implications for the study of ethnic violence. Then, we will shift our focus to theories of ethnic conflict and violence in order to understand examples from different parts of the world where conflict among different groups has resulted in varying degrees and types of violence. Throughout the course, we will have a strictly theoretical and empirical focus, and aim to answer the following questions: 1. How do ethnic identities become politically relevant? 2. What causes ethnic groups to engage in violent conflict? 3. Can explanations of ethnic violence help us understand non-ethnic forms of violence?

This module examines international migration and diaspora politics as transnational processes in world politics. Cross-border mobility and diasporic political projects are key features of the contemporary international environment, yet they remain undertheorized in International Relations. How do migration and diaspora politics inform or challenge our understandings of the state, national identity, sovereignty, and the nature of the international system? What is the relationship between international migration and key areas of concern for International Relations scholars such as economic development, diplomacy, international security and global normative contestation? A range of theoretical approaches and empirical examples will be covered.

To what extent is the leader of a country free to make their own decisions, unconstrained by the material power at their disposal, the governmental bureaucracies they are trying to work through, the experts that surround them or their own socially constructed perceptions? How does a small state set its foreign policy agenda? What does it mean if a state proclaims a feminist foreign policy? What is the role of secrecy in foreign policy? These are a selection of questions we will cover in this module. There are contending approaches within Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA). FPA is a sub-field of International Relations, but also an object of analysis which is constituted and transformed by a variety of actors, practices and organisational structures. This raises the important question of how to study the multiple dimensions of foreign policy and who has the power to shape it. Each week's topic will attend to an important dimension of foreign policy, covering central actors, bureaucratic practices, issues and foreign policy tools. The module will also decentre the traditional focus on the US, which has dominated much of FPA scholarship.

The course focuses on the contestations in the history, institutions and politics of the global human rights regime, in general terms and in relation to specific rights issues, and considers its future prospects. We begin with a look at the contested history of human rights and ask why arguments about their origins are so persistent and the implications of dominant accounts of origins for contemporary politics of human rights. We then look at the sociology of human rights, using this approach to ask where the politics of human rights are located, and how and with what consequences the human rights ‘movement’ reproduces its moral authority. We then look at both international human rights norms and the institutions that embody them, including the relationship between rights, humanitarianism and international justice. Then, in the long middle section of the course, we examine a series of core rights issues in more depth, ranging from economic and social rights – including what relation, if any, human rights have to neoliberalism; women’s rights, children’s rights, and gender-based violence; LGBT* rights; states' routine suspension of rights in the name of security ('emergencies') - the new ‘normal’ of the ‘Global War on Terror' that has intensified amid the global pandemic; and the struggle for rights in exile (including, but not limited to, asylum) and, relatedly, the inexorable rise of the carceral state.

The last few years have seen people rise up in many parts of the world and, in so doing, they follow long traditions of revolt and resistance, and justify the impulse to rebel with both political reform programmes and deep ethical and philosophical, not to mention religious reasoning. This module considers those reasoning and looks at work on the just rebellion from different parts of the world, and not just from Western sources. The module has the general objective of providing a comparative and multicultural approach to the political philosophies, theories, norms and practices of rebellion, both in various historical national contexts and in a contemporary global context.

This half-unit module seeks to critically engage with the politic and theory of state violence. It will begin with a close reading of some primary philosophies of violence to try and understand both the phenomena itself and its schemes of justification.

This course will interrogate a series of core concepts in contemporary political theory. Rather than treating theoretical concepts as purely abstract, they will be explored through a series of topics of global significance where we can see the concepts at work. We will cover areas such as the climate crisis, structural racism, repressive use of state power, and interventionism. Through these explorations we will come to a better understanding of what is at stake in theoretical concepts such as sovereignty, rights, justice, and democracy. These reflections are couched in a larger consideration of how political theory may contribute to a liberatory politics, and how we reflect our role as political theorists. This module provides students an opportunity to engage systematically with key normative concepts and their valences in the World.

This module seeks to provide PG students in Comparative Political Thought and other interested students at the department a substantial background in political theory and approaches to the analysis of political thought. It works slowly and closely on some key texts in the history of political thought, and situates them in their global, racial, economic, and gendered contexts by considering questions of empire, class, slavery, location, and more. At the same time, and as part of an effort to re-think the curriculum, the module undoes distinctions between “primary” and “secondary” readings on several levels.

Since the age of European colonial rule in the Middle East came to an end around the Second World War, nominally independent nation-states in the region have tried to negotiate the opportunities and challenges of the Cold War, regional conflict and co-operation, underdevelopment, and more recently, globalisation. This module takes up the study of this rich politics through two different approaches, the first thematic, the second through the study of inter-state politics. After examining the methodological issues involved in the study of the Middle East and becoming familiar with the regions role during the Cold War and thereafter, we will examine important themes and debates in international politics of the Middle East, including war and militarism, ethnicity, development and globalisation, migration and ideological movements. In the latter part of the module, through a more conventional examination of inter-state politics of the Middle East, we will focus on conflict and cooperation between the Arab states in the region and their non-Arab neighbours, Israel, Iran and Turkey.

The purpose of this module is to examine the effects of political factors on economic and social transformation (and vice versa) with reference to the emerging market economies (EMEs). EMEs denote those upper income economies on the cusp of transition to high income status. This module focuses on two main issues. First, how did political factors (i.e. types of regime and the conditions of their formation) facilitate the emergence of the first generation of EMEs during the GATT or pre-globalization era (c. 1950-90)? This section concentrates the varying result of attempts to foster the “capitalist developmental state” in the pursuit of economic take-off. Second, the module will examine how upper middle income economies of today are facing up to the challenges of the globalization era, notably mobile capital (financialization and the emergence of global value chains) and the complex of constraints that constitute the “middle income trap”? Given the vastly changed conditions of the contemporary era, can they learn any relevant political and governance lessons from the experience of the first generation EMEs that have already made the transition to high income status?

This course is designed to provide students with a theoretically informed introduction to key issues in the international political economy and foreign policy of China (People's Republic of China). This course seeks to develop an understanding of the key driving forces in China's international relations.

This module will examine the international political economy through a framework that goes beyond traditions of state-centrism and disciplinary boundaries between politics and economics. The course will study theoretical approaches to and contemporary issues within IPE. Students will explore the theories of leading analysts in the historical development of IPE, such as liberalism, marxism, feminism and postcolonialism. Contemporary themes and issues are addressed, including economic crises, global trade, production, financialisation and development. Students will be encouraged to think critically about these issues through the study of power relationships, hierarchies, violence and exploitation.

This is the first of part of a 2-semester sequence entitled China and International Politics I and II. This module delves into the interrelations between China’s domestic and foreign policy, aiming to cultivate an understanding of the primary drivers and contradictions that characterize Chinese politics domestically and internationally. The module critically analyses pivotal themes in China’s political landscape, connecting them to broader discussions within the fields of politics and international relations. Further, this module investigates the dynamic processes that sustain and challenge these structures. It addresses how elements such as deviance, capital, law, and technology, among others, are constructed and operationalised within China and in its external engagements. Each feature is explored in the domestic context over five weeks, followed by five weeks on the international dimensions to analyse the process’s impact on the international arena. This module aims to illustrate the interconnectivity between China’s internal governance and its foreign policy, enhancing understanding of how domestic structures shape international relations.

This is the second part of a 2-semester sequence entitled China and International Politics I and II. This module follows on from CIP I (both modules must be selected) and delves into the interrelations between China’s domestic and foreign policy, aiming to cultivate an understanding of the primary drivers and contradictions that characterize Chinese politics domestically and internationally. The module critically analyses pivotal themes in China’s political landscape, connecting them to broader discussions within the fields of politics and international relations. Further, this module investigates the dynamic processes that sustain and challenge these structures. It addresses how elements such as deviance, capital, law, and technology, among others, are constructed and operationalised within China and in its external engagements. Each feature is explored in the domestic context over five weeks, followed by five weeks on the international dimensions to analyse the process’s impact on the international arena. This module aims to illustrate the interconnectivity between China’s internal governance and its foreign policy, enhancing understanding of how domestic structures shape international relations.

This module examines the historical grounding of domestic and international politics in Africa. In particular it explores how ideas and processes that animated African struggles against slavery and colonisation have played out within the constraints of the international system. It traces the history of ideas and the collaborative practices underpinning the African campaigns that secured the independence of the continent, and considers the challenges of collaborating and ruling after it was won. It explores how new states emerged within the Cold War and how they balanced relationships within their societies, with each other, and with powerful international actors.

African and International Politics II builds on Africa and International Politics I, exploring how African countries have dealt with new challenges and opportunities since the end of the Cold War. It explores the wave of 'democratisation' that swept Africa at 'the end of history' and the ways in which regime types have been contested since, including a recent increase in authoritarian developmental and military regimes. These developments are understood in their international contexts: the turn of the millennium saw increased Western military and broader political intervention in Africa, as well as African efforts to reckon with Western 'monopoly diplomacy'. This included a search for 'African solutions' to security problems, ongoing economic marginalisation and climate crisis addressed through regional and continental bodies including the African Union, and through relations with rising powers including Russia and China.

This module introduces postgraduate students to the field of international theory, from contemplating how and why we might use theory to explain and understand post-/neo-colonial world order, to exploring key concepts and theoretical traditions in the discipline of International Relations. The module situates the narrower, US-centric field of ‘IR Theory’ within broader traditions of global social and political thought, and encourages students to think critically about its roots and functions as an intellectual project. Students are introduced to a range of key paradigms, from the traditional mainstream (realism, liberalism, constructivism) to the critical (postcolonialism, feminism, Marxism, poststructuralism).

This module is about the politics of normative change in world politics, and more specifically, in international responses to violent conflict i.e. the contestations over the norms, institutions, and law associated with the regulation of armed conflict and the management of its effects and consequences, and, more generally, the securing of a peaceful world. The module examines these both theoretically and empirically, with a focus on key domains within world politics - including human rights, humanitarianism, international criminal justice, the laws of war, and the legitimacy of the use of armed force - and the associated frameworks that have developed over the in recent decades as a wider architecture understood as ‘liberal’ in its ostensible foundations, goals, and commitments.

This module introduces students to the sub-field of comparative political thought through critical engagement with different approaches and key debates in the field. Students will read political theory produced in Asia, Africa and the Middle East and will consider various challenges of interpretation related to comparison, perspective, time, space and translation. This module is distinct from other modules in area studies since our study is not confined to a single geographical region; rather, the focus is on the study of concepts and political thought. The module seeks to introduce the main approaches in comparative political theory and to elaborate conceptual approaches to the comparison of political thinking across regions and traditions that the module develops.

This module is for students with no prior knowledge of quantitative methods used in social research. Students will learn basic quantitative techniques used in social research and conduct the corresponding analyses using the R statistical package, as well as recognise applications of basic quantitative methods in social science journal articles. The topics covered will be: descriptive statistics; graphs; hypothesis testing for sample means and proportions; two-way and three-way tables; simple linear regression; multiple linear regression; and binary logistic regression.

The module presents a critical overview of core concepts and debates in comparative politics as well as an introduction into the comparative method. Drawing on comparative politics debate developed in the West, the module primarily focuses on non-Western regions of the world.

This module will examine the international political economy through a framework that goes beyond traditions of state-centrism and disciplinary boundaries between politics and economics. The course will study theoretical approaches to and contemporary issues within IPE. Students will explore the theories of leading analysts in the historical development of IPE, such as liberalism, marxism, feminism and postcolonialism. Contemporary themes and issues are addressed, including economic crises, global trade, production, financialisation and development. Students will be encouraged to think critically about these issues through the study of power relationships, hierarchies, violence and exploitation.

As the most heavily populated region in the world, the Indian subcontinent has always played an important role in world affairs. From being one of the most successful trading nations of the world, to becoming the heart of the British Empire, and now sitting adjacent to the newly world-dominant China, South Asia has always been a region of strategic, cultural, political and economic importance.
This module aims to introduce students to the many ways in which law, religion and the state interact in the subcontinent. We seek to do so by using, as far as possible, authors from the region, and focus on issues that continue to hold contemporary relevance. We begin by briefly examining the construction of the colonial legal system in South Asia and its lasting legacies today. We analyse the role of religion in the legal systems of the region in two ways: Firstly, we examine the increasing rise of religious intolerance and religious nationalism in South Asia and the legislative and judicial responses to these challenges before analysing whether ‘secularism’ can ever truly be at home in the subcontinent. We also study the impact of religion on personal law, and especially the ways in which this affects women. Within the field of personal and family law we discuss themes such as child marriage and polygamy, dowry problems and violence against women, divorce and maintenance and the much-debated issue of uniform civil codes.

This module aims to introduce students to the many ways in which law, religion and the state interact in the subcontinent. We seek to do so by using, as far as possible, authors from the region, and focus on issues that continue to hold contemporary relevance.

Democracy and Authoritarianism in Asia

This module delves into the complex regime landscape of Asia. From burgeoning democracies to firmly entrenched authoritarian regimes, the module explores the historical, cultural, and socio-political factors that shape the region's diverse governance structures. Through comparative study, students will analyze how different Asian states have navigated their paths between democratic ideals and authoritarian governance in order to situate Asian cases within broader theories.

The course  provides a nuanced understanding of political development across the varied experiences of India, Pakistan, China, Japan, South Korea, and various Southeast Asian states. Through the study of political theories, historical trajectories, external influences, and contemporary challenges, students will learn to contextualize the dynamic interaction between democracy and authoritarianism broadly defined. 

Drawing on a rich array of sources, including scholarly articles, historical documents, and multimedia content, the module encourages students to assess the strengths and weaknesses of different political systems and the theories that illuminate them. The coursework is designed to encourage a critical evaluation of the complex interplay between democratic aspirations and authoritarian tendencies in specific empirical contexts.

WEEK 1. INTRODUCTION TO DEMOCRACY AND AUTHORITARIANISM
- Overview of political theories and concepts related to democracy and authoritarianism.

WEEK 2. COLONIAL LEGACIES AND POLITICAL EVOLUTION: REGIME TYPES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
- The impact of colonialism on political structures and institutions with a focus on the full spectrum of postcolonial regime variation in Southeast Asia

WEEK 3. DEMOCRACY (AND DEMOCRATIC AUTHORITARIANISM) IN SOUTH ASIA
- Analyzing the development and challenges of democracy in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

WEEK 4. AUTHORITARIANISM (AND AUTHORITARIAN REFORM) IN CHINA
- Exploring China's political trajectory and its impact on governance and society.

WEEK 5. DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION IN JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA
- Comparative study of democratic practices and challenges in Japan and South Korea.

WEEK 6. THE MILITARY IN ASIAN POLITICS
- Assessing the influence of military institutions in countries like Pakistan, Indonesia, and Myanmar.

WEEK 7. POLITICAL PARTIES AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN ASIA
- Tracking the interaction between political parties and social movements in Taiwan.

WEEK 8. RELIGION, ETHNICITY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN ASIA
- Exploring the role of religious and ethnic identities in shaping human rights debates across Asia.

WEEK 9: POLITICS, MEDIA, AND THE (DIS)INFORMATION AGE IN ASIA
- Understanding the ways in which media drives both democratic and authoritarian trends in Asia.

WEEK 10: THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY AND AUTHORITARIANISM IN ASIA
- Speculating on future trajectories and challenges for governance in the region.