Unit name | Politics and Society in Contemporary Britain (Level I Lecture Response) |
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Unit code | HIST25007 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | I/5 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Dr. Edwards |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of History (Historical Studies) |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
The changes that took place in postwar Britain were enormous: the development of an affluent consumer society with shopping the main leisure activity; a new youth-oriented culture; the transformation of women’s lives as they moved out of the home and into the workplace; the development of a multicultural society; and an increasingly middle class and individualised electorate less identified by their background with a particular political party and more likely to ask politicians ‘what can you do for me and my family?’
This unit aims to introduce students to the impact of these changes on the nature of political participation in Britain after the Second World War. In particular it will focus on the changing ways in which individuals have sought to influence the political process, often looking beyond political parties and trade unions towards social movements, single issue pressure groups and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). The unit focuses on a range of case studies, from human rights, and women’s liberation, to student rebellion and race riots.
Aims:
On successful completion of this unit students will be able to:
post-war Britain.
historical arguments.
and develop their own independent arguments.
One 2-hour interactive lecture weekly.
1 x 3000 word essay (50%) and 1 x 2 hour exam (50%)) [ILOs 1-5]
Nicholas Crowson, Matthew Hilton and James McKay (eds.), NGOs in Contemporary Britain: Non-State Actors in Society and Politics Since 1945 (Basingstoke, 2009).
Matthew Hilton, James McKay, Nicholas Crowson and Jean-Francois Mouhot, The Politics of Expertise: How NGOs Shaped Modern Britain (Oxford, 2013)
Matthew Hilton and James McKay (eds.), The Ages of Voluntarism: How We Got to the Big Society (Oxford, 2011)
Adam Lent, British Social Movements Since 1945: Sex, Colour, Peace, and Power (Basingstoke, 2001).
Frank Parkin, Middle-Class Radicalism: The Social Bases of the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (Manchester, 1968).
Charles Tilly, Social Movements, 1768-2004 (London, 2004).