Unit name | Global Civil Society |
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Unit code | POLIM0022 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Dr. Perez-Solorzano Borragan |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies |
Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit examines the role of civil society in global governance by firstly, analysing civil society organisations’ contribution to good governance through their interaction with national and multilateral organizations. Secondly, the unit identifies the institutional arrangements available for civil society participation in global governance (particularly in the context of international organisations such as NATO, the EU, WTO or the UN) with a focus on the mechanisms to ensure transparency, accountability and representation. Thirdly, the unit assesses civil society organisations’ own legitimacy and representativeness claims with a focus on their ability to facilitate the participation and empowerment of marginalized groups, their financial and political independence and the increasing tension between professionalization and constituency representation. The unit ends with a student-led evaluation of how the outcome of the financial crisis has affected civil society organisations’ role in global governance. The unit allows students to develop an understanding of what civil society is and what it is not; how it is organised; how it relates to global governance; how it engages in policy-making; and what role it may play in fostering good governance. Students will become familiar with key debates drawn for the academic literature and relevant case-studies. Students will engage critically with these debates and seek to identify their own position and viewpoints within those debates
Aims:
To critically examine the conceptual debates about the role and relevance of civil society in global governance.
To explore the impact of international organisations on civil society organisations.
To critically assess the independence, transparency and representativeness of civil society organisations.
To contextualise the relevance of civil society vis-à-vis other forms of active citizenship such as social movements.
To explore the impact of wider phenomena such as the global financial crisis on civil society organisations.
To facilitate students’ critical engagement with the main normative assumptions while assessing relevant case studies.
After completing this units students will have acquired:
Seminars. During the 2-hour seminars the weekly topic will be introduced by the seminar teacher and students will engage in intellectual discussion through individual presentations and by addressing the proposed issues for debate through selected exercises such as group work.
Formative assessment: seminar presentations supported by a handout. The seminar presentation supported by a handout provides formative assessment of (1) the student’s grasp of the substantive issues associated with this unit and (2) the student’s ability to engage with that substantive material in an articulate, concise and persuasive way both verbally and in written form (learning outcomes 1, 4, 5, 8 and 9).
Summative Assessment consists of a 4,000-word essay (100%) (learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9).