| Unit name | Perspectives on Power |
|---|---|
| Unit code | SOCI30062 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Thomas Osborne |
| 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 focuses on the concept of power in social theory and political sociology. The first half of the unit is oriented to the work of Max Weber on forms of domination and to that of Michel Foucault on power, political rationality and government. The second half of the unit goes on to consider particular topics in the political sociology of power taking in aspects of the work of thinkers such as Hannah Arendt, Theodor Adorno, Zygmunt Bauman and Michael Mann and others centred on such topics as the analysis of totalitarianism, political ethics and the social psychology of power and authority. The unit aims to highlight distinctive approaches in the social theory of power, political reason, authority and social order, and to introduce students to the application of different notions of power to particular fields such as those of political rationalities of liberalism and neo-liberalism, totalitarianism, bureaucracy and the ethics of power.
On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to:
One hour lecture and two hour seminar per week
Both assessments assess all learning outcomes.
