Programme
Year 1
- Module 2 (Fall): Globalisation and the Transformation of the State
- Location: Dept. of Political Science, Aarhus University (AU)
- Professor: Georg Sørensen and Tonny Brems Knudsen
- Duration: 10 weeks
- Credits: 10 ECTS
Overview
The sovereign state is a core institution. We expect it to provide basic social values such as security, freedom, order, justice, and welfare. In some places it does, in other places it doesn’t. The sovereign state is in a process of transformation, both in the advanced, post-industrial societies in the North, in the weak states in the South, and in the modernizing states in Asia and Latin America.
The processes of change have sparked a comprehensive debate about what is going on. Some find that the sovereign state is on the way out: It is too large for some things and too small for other things. Others find that it is more important than ever in a confused, globalised world. Who is right? What kind of transformation is the sovereign state undergoing? A well-informed answer to these questions is a vital precondition for an informed view of today’s global developments. More specifically, the aims of the course are:
- To provide a comprehensive introduction to the academic debates about the transformation of the sovereign state in the context of globalisation. What arguments are put forward, and on what theoretical and empirical foundation?
- The focus will be on the following subjects: Changing principles of sovereignty; multilevel governance; changes in nationhood and identities; changes in democracy and citizenship, consequences for cooperation and conflict.
- To provide a well reasoned and argued answer to the overall research question: What happens to the sovereign state and world order?
- To train abilities in problem identification, problem formulation, theory discussion and theory application on concrete cases, as well as the ability to structure and set forth an argument that contains both theoretical and empirical dimensions.
- Classes will be a mixture of lectures, assignments, group presentations and discussions.
Learning Outcomes
- Knowledge:
- A range of theories regarding the nature and consequences of globalization.
- Concepts and theories regarding types of states and state transformation.
- Understanding of a number of dilemmas, challenges and dynamics originating from processes of globalization.
- Insight into the means of governance in international politics.
- Understanding:
- Understand that the economic, technological, political, ideational and cultural processes of globalization and state transformation are interlinked and driven by both national and international factors.
- Understand that several competing theories can come up with strong answers to the nature and consequences of globalization.
- Understand that the forces of globalization are weakening as well as empowering the state.
- Discipline-specific:
- The ability to critically evaluate various theories in relation to concrete empirical examples as well as other theories.
- The ability to formulate and answer research questions based on various theories.
- The ability to use the knowledge and understanding from this course in a way that leads to a more qualified and more critical journalistic coverage of the field of international politics.
Typical Methods of Assessment
In order to be able to hand in the final essay students must have been participating in the course (student presentations, smaller written assignments etc.). The final grade is based on the final essay, which is a ten-page essay (4000 words) based on a set question. The student gets 7 days to write this essay.
Indicative Reading List
- Cutler, Claire (2005). ‘Global Governance’ in Robertson/Scholte (eds), Encyclopedia of Globalization, 5pp.
- Dahl, Robert A. (1999). ‘Can international organizations be democratic? A sceptic’s view’, in I. Shapiro and C. Hacker-Cordón (eds), Democracy’s Edges, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 19-37.
- Democracy’s Edges, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 19-37.
- Ellis, Stephen (2005). ‘How to Rebuild Africa’, Foreign Affairs 84:5, 135-48
- Sørensen, Georg (2004). The Transformation of the State. Beyond the Myth of Retreat, London: Palgrave/Macmillan.
- Please contact the University for more sources
