Study Details: MA One-year full-time; 2.5 years part-time
“Violence is the midwife of every old society, pregnant with a new one”. The concepts of violence and revolution stand at the centre of our understanding of political modernity. This MA programme introduces students to a range of theoretical perspectives on the concepts of violence and revolution in modern political thought, from the crisis of the Renaissance, through the long 17th century and the Enlightenment, to the critique of political economy and theories of revolution and counter-revolution in the 20th century.
The programme focuses in particular on the importance of historical context for understanding the transformation and reformulation of classic themes in modern political thought. Taught by Filippo Del Lucchese, Mark Neocleous and Peter Thomas, the MA also provides students with the research skills, methodologies and historical understanding required for analysing and assessing key texts.
The overall aims of the programme are to provide students with:
By guiding students through modern political thought by honing in on the questions of violence and revolution, the degree has a number of innovative features:
The program is also based on the idea of guided study in small-group sessions. The assessment pattern is also designed to gear students towards in-depth critical engagement of key texts. The varied length of the assessments, building to longer assignments, is also designed to give students a foundation in writing lengthy interpretations of texts in the history of political thought.
A first degree (2.1 or above) or equivalent. It is expected that students for this programme will have a degree in a relevant subject although in exceptional circumstances students with qualifications in non-related subjects can be considered.
Brunel also offers our own BrunELT English Test and accept a range of other language courses. We also have a range of Pre-sessional English language courses, for students who do not meet these requirements, or who wish to improve their English.
Fees for 2012/13 entry
Home/EU students: £5,060 full-time, £2,530 part-time
International students: £12,650 full-time, £6,325 part-time
For funding opportunities please visit: http://www.brunel.ac.uk/courses/pg/funding
The proposed MA contains a balance of modules in relation to its stated aims. It comprises four compulsory modules, each worth 30 credits, and a 60-credit dissertation.
Violence and Revolution in Early Modern Political Thought
The main aim of the module is to introduce students to a range of theoretical perspectives on the concepts of violence and revolution in early modern political thought. We will discuss the development of these concepts between the 16th-17th century. The rationale for the module is to thus trace the thematic as it reverberates through political thought, from the crisis of the Renaissance and Humanist politics, through the 17th century.
The final aim is to offer students a theoretical background and support to their study of ‘Violence in Politics’ and ‘Revolution’ in history, with a special focus on the early modern period.
Enlightenment and Revolution
The main aim of the module is to introduce students to the political thought of the Enlightenment. It does so by dealing with one of the fundamental questions of Enlightenment: revolution. Focusing on select authors who represent the so-called Age of Enlightenment, the module considers the debate about revolution in the context of the rise of the bourgeoisie, new economic practices such as industrialization, and the intensification of colonial peoples. The Age of Enlightenment culminates in the extreme consequences of this movement: the American and the French revolutions, which will dramatically change the political order of Europe and the World, opening up the political, economic and social conditions for modernity. The rationale for the module is to trace the thematic of this movement as it reverberates through political thought and culture.
The final aim is to offer students a wider historical and theoretical background to their study of politics and history.
Capitalism and Revolution in the 19th Century
The main aim of the module is to introduce students to theories of revolution and political struggle against capital in the 19th century. The module will focus in particular upon the development of Marx’s critique of political economy in its historical context. The 19th century witnessed the emergence of a range of critical perspectives on the consequences of the ongoing industrial revolution and the consolidation of capitalism as a global system. Marx’s critique of political economy developed at the crossroads between different intellectual and national critical traditions, ranging from the classical political economy of Smith and Ricardo, to the radical political theories that emerged in the wake of the French Revolution, to the legacy of German idealism.
This singular synthesis produced a distinctive vision of history as a process of struggles between classes founded in the social and political organisation of production. It also produced a range of concepts and perspectives that defined a new paradigm within which conflicts in political modernity and solutions to them could be thought. The rationale for the module is to trace in detail the development of the critique of political economy and its relationship with political theories of revolution in its time. The final aim is to offer students a theoretical background and support to their study of violence and revolution in politics and history, with a special focus on the 19th century.
Revolution and Counter-revolution in 20th Century Europe
The main aim of the module is to introduce students to theories of revolution and counter-revolution in early 20th century Europe. The module will focus intensively on four thinkers who can be regarded as representative of the full range of the political spectrum: Weber, Schmitt, Lenin and Gramsci. Each of these thinkers responded to the revolutionary and counter-revolutionary movements of early 20th century in a distinctive fashion, developing and transforming some of the key concepts of modern political thought. In so doing, they proposed theoretical perspectives and positions that have remained operative until the present day, including theories of rationalisation, decisionism, dictatorship, democracy, legitimation, sovereignty, hegemony and passive revolution.
The module will focus in particular upon the impact of early 20th century revolutionary and counter-revolutionary movements upon the development of each theorist’s work, and the way in which these experiences contributed to the reformulation of classic themes in the history of modern political thought. In particular, these include theories of political power, political form, political organisation and legitimation. The rationale for the module is to study in detail the development of theories of political modernity, revolution and counter-revolution in relation to the concrete political movements of their time. The final aim is to offer students a theoretical background and support to their study of violence and revolution in politics and history, with a special focus on early 20th century Europe.
Dissertation
The dissertation can be written on any agreed topic in the field of Modern Political Thought.
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