SENIOR SEMINAR in Fall 2020 (PO4090)

This course explores changing patterns of power and organization in the modern world system – from the modern nation-state, the Industrial Revolution and nineteenth century European global expansion to the current turbulent phase of globalization. It examines and theorizes key analytical and normative challenges of the present: global rebalancing and the emergence or reemergence of postcolonial states, uneven development, the role of culture in world politics, the future of the nation state, the global environmental imperative, mass forced and free migrations, the new landscape of armed conflict, the sources and implications of sharpening social divides, and the challenges to liberal-democratic theory and practice. Drawing, like Foundations of Modern Politics, on the social sciences and political philosophy, the course operates through a mix of theory and empirical study. Students will thus become acquainted to the essential frameworks and methods of social scientific enquiry while working on concrete objects of analysis. A core objective is to discover and grasp how major theoretical approaches differ in their interpretation and explanation of world politics, as well as in the normative models and demands that they advance. Students are expected to participate actively in debate during class.