Master
2020/2021
Philosophy of New Social Movements
Category 'Best Course for Career Development'
Category 'Best Course for Broadening Horizons and Diversity of Knowledge and Skills'
Category 'Best Course for New Knowledge and Skills'
Type:
Compulsory course (Politics. Economics. Philosophy)
Area of studies:
Political Science
Delivered by:
School of Philosophy and Cultural Studies
Where:
Faculty of Social Sciences
When:
2 year, 1, 2 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Instructors:
Alexei Gloukhov
Master’s programme:
Политика. Экономика. Философия
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
5
Contact hours:
56
Course Syllabus
Abstract
The course focuses on the social dynamics and the philosophical meaning of the phenomena of social movements and political conflicts. The logical framework includes key concepts, methods and ideas of both contemporary normative and continental philosophy. The rise of a social movement is interpreted as emergence of a logical anomaly, of a ‘private’ language, breaking apart the normative order and making violence inevitable. The end of a social movement is explained as gradual normalization of the logical anomaly. In order to make sense of a social movement one has to pose and answer two series of questions: 1) What is good for ‘us’ (as the members of the movement)? 2) Can we make our good compatible with what is good for the ‘other’ (= not ‘us’)?
Learning Objectives
- Students will learn the philosophical methods of interpreting the phenomena of social movements.
- Development of the independent moral and political judgement, as well as engagement with visual and textual sources will be emphasized.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- To master the key ideas, concepts and methods of the contemporary political philosophy of social movements.
- To develop logical skills allowing to discuss and to resolve political issues.
- To use the introduced concepts and methods to present a solution in a written essay.
Course Contents
- Course framework. Historical Case 1: Communist movement.Course framework. Historical Case 1: Communist movement. Perspectivism. Political aesthetics. Two languages of political reality.
- Historical Case 2: Communist movement (cont.) Anarchism.Historical Case 2: Communist movement (cont.) Anarchism. Revolutionary break. General strike. Myth. Visuality. Violence
- Historical Case 3: Fascism. National-Socialism.Historical Case 3: Fascism. National-Socialism. Totalitarianism. Propaganda. Organization. The onion/bridge structure of a movement
- Historical Case 4: Independence and anti-colonial movements.Historical Case 4: Independence and anti-colonial movements. Nonviolence. Self-Rule. Non-cooperation. Anti-Modernism. Decolonization. Colonized intellectuals. Subaltern. Orientalism.
- Historical Case 5: Student movements.Historical Case 5: Student movements. The “New Left”. “Old dead white men”. Generational politics. ‘Organized spontaneity’. Negative turn. Proper logic and proper language of a movement.
- Historical Case 6: Feminism.Historical Case 6: Feminism. LGBTQ movements. Three Waves of Feminism. Intersectionality. Performative politics.
- Case study: Migration. New nationalism.Case study: Migration. New nationalism. Refugee crisis. Global nativist/nationalist turn. After 2016. Trump, Brexit.
- Case study: Capitalism, Neoliberalism, Accelerationism.Case study: Capitalism, Neoliberalism, Accelerationism. Capitalism as a Revolutionary Movement. Markets vs. State. Neoliberal Anomaly. Accelerationism. Trans-humanism. Hacktivism. Social media impact. Post-Truth. Fake News
- Case study: New emerging movements. Course conclusion.Case study: New emerging movements. Course conclusion. Discussion of the latest developments. Essays discussion.
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- Arendt, H. (1973). The Origins of Totalitarianism. [Place of publication not identified]: Mariner Books. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1871784
- Beauvoir, S. de, Malovany-Chevallier, S., & Borde, C. (2011). The Second Sex (Vol. 1st ed). New York: Vintage. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=745281
- Benjamin, W., Salzani, C., Moran, B., & Agamben, G. (2015). Towards the Critique of Violence : Walter Benjamin and Giorgio Agamben. London: Bloomsbury Academic. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1003341
- Butler, J. (2007). Gender Trouble : Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=881409
- Cutrofello, A. (2005). Continental Philosophy : A Contemporary Introduction. New York: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=106052
- Gandhi, & Parel, A. (1997). Gandhi: “Hind Swaraj” and Other Writings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=616955
- Georges Sorel. (2012). Reflections on Violence. [N.p.]: Dover Publications. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1155886
- Karl Marx, & Friedrich Engels. (2019). The Communist Manifesto. [N.p.]: Vintage. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=2156462
- Lord, B., & Mullarkey, J. (2009). The Continuum Companion to Continental Philosophy. London: Continuum. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=344310
- Plato. (2016). Republic (Vol. Enriched Classic). [N.p.]: Simon & Schuster. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1992908
- Schmitt, C. (2005). Political Theology : Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty (Vol. University of Chicago Press ed). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=335369
- Schmitt, C. (2007). The Concept of the Political : Expanded Edition (Vol. Expanded ed). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=332203
- State and revolution. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.440BBB15
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Ivan Turgenev. (2013). Fathers and Sons. New York: Sheba Blake Publishing. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1023910