COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST FOR POLI 442: SOCIAL AND POLITICAL THEORY , SECOND SEMESTER 2019/2020 ACADEMIC YEAR

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

2019/2020 ACADEMIC YEAR

COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST

LEGON AND ACCRA CITY CAMPUS

COURSE CODE AND TITLE: POLI 442 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL THEORY

COURSE CREDITS: 3

·         Course Instructor: Dr. C. AMO-AGYEMANG

·         Office Hours: Wednesdays 12- 2:30pm

·         Office Location: Kweku Folson Building Room Number

·         Email Address: C.Amo-Agyemang@Ug.Edu.Gh

·      Lecture Period & Venue: Tuesdays 3.30pm-5.30pm @ Nnb (Group A) /Thursday 5.30pm – 7.20pm at JQB 19 (Group B)/ Accra City Campus: Tuesday 7.50am-9.50am

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course offers the opportunity for intensive and in-depth engagement with the works of the most influential political philosophers and social theorists of the 20th century. We will rigorously examine the key text of Jürgen Habermas and John Rawls, Michel Foucault, Kwame Nkrumah, Giorgio Agamben, Achille Mbembe, Franz Fanon, Walter Rodney, Karl Marx, Max Weber, thus providing a forum for discussion and an exchange for ideas. Specifically, it strives to address some of the fundamental questions about political power and social order of contemporary political life. By the end of the course, you will (a) have an understanding of the key ideas of the thinkers under review; (b) be able to assess the contribution that these thinkers have made to our wider understanding of politics; (c) be able to recognise these relevance of these thinkers to our on current political contexts and social and political thought and be able to employ their ideas within those contexts (d) be able to evaluate the key features of an arguments(e) be confident to express your own views, and evaluate the responses of others (f) Apply theories and principles to a range of pressing issues of contemporary importance and,  be to (g) consider the impact of critical social and political theory on everyday life.

Examination format:

Interim Assessment (IA)-30%

 Final Examination - 70%Total Mark/Grade- 100%

Final Exam Format:

 Six (6) essay questions and you answer three (3).

COURSE POLICIES

Regular attendance is a key determinant of success in this course and is required. While students are expected, nay, required, to do their readings before they come to class, the readings serve as a background, not as a substitute, for the lectures and class discussions. Not only do I expect students to attend classes, I also expect students to ask questions and participate in class discussions. I strongly encourage students to ask questions during class.

ACADEMIC HONESTY:

All University policies regarding academic honesty will be strictly enforced. Plagiarism, cheating or academic misconduct in any manner will not be tolerated.  While most examples of misconduct are blatantly obvious (i.e., you may not pay someone to take your final exam for you!), knowing when and how to acknowledge and appropriately cite sources is something you may have to learn. For example, even if you acknowledge the source, you cannot stay too close to the language of the original source when paraphrasing. If you are not sure about anything, please do not hesitate to see me, and we can go over it together. We encourage you to familiarise yourselves with the University’s policy regarding academic misconduct. This policy is available at http://www.ug.edu.gh/aqau/policies-guidelines.

STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS:

Students with special needs should register with the Office of Students with Special Needs, located in the University of Ghana Computing Services (UGCS) building, next to the Student Financial Aid Office; Tel: +233-24-457-5177; E-mail: ossnug@gmail.com . Please contact me as soon as possible so that appropriate accommodation can be arranged.

LECTURE THEMES

Week 1: The State: Franz Oppenheimer

Week 2: Power and the State: Weber and Marx.

Week 3: Power, the State and conflict: Ralf Dahrendorf

Week 4: Power, the State and consensus: Jürgen Habermas and John Rawls

Week 5: Power the State and Justice: John Rawls

Week 6: Power the State and (In)Equality: Amartya Sen

Week 7: Power, the State and Social justice (sociality and subsidiarity): Luigi Taparelli

Week 8: Governmemntality, Power, Subjectivity, Politics and Biopolitics: Michel Foucault.

Week 9: Governmemntality, Power, Subjectivity, Politics and Biopolitics: Michel Foucault.

Week 10: Politics of Life and Death: Giorgio Agamben

Week 11: Necro-politics: Achille Mbembe

Week 12: Decolonization (Conciensisim): Kwame Nkrumah

Week 13:  Decolonization: Frantz Fannon/Wrap-up.

READINGS

·         Agamben, G. (1998). Homo sacer: Sovereign power and bare life. Stanford University Press.

·         Agamben, G. (2013). The politicization of life. Homo Sacer. Sovereign Power and Bare Life (Stanford, 1998).

·         Behr, T. (2003, September). Luigi Taparelli on the dignity of man. In Congresso Tomista Internazionale, L'Umanesimo Cristiano nel III Millenio, Prospettive di Tommaso D'Aquino. Proceedings. Rome.

·         Biney, A. (2011). The Discourse on Nkrumah. In The Political and Social Thought of Kwame Nkrumah (pp. 1-9). Palgrave Macmillan, New York.

·         Boadi, K. N. (2000). The Ontology of Kwame Nkrumah's Consciencism and the Democratic Theory and Practice in Africa: A Diopian Perspective. Journal of Black Studies, 30(4), 475-501.

·         Botwe-Asamoah, K. (2013). Kwame Nkrumah's Politico-Cultural Thought and Politics: An African-Centered Paradigm for the Second Phase of the African Revolution. Routledge.

·         Boyles, D., Carusi, T., & Attick, D. (2009). Historical and critical interpretations of social justice. In Handbook of social justice in education (pp. 48-60). Routledge.

·         Corrado, D., & Solari, S. (2009). Social justice and economic order according to natural law. Journal of Markets & Morality, 12(1).

·         Fassin, D. (2009). Another politics of life is possible. Theory, culture & society, 26(5), 44-60.

·         Foucault, M. (1984). The Foucault reader. Pantheon.

·         Foucault, M. (1990). The history of sexuality: An introduction, volume I. Trans. Robert Hurley. New York: Vintage, 95.

·         Foucault, M. (2013). Politics, philosophy, culture: Interviews and other writings, 1977-1984. Routledge.

·         Gudmand-Høyer, M., & Hjorth, T. L. (2009). Michel Foucault, The Birth of Biopolitics: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1978-1979. Edited by Michel Senellart. Translated by Graham Burchell (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2008), ISBN: 978-1403986542. Foucault Studies, 99-130.

·         Lemke, T. (2001). 'The birth of bio-politics': Michel Foucault's lecture at the Collège de France on neo-liberal governmentality. Economy and society, 30(2), 190-207.

·         Manza, J., & Brooks, C. (2008). Class and politics. Social Class: How does it work, 201-231.

·         Mbembé, J. A., & Meintjes, L. (2003). Necropolitics. Public culture, 15(1), 11-40.

·         Novak, M. (2000). Defining social justice. First things, 11-12.

·         Oppenheimer, F. (2018). The State: Its history and development viewed sociologically. Routledge.

·         Rabaka, R. (2011). Revolutionary Fanonism: On Frantz Fanon's modification of Marxism and decolonization of democratic socialism. Socialism and Democracy, 25(1), 126-145.

·         Rawls, J. (2009). A theory of justice. Harvard university press.

·         Sen, A. K. (1992). Inequality reexamined. Oxford University Press.

·         Sium, A., Desai, C., & Ritskes, E. (2012). Towards the'tangible unknown': Decolonization and the Indigenous future. Decolonization: indigeneity, education & society, 1(1).

·         vom Hau, M. (2015). State theory: Four analytical traditions. Oxford handbook on transformation of the state, 131-151.

x