3.00 credits
(4,0,0)
15 wks
Current themes and controversies in contemporary social and political thought is the subject of this course. Topics will shift from term to term to reflect either important issues or individual theorist's contributions to contemporary society. Areas of interest might include, for example, the role of the state in capitalist societies, the significance of the Frankfurt School, the contradictions and fate of the welfare state, the current debates in democratic theory, the role and place of "new" social movements in contemporary society, an examination of the meaning of liberty in complex societies, the renewal of nationalism, the place of religion (Islamic fundamentalism), the persistence of violence in civil society, the insights of political biography. Alternatively, or in conjunction with these themes, students will develop a thorough analysis of a particular theorist: for example, Arendt, Gramsci, Marcuse, Foucault, Habermas, Offe, Williams, Rawls, Rorty, Pateman, Gorz and Melucci to name a few.
Prerequisites: POL 111