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FUBiS Term III: Global politics: How to cope with a world in disarray?
(course # 3.16)
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Type: |
B-Track |
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Instructor(s): |
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Language: |
English |
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Contact hours: |
48 (6 per day) |
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Credit Points: |
4 |
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Capacity: |
18 |
Resources
Course description
This course addresses the new global environment which has been evolving since the end of the East-West conflict. The key features of the emerging context of global politics are: multipolar constellation; decreasing governance capabilities on the side of national governments; fragile structure of global governance; complex interaction patterns between old actors (nation states) and new actors (TNCs; NGOs; sub- and supranational regions, etc.) ; new forms of interaction (networks, flows) and new types of policy-making (externally driven agendas; ad-hocism; mismatches between popular expectations and organizational capabilities).
These new aspects indicate that the traditional ways of political cartography - i.e. conceiving of international relations as policies designed and executed by states and governments, delineated by borders and protected by sovereignty and territoriality - are not sufficiently productive anymore. Classical concepts and terms are still predominant in the public discourse, especially in the media. Yet more and more people interested in global affairs are becoming aware that new ways of political mapping are required.
This is even more relevant as the post Cold-War world is obviously less peaceful, less organized and more complex than expected after the collapse of the old order. The new environment offers challenges and risks as well as opportunities. We will try to develop a preliminary balance sheet.
Over the past ten years, various new approaches have evolved, which promise to offer new and more creative tools for analytically making sense of global patchworks. These new approaches will be presented, analyzed, discussed and applied. Students are expected to contribute their experiences from their respective backgrounds on how the new global landscape affects their personal lives.
Student profile
The course is designed for all students interested in international relations/global politics. Students with a social science background and those without such a background but with a profound interest in global politics are encouraged to register. The course will bring together students with diverse cultural and regional as well as academic backgrounds.
Prerequisites
Please register in advance for your presentation by sending us three topic preferences (for example, my first preference is session 10 "migration", my second preference is…). Please send them to my TAs Kornelia and Alexandra (shkabpol@zedat.fu-berlin.de) until July 13, 2012.
Course Requirements and Grading
- reading of required literature (obligatory)
- active participation in the sessions 35%
- presentation (powerpoint) in one session of about 15 min 25%
- minutes of one (another) session of about 600 words 15%
- final take-home paper of about 1000-1500 words 25%
Reading
A reader with the required literature will be provided in the orientation meeting.
Recommended Course combinations
- The European Union in the 21. Century: Internal and External Challenges
- Law, Society and Politics in Comparative Perspective
- Islam and the West - The Pitfalls of Mapping the World
