The Politics of Social Justice

Module title	The Politics of Social Justice
Module code	POL2099
Academic year	2022/3
Credits	15
Module staff	Dr Sarah Lucas (Convenor)

Duration: Term	1	2	3
Duration: Weeks	11

Number students taking module (anticipated)	50

Module description

This module will cover radical themes in critical theory and in political action. We will look at topics like Marxism, feminism, critical race theory, queer theory, technology and environmentalism. We will engage with several important authors in the critical tradition, including Immanuel Kant, Karl Marx, and Frantz Fanon as well as more contemporary critical theorists like Charles Mills, Audre Lorde, and Donna Haraway. Our guiding questions will be: What makes an approach to social justice radical? What is ‘progressive’ about progressive politics? What differentiates critical theory from normative political theory? What are the connections between radical political theory and political change?

Module aims - intentions of the module

The module will begin with a discussion of the importance of radical and critical philosophy, which serves to examine and question the “root” assumptions of political thought, rather than to offer a normative account of how we should live. Critical approaches to social justice emphasize deeply problematic norms, habits, structures, and beliefs already established in society and maintain that the identification and articulation of these problems is the essential task for a politics of social justice. The primary intention of this module, then, is to encourage you to think critically in the face of social injustice. To ask questions like: Who is benefitting from this injustice? What are the basic assumptions at work that allow this injustice to continue? Whose voices are privileged in conversations about this injustice? Whose voices are silenced or left out?

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

1. understand the historical and philosophical underpinnings of a prominent political phenomenon;
2. critically evaluate different understandings of social justice.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

3. perform close readings and analysis of complex theoretical texts;
4. articulate complex theoretical concepts and apply these to practical political problems.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

5. perform close readings and analysis of complex theoretical texts;
6. articulate complex theoretical concepts and apply these to practical political problems.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the

syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

Introduction to Critical Social Theory
Class: From Marxism to Neoliberalism
Critical Race Theory
Feminism as Critical Theory
Queer Theory
Political Art and Activism
Technology
Environmentalism

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
22	128	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities	22	11 x 2 hour seminars
Guided Independent Study	45	Preparing for seminars: reading and research.
Guided Independent Study	83	Completing assessment tasks: reading, research, and writing.

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Learning Journal Early Entries	750 words	1-6	Written Comments

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Learning Journal	40	1,000 words	1-6	Written Comments
Final Essay	60	2,000 words	1-6	Written Comments

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Learning Journal	1,000 word learning journal	1-6	August/September reassessment period
Final Essay	2,000 word essay on different question	1-6	August/September reassessment period

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Basic reading:

Immanuel Kant (1784) “What is Enlightenment”

Karl Marx and Frederick Engels (1848) The Communist Manifesto

Charles Mills (2007) White Ignorance

Nancy Fraser (1997) Justice Interruptus

Wendy Brown (2015) Undoing the Demos

Gayatri Spivak (2008) Can the Subaltern Speak?

Audre Lorde (1984) Sister Outsider

Iris Marion Young (2011) Responsibility for Justice

bell hooks (1984) Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center

Michel Foucault (1976) The History of Sexuality

Arne Naëss (1979) Deep Ecology

Frantz Fanon (1963) The Wretched of the Earth

Donna Haraway (2016) Staying with the Trouble

Key words search

Social Justice, Radical Politics, Political Theory, Critical Theory

Credit value	15
Module ECTS	7.5
Module pre-requisites	None
Module co-requisites	None
NQF level (module)	5
Available as distance learning?	No
Origin date	22/06/2017
Last revision date	28/02/2022