The Politics of War
| Module title | The Politics of War |
|---|---|
| Module code | POC3020 |
| Academic year | 2023/4 |
| Credits | 30 |
| Module staff | Dr Sarah Bulmer (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 11 | 11 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 20 |
|---|
Module description
The problem of war is perhaps the most fundamental of political issues. Conventionally studied through abstract theorising and the perspectives of political elites, many traditional approaches to the study of war fail to capture the experience of violence and destruction or the complex social, political and economic dynamics of militarism and violence. In this module you will be introduced to a range of critical perspectives about war, which will foreground the political nature of any attempt to understand, commemorate or respond to war. You will use these critical approaches to understand and analyse past and present wars and their consequences. This module will invite you to consider the following questions: What social processes legitimise and make war possible? How is war experienced by different people? How are wars remembered? How have people tried to resist war? Please note that this module is not about geo-politics, military strategy or military history. The emphasis in this module is critical and social which means that war will be understood in relation to wider socio-economic, historical and political contexts. The assessment has been designed to encourage and reward sustained engagement throughout the module and your communication skills.
There are no pre-requisites or co-requisites for this module.
Module aims - intentions of the module
The aim of this module is to introduce you to contemporary interdisciplinary approaches war, with a particular focus on critical interventions made by scholars within the humanities and social sciences. The module will locate war within its wider social, economic and political context, encouraging a broader understanding of the causes, consequences and legacies of war. You will be introduced to a range of theoretical approaches to war, for example feminism. You will engage with a number of case studies, including: the contemporary wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Remembrance Day in Britain, the Holocaust and the protests against the Vietnam War. Cultural representations of war in art, novel, film and museums will be critically interrogated, with a focus on race, gender and class. The ultimate aim of the module is to encourage you to think critically about war-making, commemoration and militarism.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. demonstrate breadth and depth in the understanding of various strands of critical thought as they have been applied to the social, political and economic legacies of war
- 2. demonstrate detailed and comprehensive understanding of how war has been theorized and evaluated from different critical perspectives
- 3. demonstrate excellence in the application of various theoretical perspectives in the analysis of concrete examples of war and its consequences
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 4. relate the academic study of politics to questions of public concern in order to develop well-reasoned arguments and conclusions
- 5. apply concepts, theories and methods used in the study of politics to offer comprehensive analysis
- 6. think critically and independently about events, ideas and institutions with minimal guidance
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 7. synthesize challenging literature and effectively articulate complex ideas in written and oral form
- 8. demonstrate ability to plan and undertake tasks, individually and with others, with minimum guidance, to reflect critically on the learning process and make use of feedback
- 9. identify, retrieve and use efficiently a range of library-based and electronic resources with minimum guidance
- 10. design and deliver presentations to peers with minimal guidance
- 11. demonstrate ability to interact effectively within a team/ learning group, facilitate group discussions and to select appropriate material suitable for inclusion in discussion
Syllabus plan
The module is taught through weekly 2 hour seminars and includes several film screenings with discussion.
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: Why study war?
- War, embodiment and experience
- War, culture and representation
- Collective memory, ritual and politics
- Militarism and big business
- Industrialised warfare, masculinity and the body in the First World War
- Remembrance Day and memorials after the First World War in Britain
FILM SCREENING: Saving Private Ryan
- Second World War in American Film
FILM SCREENING: The Thin Red Line
- Contested memories of the Second World War in Germany: Dresden
- Bearing Witness and Visual Culture after the Holocaust
- War and resistance in the Nuclear Age
- The Vietnam War remembered
- Guest lecture Dr David Jackson, former Royal Marine
- British nationalism and the Falklands War
- 9/11, Ground Zero and the cultural history of the War on Terror
FILM SCREEING: Paradise Now
- Helmetcams and media coverage of the war in Afghanistan
FILM SCREENING: The Hurt Locker
- Precarious Bodies in War
- Postmodern mourning and twenty first century sacrifice
- Soldier testimony and anti-war resistance
- Wounded veterans, rehabilitation and contemporary injury politics
- Critical Reflection and Guidance for Assessment
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 44 | 256 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled learning and teaching activities | 44 | 22 weekly seminars (2 hours each) |
| Independent Guided Study | 256 | Independent study: reading and preparing for seminars (around 5 hours per seminar); researching, planning and producing assessments (approximately 96 hours) and approximately 50 hours revising for, and undertaking, the oral examination. |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interim seminar participation and self-assessment | 800 words | 1-11 | Written and verbal |
| Seminar participation | N/A ongoing throughout module | 1-11 | Verbal |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | 0 | 80 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral examination | 50 | 45 minutes in pairs (approx. 23 minutes per student) | 1-7 | Written and verbal |
| Seminar participation and self-evaluation (1500 words) | 20 | Seminar participation and self-evaluation (1500 words) | 1-11 | Written and verbal |
| Group presentation and student-led seminar | 30 | 30 minutes presentation + Q & A (approx. 10 minutes per student). Student-led seminar (approx. 1 hour) | 1-11 | Written and verbal |
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oral examination | Oral examination (individual, 20 minutes) | 1-7 | August/September re-assessment period |
| Seminar participation and self-evaluation (1500 words) | Seminar participation and self-evaluation (1500 words) | 1-11 | August/September re-assessment period |
| Group presentation and student-led seminar | Individual presentation to module convenor (approx.20 minutes) | 1-11 | August/September re-assessment period |
Re-assessment notes
Where work is re-assessed, students must answer different question/ discuss different topics and issues.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Bourke, J. (1996) Dismembering the Male: Men’s bodies, Britain and the Great War, London: Reaktion Books.
Sylvester, C. (2012) War As Experience, London: Routledge.
Zehfuss, M. (2007) Wounds of Memory, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Edkins, J. (2003) Trauma and the memory of Politics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
King, A. (2010) ‘The Afghan War and ‘postmodern’ memory: commemoration and the dead of Helmand’ in The British Journal of Sociology, vol. 61(1), pp.1-25.
McSorely, K. (2012) ed. War and the Body: Militarisation, Practice and Experience, London: Routledge,
Gerber, D. A. (ed.) Disabled Veterans in History, revised edition, Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
Zehfuss, M. (2009) ‘Hierarchies of Grief and the Possibility of War: Remembering UK Fatalities in Iraq’ in Millennium, vol. 38(2), pp. 1-22.
Sjoberg, L. and Via, S. (2010).eds. Gender, War, and Militarism: Feminist Perspectives (Santa Barbara, Denver and Oxford: Praeger).
Higate, P. R. (2003) ed. Military Masculinities: Identity and the State. (Westport, CT and London: Praeger).
Goldstein, J. S. (2001) War and Gender: How Gender Shapes the War System and Vice Versa. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Enloe, C.( 2000) Manoeuvres: The International Politics of Militarising Women’s Lives.( Berkeley, University of California Press).
Enloe, C. (2007) Globalization and Militarism: Feminists Make the Link. (Lanham and Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers).
Basham. V. (Forthcoming 2013). War, Identity and the Liberal State: Everyday Experiences of the Geopolitical in the British Armed Forces (London: Routledge).
| Credit value | 30 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 15 |
| Module pre-requisites | None |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 6 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 15/02/2013 |
| Last revision date | 03/03/2015 |
