Is Politics More than Human? Cornwall, California, and the Local to the Global

Module title	Is Politics More than Human? Cornwall, California, and the Local to the Global
Module code	POC3149
Academic year	2024/5
Credits	15
Module staff	Dr Joanie Willett (Lecturer)

Duration: Term	1	2	3
Duration: Weeks		11

Number students taking module (anticipated)	20

Module description

This module traces the global flows of local particularity and the ways in which the environment has shaped politics at all levels. You will focus on mining as a way to explore how the matter which people use transforms our communities and polities, and which historically has moved populations around the world. Moreover, the example of mining also brings into focus a post-mining politics of place, whereby some ecologies and geologies which have been scoured and scarred by resource extraction are recast as gentrified rural landscapes with high amenity value for the urban gaze – and which develops entirely different politics of place. You will explore the tight local and global interdependencies in our politics, in our economies, and of course, in our tourism.

With its global history as a centre of mining excellence, Cornwall and its relationship with its diaspora communities around the world illustrates and demonstrates these processes. In this module we focus on the ecologies, geologies, and geographies of Cornwall and the Californian gold mining community of Grass Valley, in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

Assessed work: Following production of a notional research tender, students will complete a notional consultancy report for either a mining, environmental, or a tourism company which operates in either in Cornwall or in Nevada County, California.

No prior knowledge skills or experience are required to take this module and it is suitable for specialist and non-specialist students.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module aims to encourage you to think about the ways in which our economies, communities, and polities are inextricably entangled with our geologies, ecologies, and geographies. We will see that all politics is an environmental politics. Moreover, we will also see that concepts such as ‘the local’ are inextricable from global social, political, and economic processes and flows, and we will consider the incongruities of ecological gentrification and the post-industrial re-imagining of western rural areas as amenity spaces.

You will also enhance your employability by developing skills and experience in your role as a notional ‘consultant’. You will follow a brief through tender, analyses and reporting.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

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

1. Make and engage with the specific link between new materialisms theory and practical questions;
2. Critically analyse empirical relationships through theoretical perspectives
3. Critically engage with the entangled relationships between ecologies, geologies, geographies, communities, and polities
4. Using critical analysis, develop a position on the question is politics more than human?

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

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

5. Make informed judgements about the policy implications of abstract concepts, and critically assess possible outcomes;
6. Develop sympathetic interpretations in the light of appropriate evidence;

ILO: Personal and key skills

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

7. Follow a research brief to develop relevant and considered solutions;
8. Formulate nuanced arguments about theory with clarity and precision, communicated in written and oral form;
9. Communicate complex ideas clearly to a lay audience
10. Understand the needs of an external organization and how the students research can help

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
The More-than-human Cornwall
The More-than-human Grass Valley, California.
The power of gold
Flows of people, culture and ideas
Mining transformations - Cornwall
Mining transformations and devastations – Grass Valley
Indigenous communities – Grass Valley
Politics and post-industrial Cornwall
Politics and post-industrial Grass Valley

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 and Teaching	22	11 x 2-hour seminars
Guided independent study	88	Reading in preparation for group work / individual contribution
Guided independent study	40	Assessment preparation

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Group presentation	5 minutes per person	1-10	Verbal and written comments on review

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
Research tender	25	1,000 words	1-10	Verbal and written comments on review
Consultancy report	75	2,500 words	1-10	Verbal and written comments on review
	0
	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
Research tender (1000 words)	Research Proposal (1000 words)	1-10	Referral/Deferral Period
Consultancy Report (2500 words)	Consultancy Report (2500 words)	1-10	Referral/Deferral Period

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to redo the assessment(s) as defined above. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Conway, E. 2023. Material World. WH Allen

Frankopan, P 2023. The World Transformed. Bloomsbury

DeLanda, M, 2011A New Philosophy of Society: Assemblage Theory and Social Complexity Continuum

Massey, D. (2005). For Space. Sage: London.

Bennett, J. 2010. Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. Durham: Duke University Press.

Schultermandl, S., Aresin, J., Whybrew, S., Simic, D. 2022. Affective Worldmaking: Narrative Counterpublics of Gender and Sexuality Bielefeld: Transcript.

Sheldrake, M. 2021. Entangled Life: How Fungi Make or Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures Random House Publishing Group.

Ewart, S. 1989. Cornish Mining Families of Grass Valley, California. New York: AMS Press.

Ozguc, U., Burridge, A., 2023. More-Than-Human Borders: A New Research Agenda for Posthuman Conversations in Border Studies. Geopolitics 28 (2) 471-489.

Page, T 2020 Placemaking: A New Materialist Theory of Pedagogy Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press.

Willett, J. 2021. Affective Assemblages and Local Economies. London: Rowman and Littlefield.

Yussof, K. 2018. A Billion Black Anthropocenes or None. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

Erased 2022. ERASED — Home (ubaseo.org)

Key words search

Radical Democracy, Complexity Theory, Political Identity, Environment, Political Theory, More than Human; New Materialisms; Entanglement

Credit value	15
Module ECTS	7.5
NQF level (module)	6
Available as distance learning?	Yes
Origin date	24/01/2024