Entangled Life: Radical Democracy in Theory

Module title	Entangled Life: Radical Democracy in Theory
Module code	POC3023
Academic year	2024/5
Credits	15
Module staff	Dr Joanie Willett (Convenor)

Duration: Term	1	2	3
Duration: Weeks	10

Number students taking module (anticipated)	20

Module description

This is an innovative module which uses New Materialisms thinking around political/ecological complex adaptive systems to explore how our environments shape human societies and politics. Drawing on research in Appalachia (USA), you will explore the ways that human community, political and economic lives are entangled with the environments that we are a part of. As we introduce new concepts, we explore what they add to our understanding of our Appalachian case study, and analyse what this means for our emerging (re) conception of ecological politics.

The module asks questions such as, ‘can we understand political culture and institutions without understanding how we have been shaped by nature?’ ‘Do entangled perspectives help us to better understand rural America?’ ‘Does this mean that all politics is really a politics of the environment?’ ‘If so, should the environment be given political agency in decision-making processes?’ To do this, we address how power operates within the social political and ecological system; explore ontological questions such as how we know what we know; raise questions about time, and consider if this improves our understanding of the world around us.

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

In this module you will explore radical contemporary political theories which consider the relationship between humans and their environments, and the impact that this has on the body politic, expanding the nature of political identity and the demos. You will critically engage with traditional assumptions about time, raising questions which go to the heart of the modern, scientific world view, exploring concepts of time, assemblages, affect and perception. You will learn how to apply these theoretical analyses to our case study, Appalachia (USA), and ask what this adds to our understanding of the politics of rural USA.

The module is paired with Entangled Life: Radical Democracy in Practice, and aims to build upon analysis and skills from Modern Political Thought: Rights the Nation and the State; American Politics; Imagining the Good Life; Green Politics; Political Geographies; The Resource Paradox; The Politics of Knowledge; and the Politics of Climate Change.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

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

1. Demonstrate a critical appreciation of readings from the major texts of this module;
2. Show an understanding of and engagement with key radical theory texts;
3. Apply theory to aspects of the contemporary world;

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

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

4. Apply abstract theoretical ideas and concepts to actual events and outcomes;
5. Produce sympathetic interpretations to political questions in the light of appropriate evidence;

ILO: Personal and key skills

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

6. Use logic and reasoning to evaluate arguments;
7. Formulate nuanced arguments about theory with clarity and precision, communicated in written and oral form;
8. Formulate your own conclusions based on differing forms of evidence; and
9. Demonstrate the capacity for independent study.

Syllabus plan

Although the precise content may vary from year to, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover all or some of the following areas of study:

Introduction: Disentangled Life, Appalachia, and Rural American Politics
Jane Bennett and Vibrant Matter: The Political Agency of Things.
Sheldrake, Tsing and Entangled Life
Deleuze and Guattari: the Rhizome
Ahmed and the politics of Affect
Reading Week
Phenomenologies of time: Bergson
Connolly and Neuropolitics: Affect and perception
Kaufman: emergence and complexity
DeLanda and Latour: From biology to socio-politics
Connolly: Radical democracy and a complex theory of the environment.
Tutorials and essay support

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

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
20	130	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching	20	11 x weekly 2 hour Seminars
Guided Independent Study	30	Seminar preparation
Guided Independent Study	30	Reading set texts
Guided Independent Study	15	Reading Secondary Material
Guided Independent Study	55	Preparation for assignments

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Essay plan	200 words	1-9	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
Policy Brief	25	1,000 words	1-9	Verbal and written comments on review
Essay	75	2,550 words	1-9	Written and verbal comments on review

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
Policy Brief	1,000 word policy brief	1-9	Referral/Deferral period
Essay	2,550 word essay	1-9	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 submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

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

Bergson, H. Creative Evolution, (United States: Random House, 1944).

Bergson, H. Matter and Memory (Mineola: Dover Publications, 2004, [1908]).

Connolly, W. A World of Becoming, (Duke University Press: 2010).

Coole, D., Frost, S., (Eds) 2010. New Materialisms: Ontology, Agency and Politics. (Duke University Press: Durham).

Deleuze, G. Guattari, F. 2004, A Thousand Plateaus, Continuum, London

Deleuze, G. 2006. Bergsonism. (Zone Books: New York).

Friedrich Nietzsche, 2006, On the Genealogy of Morality, (Cambridge University Press)

Prigogine, I. Stengers, I. Order Out of Chaos, Mans New Dialogue With Nature, (Flamingo, Harper Collins, London: 1985).

Smith, J. Jenks, C. Qualitative Complexity: Ecology, Cognitive Processes and the Re-Emergence of

Structures in Post Humanist Social Theory (Routledge, Oxon: 2006).

Sheldrake, M. 2021. Entangled Life: How Fungi Make our Worlds

Sara Ahmed, 2004, The Cultural Politics of Emotion Edinburgh University Press

Tsing, A., 2021. The Mushroom at the End of the World.

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

Stuart Kaufman, 1996. At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self Organisation and Complexity Oxford University Press

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

ELE – http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/

Key words search

Radical Democracy, Complexity Theory, Political Identity, Environment, Political Theory, Sustainability,

Credit value	15
Module ECTS	7.5
Module pre-requisites	None
Module co-requisites	None
NQF level (module)	6
Available as distance learning?	No
Origin date	31/01/2014
Last revision date	13/03/2023