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Colonialism, Modern Social Theory, and the International (021IRS)

30 credits, Level 6

Spring teaching

How has colonialism shaped the international political order from empires to nations?

How important has colonialism been to the emergence of a global system of capitalist political economy?

How have colonial histories shaped how we think about the international?

In this module, we engage with modern theorists from Hobbes and Locke, to Marx and Du Bois, to help us to understand and answer these questions. We discuss the ways in which their ideas of private property and possession, capitalism and class, and religion and race have been important in understanding the emergence of the modern world, and how we think of the world as modern.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 30 hours of contact time and about 270 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.