The course takes, as its central problem, the question of the nature of democracy. We will focus, in particular, on two fundamental issues in contemporary politics: the problem of marginalized identitiesand the question of populism. While these issues are often presented as antithetic, the course aims at presenting them as inflections of the same fundamental problematic: what does it mean to have a political voice in a democracy? The course is conceived as an extended study of this question. The module is organized in two parts. In the first four weeks, the course offers an introduction to contemporary democratic theory, exploring the main answers to its central normative question: what is the ultimate justification of our political decisions? In the second half of the course, we will shift from the normative question “what justifies our political decision?” to the question of democratic voice: “who is in the position of giving and asking for political justification?” We will consider, in particular, two ways of interpreting this question: “who count as the individuals whose rights must be protected?” and “who counts as the people who can express a popular will?”. The former question highlights the problem of marginalized identities: the problem is one of accounting for the position of those whose complaint is precisely that they are not recognized as political subjects, and hence are not in the position of demanding for rights. The latter question opens up the issue of populism, interpreted as the demand, on the part of “the people”, to have a voice.
The aims of this module are:
To introduce students to the main contemporary theories of democracy
To introduce students to fundamental problems in the area of democratic theory
To familiarise students with the work of classic political thinkers and key contemporary philosophers
To assess the prospects and limits of democratic theory
To evaluate the extent to which democratic theory can account for contemporary political phenomena
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this module the student should have:
to summarise in their own words and critically assess the principal theories and philosophical perspectives examined in this course;
To relate different philosophical theories and arguments to contemporary discussions in environmental philosophyto offer detailed philosophical analysis and critique of journal articles published in the field;
By the end of the module, students should also have acquired a set of transferable skills, and in particular be able to:
define the task in which they are engaged and exclude what is irrelevant;
seek and organise the most relevant discussions and sources of information;
process a large volume of diverse and sometimes conflicting arguments;
compare and evaluate different arguments and assess the strengths and limitations of their own and others’ positions or procedures;
write and present verbally a succinct and precise account of positions, arguments, and their presuppositions and implications;
be sensitive to the positions of others and communicate their own views in ways that are accessible to them;
think 'laterally' and creatively - see interesting connections and possibilities and present these clearly rather than as vague hunches;
maintain intellectual flexibility and revise their own position in collaboration with others;