Module SGIA2281: SOVEREIGNTY, STATE AND EMPIRE

Department: Government and International Affairs

SGIA2281: SOVEREIGNTY, STATE AND EMPIRE

Prerequisites

• Any Level 1 SGIA module

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• The module aims to enhance students’ critical understanding of international relations by focusing on a central organising concept of the international order: the sovereign state. The sovereign state is often taken as the key actor in the international arena and as having been the key actor throughout the existence of the modern states system.
• The module challenges this by explaining changes in understandings of sovereignty and state, both by examining historical snapshots in the development of states and empires and contemporary developments which have called into question the inviolability of the sovereign state.
• The combination of historical depth and contemporary analysis aims to enable students to assess the longer term significance of both contemporary and historical changes.

Content

• In accordance with the aims the module will use a selection of events, such as peace- making conferences and processes, instances of military occupation or intervention, and debates, during which the concept of the sovereign states or challenges and alternatives to it, notably empires, have been or have been widely presumed to be crucial. The tight focus on the concept of the sovereign state ensures the coherence of the module. The precise selection will reflect changes in historiographical understanding and the development of the contemporary international agenda.

Learning Outcomes

• An understanding of the contested nature of international relations as a field of human activity and as an academic subject
• An understanding of the concept(s) of the sovereign state and the ability to set understanding of the sovereign state in its historical or contemporary context.
• Awareness of controversies relating to the origins and development the concept of the sovereign state
• An appreciation of some of the major alternatives, especially the phenomenon of empire, and challenges to the concept of the sovereign state

• The ability to evaluate competing definitions of the sovereign state
• The ability to recognize the normative expectations surrounding sovereignty, state and empire in international relations
• The ability to effectively use historical and/or comparative context in assessing the idea of change in relation to specific examples
• The ability evaluate the longer-term significance of changes in the international order
• The ability to reach reasoned and informed judgements on specific issues, utilising basic and some more advanced literature and other appropriate resources

• The module will develop certain key skills as part of the wider degree programme including:
• the ability to deploy appropriate scholarly material and resources in support of reasoned, analytical argument
• the ability to link theoretical concepts to empirical evidence and political practice
• the ability to work to tight time deadlines

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Teaching and learning are through a series of 1-hour lectures and an associated series of 1-hour tutorials.
• The lectures will provide formal instruction and will draw attention to the contested nature of key concepts.
• Tutorials will allow students, under guidance, to test their own evaluation and understanding of both the context of debates and the appropriate concepts.
• This approach requires students to deploy research skills in preparation for seminars and to be able to analyse complex theoretical issues, requiring recourse to interdisciplinary sources, and to defend their assessment of highly contentious practical and normative choices.
• Formative assessment in the form of a 1,500-word essay will allows students practice in developing conceptual and empirical understanding and in formulating coherent and logically consistent written arguments ahead of the summative assessments.
• Summative assessment in the form of a policy memorandum will allows students to apply theoretical and historical understandings to empirical puzzles; it will encourage students to think critically and imaginatively about international politics.
• Summative assessment by a 2,000-word essay will give students the opportunity to develop a grasp of the course material through specific engagement with key texts, and general knowledge of the subject scope. It will test students’ ability to form a coherent and sustained argument and their ability to support their argumentation through evidence and through consideration of counterarguments.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

A Formative essay (1,500 words) to be submitted at the end of Michaelmas Term.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University