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

• This module aims to enhance students’ critical understanding of International Political theory by focusing on a central organising concepts of international order: sovereignty and the state. The ‘sovereign state’ is often taken as a key factor 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 understandings of sovereignty, state, and empire; interrogating theorists in the development of international political theory (classical and contemporary); exploring historical snapshots in the development of states, colonialisms, and empires; and analysing twentieth & twenty-first century developments (decolonisation, new wars, humanitarian intervention, etc.) 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 key theorists, events, and debates, to examine the concepts of ‘sovereignty,’ ‘state,’ and empire and challenges and alternatives to them. The tight focus on the concepts of sovereignty and the 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 concepts of ‘sovereignty,’ ‘state,’ and ‘empire 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 of 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 sovereignty and the 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 seminars;
• The lectures will provide formal instruction and will draw attention to the contested nature of key concepts;
• Seminars will allow students, under guidance, to test their own evaluation and understanding of both the context of debates and the appropriate concepts.
• Students are expected 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 is a 1,500-word annotated bibliography (500 words/source; three sources).
• 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. It will encourage students to think critically and imaginatively about international politics.
• Summative assessment in the form of a two-hour exam will allow students to apply theoretical and historical understandings to content covered in the module.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Formative Assessment: 1,500 word annotated bibliography (500 words/source; three sources).

■ 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