| Indhold: |
The course commences by considering what we mean by ‘ideas’ and why they might be important phenomena in the political and social world. It continues with a discussion of ‘older’ analytical traditions that put ideas centre-stage: the idealist philosophical tradition and studies
of political ideology and debates about the so-called end of ideology. It introduces the main treatments of contemporary ideational analysis in political science and international relations, notably within rational choice theory, constructivism and poststructuralism. The course explores a number of key issues such as the degree to which ideas explain change, how ideas are diffused, the relationship between ideas and certainty/uncertainty, the role of expertise in politics, the degree to which policy-makers believe the ideas they espouse and the extent to which ideas can be self-fulfilling prophecies and can have ‘reality effects’. The classes and the literature will draw on a number of examples to illuminate these questions. These include prevailing ideas about international order such as ‘globalisation’, ‘the clash of civilisations’, and ‘power politics’; examples where there have been apparently significant shifts in ways of thinking about the world such as the shift from Keynesianism to neoliberalism and the broad acceptance of the premise of anthropogenic climate change; and cases of bodies of knowledge/beliefs that might be decisive in explaining political outcomes such as the European idea and nationalism.
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| Kompetence- beskrivelse: |
On completion of the course, students should (a) be able to demonstrate familiarity with the main strands of ideational analysis in political science and international relations; (b) be able to analyse one or more of these traditions in relation to specific cases; (c) be able to make informed, analytical evaluations of both different approaches to the study of ideas and their principal critics (d) be able to think critically about questions of causation as they apply to the study of ideas in political analysis and international relations.
Criteria of Grading:
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Grade 12 is for students with excellent performance, and full or almost full mastery of the content of the course materials and the literature and an excellent ability to discuss, analytically and with critical insight, the role of ideas in politics and international relations.
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Grade 7 is for students with good performance, and good understanding of the content of the course materials and literature and a good ability to discuss, with a solid degree of analysis and critique, the role of ideas in politics and international relations.
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Grade 02 is for students with sufficient performance, and understanding of the content of the course material and literature and some ability to discuss the role of ideas in politics and international relations.
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| Lærebøger: |
The following is an indicative list of core readings.
A detailed list of core and required readings will be provided at the start of the course.
Abdelal, Rawi, Blyth, Mark and Parsons, Craig Constructing the International Economy, Cornell University Press, 2010.
Béland, D and Cox, R.H (eds) Ideas and Politics in Social Science Research, Oxford University Press, 2011.
Berman, Sheri The Primacy of Politics: Social Democracy and the Making of Europe’s Twentieth Century, Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Blyth, Mark Great Transformationsv, Cambridge University Press, 2002.
Campbell, John A. and Pedersen, Ove K. (eds) The Rise of Neoliberalism and Institutional Analysis, Princeton University Press, 2001.
De Goede, Marieke Virtue, Fortune and Faith: A Genealogy of Finance, University of Minnesota Press, 2005.
Epstein, Charlotte The Power of Words in International Relations, MIT Press, 2008.
Gofas, Andreas. and Hay, Colin (eds) The Role of Ideas in Political Analysis: A Portrait of Contemporary Debates, Routledge, 2010.
Hay, Colin Political Analysis, Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.
Hirschmann, Albert O. The Rhetoric of Reaction: Perversity, Futility, Jeopardyv, Harvard University Press, 1991.
MacKenzie, Donald An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial Models Shape Markets, MIT Press, 2006.
Morone, James A. Hellfire Nation: the Politics of Sin in American History, Yale University Press, 2003.
Owen, John M The Clash of Ideas in World Politics: Transnational Networks, States and Regime Change, 1510-2010, Princeton University Press, 2010.
Taleb, Nassim Nicholas The Black Swan: the Impact of the Highly Improbable, Penguin, 2008.
Wendt, Alexander Social Theory of International Politics, Cambridge University Press, 1999.
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