ASTK18416U Living Concepts: Political Thinkers of the Twentieth Century

The social transformations that took place within the context of decolonization and the cold war in the late twentieth century gave rise to a rich array of political ideas. We will explore the lives and texts of a diverse range of political thinkers who introduced innovative concepts into our political vocabulary. We will consider how the concepts these political thinkers articulated were shaped by the historical context in which they wrote, the broad ideological positions that they articulated and the idiosyncrasies associated with their individual biographies. While some of the thinkers we will examine have become canonical, we will also consider the work of others who are more often overlooked. The module will encourage close reading of some key political texts that have animated political action and influenced political reflection since their publication. It aims to provoke critical reflection by engaging with living concepts, which challenge conventional assumptions about the meaning, possibilities and limits of politics.