MA Gender, Sexuality and Culture / Course details

 This course aims to offer a detailed account of various ways of understanding social and political movements. Theories operating at different levels of analysis – individual, group and society – will be critically assessed for their ability to illuminate the process and structures evident in social movement action.

Additionally, the course will engage with empirical examination of social movements with diverse aims and objectives. These will be used both to illuminate and to test the various theories considered in the course.

 This course aims to offer a detailed account of various ways of understanding social and political movements. Theories operating at different levels of analysis – individual, group and society – will be critically assessed for their ability to illuminate the process and structures evident in social movement action.

Additionally, the course will engage with empirical examination of social movements with diverse aims and objectives. These will be used both to illuminate and to test the various theories considered in the course.

By the end of the course students will be able to:

•  Identify and critically assess competing approaches to understanding social movements.
• Understand the emergence and evolution of different forms of mobilisation
• Analyse the value of different theories of social movement in relation to different cases and contexts

Required readings will be made available electronically via the course website. All other readings should be available from the University Main Library. Most reading is specific to particular topics as described in the reading list below. The following more general textbooks are helpful as preliminary reading:

 Edwards, G. (2014). Social Movements and Protest. New York u.a.: Cambridge University Press.

Johnston, H. (2014) What is a Social Movement? Cambridge: Polity Press.

Crossley, N. (2002). Making Sense of Social Movements. Buckingham: Open University Press.