- UCAS course code
- LM29
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Course unit details:
Identity, Power & Modernity
Unit code | SOCY30171 |
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Credit rating | 20 |
Unit level | Level 3 |
Teaching period(s) | Semester 1 |
Available as a free choice unit? | Yes |
Overview
1. Introduction
2. Capitalism and Modernity: Karl Marx
3. Power/Knowledge and Discipline: Michel Foucault
4. Biopower and Sexuality: Michel Foucault
5. Architecture and Power in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: Saree Makdisi
6. 'Race', Modernity and the Black Atlantic: Paul Gilroy
7. Brands and Commodity Culture: Naomi Klein
8. Sensation and the City: Georg Simmel and Walter Benjamin
9. Markets and the Neoliberal Individual: Wendy Brown
10. Cyborg Feminism: Donna Harway
Aims
This course examines identity and power in contemporary culture, focusing on themes of technology, sexuality, the city, the commodity, neoliberalism, and racialisation. The first part of the course explores the understanding of modernity developed by Marx and Foucault, an experience that Marx describes as one of continuous change, where 'all that is solid melts into air'. The course then turns to consider a series of substantive themes in the analysis of contemporary culture, exploring each through the work of one prominent social theorist: Saree Makdisi, Walter Benjamin, Georg Simmel, Naomi Klein, Paul Gilroy, Wendy Brown, and Donna Haraway.
Learning outcomes
On completion of the course students will:
- be familiar with contemporary debates in identity and power
- have developed advanced skills in reading primary texts
- be familiar with advanced critical thought on the nature of modernity
Teaching and learning methods
Lecture-style material will be delivered weekly through a 3-hour workshop, comprising a lecture and lecturer-led small-group discussion
Assessment methods
One non-assessed portfolio of weekly reading notes.
One assessed end of semester essay (2500 words; 100%).
Feedback methods
Recommended reading
These texts are indications of the reading undertaken on the course:
Foucault, M. (1980) 'Right of Death and Power over Life', in The History of Sexuality, Volume I: An Introduction, London: Penguin.
Benjamin, W. (1978) 'Naples', in Reflections, New York: Schocken Books.
Gilroy, P. (1993) 'One Nation Under a Groove', in Small Acts: Thoughts on the Politics of Black Cultures, London: Serpent's Tale.
Study hours
Scheduled activity hours | |
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Assessment written exam | 2 |
Lectures | 30 |
Independent study hours | |
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Independent study | 168 |
Teaching staff
Staff member | Role |
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Nicholas Thoburn | Unit coordinator |
Additional notes
2015/16 timetable
Tuesday 14:00 - 17:00