Political Science

This course is meant for anyone interested in alternative forms of organizing in a constantly changing world. The course takes a political perspective on the phenomenon of organizing in order to make sense of both dominant bureaucratic organizations traditionally based on rationality, control and efficiency, and emerging alternative organizations that emphasize participation, democracy and autonomy. Applying a critical management approach, the course examines the contextual forces (e.g. globalization) and societal challenges (e.g. climate change) facing organizations today; the assumptions underlying current logics of organizing, taking the case of the sharing economy and questioning to what extent it can be considered an alternative are explored. Lastly, the course elaborates on the principles and practices associated with other forms of ‘alternative’ organizations and organizing, from social enterprises to cooperatives and social movements. In the second part of the course, students perform a small-scale field study with a subgroup, engaging with a so called ‘alternative’ organization/grassroots’ community/social movement to better explore their organizational functioning. This is a high intensity level 3 course. Active participation forms the backbone of this course.

In this course, students address the question of how political institutions affect economic development.  Students examine three core sets of institutions - state, nation, and regime – examining their character and development in both historical and contemporary perspective.  Students look at how democratic nation states emerged in the West, comparing this to the experiences of contemporary developing countries. They consider the major theories on how these institutions impact on development and what empirical evidence they have about this relationship.

This course provides an overview of key issues in the triangular intersection of gender, religion, and colonialism. While aiming to bring together the literature Western and non-Western contexts on these debates, the course introduces the students the key texts in feminist theory, feminist religious studies, masculinities and religion, and postcolonial and decolonial feminism from a critical interdisciplinary perspective.

This course focuses on sustainability and its impact as the most important global transformation project of the current time. It primarily discusses theories of change and human planning and design, but also topics such as justice, freedom, progress, growth, capitalism, and inequality.

Penology involves the study of how the state punishes those who have been convicted of offences. The subject covers the interlocking issues of sentencing, prison, and non-custodial punishments. Students to an in-depth look at the penal system and evaluate why, when, and how it is legitimate for the state to punish its citizens. The course also takes a practical look at the administration of punishment, with a particular focus on prisons. Students examine the contemporary issues and problems concerning these institutions and evaluate possibilities for reform. Analysis of penal policy and how it is formed is also involved. Penology involves a broad multi-disciplinary approach which includes aspects of sociology, political theory, and philosophy as well as law and human rights. It is closely related to criminology. Students are not required to take the course in criminology, however, penology and criminology are natural partner-courses and students who study both will find that they inform one another.

This course traces the main historical contexts in which democracy has emerged as an idea, practice, and set of institution. Main thinkers on democracy are read and discussed on the basis of primary sources. Their ideas are interpreted in the historical context of transforming practices and institutional change. Historical explanations and philosophical interpretations of democratization and de-democratization are analyzed in their interaction.

The student will learn about the sources of international law, treaties, custom, unilateral acts, general principles of international law, doctrine, and jurisprudence. In the same way, students will understand about concepts related to subjects of international law, jurisdiction and immunities. Additionally, they will identify concepts such as territorial domain, the legal regime of Maritime Spaces, Airspace, Outer space and Antartica. Finally, students will understand the concept of international responsibility.

Revolutionary movements often times embed their actions in places where power is physically located, i.e., houses of parliaments, presidential palaces and so on. Aiming at the so-called nerve centers of powers can be crucial in successfully disrupting power. Throughout history public spaces have time and again served as playing fields for contentious politics: During the French revolution, the storming of the Bastille in 1789 held symbolic value, while the protest camp in Cairo’s Tahrir square was crucial for the overthrowing of the Egyptian regime in 2011. Beyond those, examples of the use of space for contentious politics by both resistance and repression actors can be found in Khartoum (qiyadah sit-in), Beijing (Tiananmen massacre) and Tirana (Skanderbeg Square) to name a few. But how do these squares and places become revolutionary – or not? Following this question, the seminar aims to explore the relationship between revolutions and space, delving specifically into the role of public spaces for revolutionary oppositions in mobilizing, building shared identities, and configuring spaces which embody their visions for a different future.