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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2021/2022

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Social and Political Science : Sociology

Postgraduate Course: Globalization (SCIL11016)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Social and Political Science CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course critically examines the subject of globalisation from a sociological perspective. Globalisation is a vast topic, and no one course can cover all its aspects. This course aims to give the student grounding in the most fundamental aspects of globalisation, with exploration of selected substantive topics ('case studies') to help root the general in the particular. We examine the concept itself, the central themes of changing communications, social networks, and experiences of space and time, and the major economic, political and ideological dimensions of globalisation. The view taken in this course is that, while there have been distinctive social changes associated with globalisation in recent decades, to understand this process we need to regularly relocate it in a long-term historical perspective. Globalisation has been happening for centuries, and to understand current processes of globalisation, we need to relate them to a deeper history of globalisation. We also need to be careful about talking of globalisation as if it were one thing. In fact this very broad term encompasses an array of different social processes that need to be distinguished in order to be better understood.
Course description This course critically examines the subject of globalisation from a sociological perspective. Globalisation is a vast topic, and no one course can cover all its aspects. This course aims to give the student grounding in the most fundamental aspects of globalisation, with exploration of selected substantive topics ('case studies') to help root the general in the particular. We examine the concept itself, the central themes of changing communications, social networks, and experiences of space and time, and the major economic, political and ideological dimensions of globalisation.
Globalisation is also a very popular topic, resulting in a lot of loose and poorly thought-through talk and writing around the subject. The view taken in this course is that, while there have been distinctive social changes associated with globalisation in recent decades, to understand this process we need to regularly relocate it in a long-term historical perspective. Globalisation has been happening for centuries, and to understand current processes of globalisation, we need to relate them to a deeper history of globalisation. We also need to be careful about talking of globalisation as if it were one thing. In fact this very broad term encompasses an array of different social processes that need to be to be distinguished in order to be better understood.

Week 1 25 September Introduction: conceptualising globalisation critically, Gëzim Krasniqi
Week 2 2 October Communications¿, ¿networks¿ and ¿space/time compression¿, Gëzim Krasniqi
Week 3 9 October Case Study: Global production and China as world factory, Sophia Woodman
Week 4 16 October Capitalism as globalising process, Tod Van Gunten
Week 5 23 October Case Study: Financialisation of the economy, Nathan Coombs
Week 6 30 October Political processes: states, nations, empires, colonialism and hegemons, Gëzim Krasniqi
Week 7 6 November Case Study: Globalisation and social/political movements, Hugo Gorringe
Week 8 13 November Cultural consumption and globalisation.M. Angélica Thumala O.
Week 9 20 November ¿Neoliberalism¿ as a world ideological movement, Tod Van Gunten
Week 10 27 November Globalization and the environment, Claire Haggett

The course is delivered through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous teaching methods.

Asynchronous teaching includes videos or slides with voiceover, which will be uploaded to Learn prior to the live session on Fridays. Synchronous teaching involves live 50 min. Q&A sessions on Fridays at 09:00am UK time. Students should be prepared ask questions about the videos, presentations, and readings. Students are also strongly encouraged to post questions in the week's forum.

In addition to the lectures there are 5 advanced seminars, which will take place online too and in small groups.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2021/22, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  50
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 196 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) In this course the students are assessed by a single long, 4000 word essay on a globalization topic of their choice, agreed in consultation with the course convenor. This should be decided by the end of Week 7 to allow plenty of time to develop the essay. I will also supply a list of pre-approved essay titles. If you do not define your own topic by the deadline you will be expected to use one of these titles.
Feedback All essays are electronically marked and moderated, and given extensive feedback comments. Students are invited to submit an essay abstract outline to receive feedback in advance of submitting their essay that they can feed into the final essay.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Be able to demonstrate a clear grasp of the concept of globalisation and contending definitions of it.
  2. Appreciate of the importance of historical perspective for a sociological understanding globalisation.
  3. Grasp the importance of key concepts of 'communication' and 'social networks' for the study of globalisation.
  4. Know how to distinguish between economic, political and ideological dimensions of globalisation, and articulate an analytic understanding of how they interact.
  5. Write an independently researched essay on a globalisation related topic.
Reading List
Indicative texts:
Albrow, M. (1996) The Global Age: State and Society Beyond Modernity. Cambridge: Polity.
Beck, U. (2005) Power in the Global Age. Cambridge: Polity.
Bhagwati, J. (2004) In Defense of Globalization. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Castells, M. (1997) The Power of Identity, Vol. II of The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, Cambridge MA and Oxford: Blackwell.
Cowen, T. (2002) Creative Destruction. How Globalization Is Changing the World¿s Cultures. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.
Dasgupta and Kiely, R. (eds.) (2006) Globalization and After. New Delhi: Sage.
Diamond. J. (1998) Guns Germs and Steel: A Short History of Everybody for the Last 13, 000 Years, London: Vintage.
Giddens, Anthony (1999) Runaway World: How Globalization is Reshaping our Lives, London: Profile Books.
Featherstone, M. Lash, S. and Robertson, R. (1995) Global Modernities, London: Thousand Oaks.
Harvey, D. (2006) Spaces of Global Capitalism. Toward a Theory of Uneven Geographical Development. London: Verso.
Held, D. and McGrew, A. (eds) (2003) The Global Transformations Reader, 2nd edn, Polity.
Hirst, P. and Thompson, G. (2009) Globalization in Question, 3rd edn, Polity.
James, P. (2006) Globalism, Nationalism, Tribalism: bringing theory back in. London: Sage.
Kreiger, J. (ed.) (2006) Globalization and State Power: A Reader. New York: Routledge.
Mann, M. (2011) Power in the 21st Century: Conversations with John A. Hall, Cambridge: Polity.
Mann, M. (2013) The Sources of Social Power, Vol. 4: Globalizations, 1945-2011. Cambridge: CUP.
Mittleman, J. H. (2000) The Globalization Syndrome: Transformation and Resistance, Princeton UP.
O¿Byrne, D. J. and Hensby, A. (2011) Theorizing Global Studies. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Osterhammel, J. and Niels P. P. (2003) Globalization: A Short History, Princeton UP.
Pieterse, J. N. (2009) Globalization and Culture. The Global Mélange. Lanham MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Ray, L. (2007) Globalization and Everyday Life, London: Routledge.
Ritzer, G. (2007) The Globalization of Nothing, 2nd edn, Sage.
Ritzer, G., (ed.) (2008) The Blackwell Companion to Globalization, Blackwell. (e-book)
Ritzer, G. (2011) Globalization: The Essentials. Wiley-Blackwell.
Robertson, R. (1992) Globalization: social theory and global culture. London: Sage.
Rosenberg, Justin (2000) The Follies of Globalisation Theory. London: Verso.
Santos, B. de S. (2002) Toward a New Legal Common Sense: law, globalization and emancipation. Cambridge UP.
Sassen, S. (2007) A Sociology of Globalization, W. W. Norton.
Sassen, S. (2008) Territory, Authority, Rights. From Medieval to Global Assemblages. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.
Scholte, J. A. (2005) Globalization: a critical introduction, 2nd edn, Palgrave Macmillan. (e-book)
Steger, M. B. (2009) Globalization: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Stiglitz, J. (2002) Globalization and its discontents. London: Penguin Books.
Stearns, Peter N. (2009) Globalization in World History. London: Routledge.
Therborn, G. (2011) The World: A Beginner¿s Guide, Cambridge: Polity.
Waters, M. (1995) Globalization, 2nd edn, London: Routledge.

Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
Additional Class Delivery Information This course is taught in conjunction with an undergraduate course of the same name. Postgraduates attend weekly lectures for that course and are invited to stay on for second hour discussion of weekly topics. Postgraduates are also required to attend a two-hour 'advanced seminar' every two weeks (10 hours over 10 weeks) in which students lead in-depth exploration of more specialised topics.
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Angelica Thumala
Tel: (0131 6)50 6631
Email: Angelica.Thumala@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMr Dave Nicol
Tel: (0131 6)51 1485
Email: dave.nicol@ed.ac.uk
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