Postgraduate Course: The State in Social and Political Theory (PGSP11606)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The state remains a key player in international and national contexts, despite the growing global ties and emergence of non-state actors: particularly in its claims to regularity powers, control of movement, and employment of violence and disciplinary orders. This course offers an overview of classic and contemporary social and political theoretical examination of the state as a concept, its formation as a social and political actor, its nature as a modern phenomenon, and the more contemporary understandings of it as an object (and subject) of intervention.
During a weekly seminar meeting, the students will engage with reading material that draws on theories of state formation (in Europe and the postcolonial contexts) and normative examinations of the emergence of the state order. Readings will also address contemporary debates on the forms and powers of the state in an increasingly interconnected world, state failure, and state-building.
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| Course description |
Contemporary political issues such as: refugees, immigration, the politics of rights, sanctions, wars, pandemics, terrorism, economic collapse and/ or regulations are intimately related to the modern phenomenon of the state. The modern state has been the subject of a wide range of social and political theoretical investigation: normative, political, legal, sociological, historical, and ethnographic. This course covers a wide range of theoretical, sociological, anthropological and historical texts that examine the state since its early emergence in Mesopotamia through its consolidation in Europe in the form of the nation-state, and the postcolonial state formations, to the present-day debates on the relevance of the state, state-failure, and state-building.
Over the course of ten weekly seminar meetings, students will engage with the following topics: The course starts with an examination of the concept of the state. It then moves to covering classical approaches to the study of the state, and neo-classical approaches. This is followed by an investigation of texts on the colonial state formation, the emergence of the police state and absolutism, and contemporary revisions of the concept of the state. The final section of this course will be dedicated to examining the emergence of the state as an object of intervention and measurement through concepts such as state-failure and practices such as state-building.
Students will come to understand the theoretical problems and assumptions implied in policy practices such as state-building, sanctions regimes, and development practices. They will also develop an appreciation for the historical and political (normative and practical) relevance of the modern state as it has been manifested globally.
Course Content
The following outline provides an indicative list of key issues and themes covered in this course (note that these can vary year-by-year):
The Concept of the State
Reading examples:
- B.A. Schupmann, Carl Schmitt¿s State and Constitutional Theory: a Critical Analysis. 2018. (selection)
-M. Foucault, Security, Territory, Population. Palgrave Macmillan: 2009. (selection)
Classical Approaches
Reading example:
O. Hintze, The Historical Essays of Otto Hintze. Oxford University Press, 1975. (selection)
Neo-Classical Approaches
Reading example:
G. Poggi, The State: Its Nature, Development, and Prospects, 1990. (selection)
Absolutism and the Police State
Reading example:
- J. Brewer and E. Hellmuth [eds], Rethinking Leviathan: the Eighteenth-Century State in Britain and Germany. Oxford University Press, 1999 (Selection)
Colonial State
Reading example:
- M. Mamdani, Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism. Princeton University Press: 1996 (selection).
Revisions
Reading example:
- H. Spruyt, The Sovereign State and Its Competitors: an analysis of systems change. Princeton University Press: 1994 (selection).
State-Failure and State-Fragility.
Reading example:
- World Bank [current papers on state fragility]
State-Building
Reading example:
- F. Fukuyama, State-Building: Governance and World Order in the 21st Century. Cornell University Press: 2004 (selection)
Freedom and the State
Reading examples:
- T. M. Fazal. State Death: The politics and geography of conquest, occupation, and annexation. Stanford: 2007.
- J. Scott. Against the Grain: a deep history of the earliest states. Yale University Press: 2017.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 30 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
80 %,
Practical Exam
20 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
20% Presentation
80% Research paper |
| Feedback |
1. Formative and written advice and feedback will be provided to students on their review paper (submitted around Week 5), supplemented by additional feedback provided during course organiser's guidance and feedback hours.
2. Summative written feedback on research papers will be provided to students at the end of the course.
3. Feedback on participation will be provided during course organiser's guidance and feedback hours. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of the main theories, concepts, and critiques of the modern state and state formation.
- Engage critically with the work of political and social science scholars that address the state as a main analytical category.
- Assess competing normative and practical claims about the state.
- Engage in independent high level analytical research about issues related to the state¿s role in modern and contemporary political life.
- Ability to clearly articulate and engage with competing analytical arguments and analytical categories covered in this course.
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Reading List
Reading List
- C. Schmitt, Leviathan in the State Theory of Thomas Hobbes: Meaning and Failure of a political symbol. University of Chicago Press: 2008.
- A. Brett, Changes of State: Nature and the limits of the city in early modern natural law. Princeton University Press: 2014
- M. Foucault, Security, Territory, Population. Palgrave Macmillan: 2009.
- C. Tilly, The Formation of National States in Europe. Princeton University Press: 1975.
- P. Evans, D. Rueschemeyer, and T. Skocpol. Bringing the State Back In. Cambridge University Press: 2008.
- H. Spruyt, The Sovereign State and Its Competitors: an analysis of systems change. Princeton University Press: 1994.
- M. Mamdani, Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism. Princeton University Press: 1996.
- World Bank [current papers on state fragility]
- F. Fukuyama, State-Building: Governance and World Order in the 21st Century. Cornell University Press: 2004
- T. M. Fazal. State Death: The politics and geography of conquest, occupation, and annexation. Stanford: 2007.
- J. Scott. Against the Grain: a deep history of the earliest states. Yale University Press: 2017. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
1. Critical thinking, analytical and reading skills will be developed by deep engagement with the assigned readings.
2. Advanced research skills will be developed by identifying and consulting a wide range of sources in preparing the research paper
3. Effective written and oral communication skills will be developed by completing the assessments and seminar participation.
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| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Nida Alahmad
Tel: (0131 6)51 1368
Email: nalahmad@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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