Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL2112: Politics and Its Discontents

This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.

Module Aims

This module will introduce students to the key theoretical positions of Nietzsche and Freud, and explore how their contributions to political theory grow out of these theoretical positions: Nietzsche’s pronouncement of the death of god; the aim of a transvaluation of all values (and how this can be read as a critique of Kant); perspectivism and genealogy (and how this can be read as a critique of Hegel); and the genealogy of morality as a dynamic struggle between active and reactive forces (informing the subsequent notion of will to power). Freud’s theory of the unconscious, revealed by dreams and parapraxes; repression, and the dynamic struggle between the pleasure principle of the unconscious and the reality principle of the conscious; the translation of this psychology of individuals into the psychology of groups, and in particular, political psychology, the mass psychology of fascism.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.

On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. Critically assess the basic theories of Nietzsche and Freud
2. Understand how their respective political theories emerge from their basic theories
3. Compare the similarities between the theories of both thinkers, and contrast their differences
Discipline-Specific Skills4. Critically reflect on how these theories relate to, and go beyond, the set of shared principles that inform the history of political thought that precedes them
5. Explain how the theories of Nietzsche and Freud challenge many of the assumptions of contemporary political science
6. Demonstrate an understanding of how the theories of Nietzsche and Freud inform some of the most significant critical discourses of contemporary political theory.
Personal and Key Skills7. Critically analyse primary discoursive source material, based on the two textual analysis assignments
8. Study independently and manage time and assessment deadlines effectively
9. Communicate effectively in speech and writing
10. Demonstrate critical and analytical skills through tutorial discussions and module assessments
11. Demonstrate proficiency in the use of the internet, online journal databases and other IT resources for the purposes of tutorial and assessment preparation

How this Module is Assessed

In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.

Formative Assessment

A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.

Form of assessmentSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Essay outline500 words1, 7-10Peer-assessed

Summative Assessment

A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.

CourseworkWritten examsPractical exams
10000

...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.

Form of assessment% of creditSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Textual Analysis 1201000 words1, 7- 10Written
Textual Analysis 2201000 words1, 7- 10Written
Essay603000 words1-11Written

Re-assessment

Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.

Original form of assessmentForm of re-assessmentILOs re-assessedTimescale for re-assessment
Textual Analysis 1Textual Analysis (1000 words)1, 7-10August/September reassessment period
Textual Analysis 2Textual Analysis (1000 words)1, 7-10August/September reassessment period
EssayEssay (3000 words)1-11August/September reassessment period

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Primary Texts

Freud, S. Civilisation and Its Discontents, translated by D. McLintock (London: Penguin, 2002)

Freud, S. Mass Psychology and Other Writings, translated by J.A. Underwood (London: Penguin, 2004)

Nietzsche, F. The Geanealogy of Morality, edited by K. Ansell-Pearson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994)


Secondary Texts

Adorno, T. “Sociology and Psychology I & II”, New Left Review, 46 & 47 (1967-68)

Ansell-Pearson, K. An Introduction to Nietzsche as Political Thinker (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994)

Le Bon, G. The Crowd (out of copywrite – available in multiple cheap editions)

Butler, J. Gender Trouble (London: Routledge, 1990)

Connolly, W.E. Political Theory and Modernity (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1988)

Deleuze, G. Nietzsche, translated by H. Tomlinson (London: Athlone, 1983)

Frosh, S. The Politics of Psychoanalysis (Basingstoke: Macmillan Press, 1999)

Gipps, R.G.T. and Lacewing, M. The Oxford Hanbook of Philosophy & Psychoanalysis (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019)

Marcuse, H. Eros and Civilisation (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1987)

Owen, D. Maturity and Modernity: Nietzsche, Weber and Foucault (London: Routledge, 1994)

Reich, W. Mass Psychology of Fascism, translated by V.R. Carfagno (Souvenir Press, 1997)

Stavrakakis, Y. (ed) Routledge Handbook of Psychoanalytic Political Theory (London: Routledge, 2020)

Wolfenstein, E.V.“Psychoanalysis in Political Theory”, Political Theory 24 (1996)