Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POC3124: Political Thinkers of the Late Twentieth Century

This module descriptor refers to the 2020/1 academic year.

Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.

Module Aims

This module aims to introduce you to the work of several exemplary thinkers of the late twentieth century who sometimes also participated in the events that they wrote about. It will encourage you to read closely some key political texts that have animated political action and influenced political reflection since their publication. The module aims to provoke critical reflection by engaging with ideas that challenge conventional assumptions about the meaning, possibilities and limits of democratic politics.

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. Demonstrate substantive knowledge of the thinkers and texts studied
2. Understand the role that various thinkers and debates have played in shaping modern political thought
Discipline-Specific Skills3. Assess the coherence, plausibility and significance of political arguments
4. Appreciate how political concepts are shaped and transformed by historical context and deployment in action
Personal and Key Skills5. Present complex arguments with clarity and concision
6. Communicate effectively in speech and writing

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.

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.

Friedrich Hayek [1944] The Road to Serfdom

Simone de Beauvoir [1949] The Second Sex

Frantz Fanon [1961] The Wretched of the Earth

Michael Oakeshott [1962] Rationalism in Politics and Other Essays

Hannah Arendt [1963] Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil

Michael Foucault [1976] The History of Sexuality

Paulo Freire [1970] Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Angela Davis [1998] The Angela Y. Davis Reader

Stuart Hall [2017] Selected Political Writings: The Great Moving Right Show and other essays.