Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL3248: Marxism(s) and International Relations

This module descriptor refers to the 2022/3 academic year.

Overview

NQF Level	6
Credits	15	ECTS Value	7.5
Term(s) and duration	This module ran during term 1 (11 weeks)
Academic staff	Dr Martin Moorby (Convenor)
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
Available via distance learning	No

This module provides a critical engagement with both contemporary Marxist approaches to International Relations (IR) and with Marxism from a global perspective. From the seminal contributions of Hardt and Negri, and Harvey, on the debate around imperialism, to Neo-Gramscian and Open Marxist interventions in IR, to the complex relationship between Marxism and post-colonialism, and Marxist-feminism, the questions the module addresses include the following. How should we evaluate the theoretical debate between Marxism and more mainstream approaches to IR? In what ways does US pre-eminence constitute ‘a new imperialism’? How should we understand the nature of western hegemony over the global South? What is the relation between the state system and the global political economy? How should we understand capitalist ‘modernity’, social reproduction and division of labour in a global context? In what ways should capitalist globalisation be challenged and to what end? This module roots its engagement with contemporary Marxist interventions in these debates in relevant ‘canonical’ Marxist literature – this is to invite reflection on the emergence of the divergent Marxisms of the 21st century from a global perspective.

Module created	09/05/2019	Last revised	07/02/2022