Course Details in 2025/26 Session

Module Title	LH Political Sociology
School	School of Social Policy
Department	Soc Policy, Sociology & Crimin
Module Code	08 30189
Module Lead	Will Leggett
Level	Honours Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 2
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-20 hours Seminar-20 hours Guided independent study-160 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	Political Sociology explores political ideas, action, identities and institutions in their social context: how do we understand the politics-society relation? Semester 1 introduces core political-sociological concepts such as the nature of power, the state, ideology, ruling elites and violence. Semester 2 addresses how more recent developments in social and cultural theory are changing the shape of political sociology. It pursues this through contemporary topics such as identity politics; new forms of political participation/apathy; the politics of globalisation and new technologies; and new forms of governance and protest. What do these new developments tell us about the scope of politics and the nature of social change, power and resistance in contemporary societies?
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: Critically assess the major theoretical traditions and debates in political sociology. Apply these to a range of substantive contemporary topics in the field
Assessment	30189-03 : written Exam : Exam (Centrally Timetabled) - Open Book (50%) 30189-04 : Written Exam : Exam (Centrally Timetabled) - Open Book (50%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessments: Unseen 3 hr written exam (100%) Reassessment: N/A
Other
Reading List