Class, Community and Nation (009GA)
Class, Community and Nation Through the Pandemic Portal
Module 009GA
Module details for 2021/22.
30 credits
FHEQ Level 6
Module Outline
Why did the UK vote for Brexit in 2016 and what lay behind the election of Donald Trump as US president the same year? How much have these events chimed with the rise in right-wing nationalist movements and regimes elsewhere (eg in India, continental Europe, the Philippines, Russia and Turkey)? What are their consequences for the direction of human travel through what Arundhati Roy calls the ‘pandemic portal, a gateway between one world and the next’? What will be their consequences for the planet in the face of the climate emergency? This module will create a collective learning environment for the examination of such questions, drawing on resources from across human geography and other social science disciplines. In particular, we will be concerned with the following pair of questions raised by Doreen Massey: what does this place stand for? To whom does this place belong? The scale of inquiry will range from the rural, through neighbourhoods and cities to whole countries. We will explore the effects of neoliberal economics and class-based inequality on communities, and ways in which racisms have emerged and shifted historically, including through the language and practices of colonialism, and their effects on the present. ‘Community’ itself will be unpacked to be understood as something always containing tensions and contradictions, for example around unequal land ownership and gender inequality. As well as building up skills of critical analysis, the module will engage with examples of geographies of hope and resistance. Part of this final section will involve an international comparative case study of the role of protest music.
Full Module Description
Why did the UK vote for Brexit in 2016 and what lay behind the election of Donald Trump as US president the same year? How much have these events chimed with the rise in right-wing nationalist movements and regimes elsewhere (eg in India, continental Europe, the Philippines, Russia and Turkey)? What are their consequences for the direction of human travel through what Arundhati Roy calls the ‘pandemic portal, a gateway between one world and the next’? What will be their consequences for the planet in the face of the climate emergency? This module will create a collective learning environment for the examination of such questions, drawing on resources from across human geography and other social science disciplines. In particular, we will be concerned with the following pair of questions raised by Doreen Massey: what does this place stand for? To whom does this place belong? The scale of inquiry will range from the rural, through neighbourhoods and cities to whole countries. We will explore the effects of neoliberal economics and class-based inequality on communities, and ways in which racisms have emerged and shifted historically, including through the language and practices of colonialism, and their effects on the present. ‘Community’ itself will be unpacked to be understood as something always containing tensions and contradictions, for example around unequal land ownership and gender inequality. As well as building up skills of critical analysis, the module will engage with examples of geographies of hope and resistance. Part of this final section will involve an international comparative case study of the role of protest music.
Module learning outcomes
Summarise and explain key concepts.
Demonstrate a systematic understanding of key geographical and interdisciplinary debates on class, community and nation and their relation to the pandemic.
Recognise and critically evaluate knowledge and understandings of the diversity of scales at which class, community and nation become meaningful to people as well as the interrelation between those scales.
Identify, explore, and discuss appropriate empirical evidence in relation to the key concepts of class, community and nation and their relation to the pandemic.
| Type | Timing | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | 30.00% | |
| Coursework components. Weighted as shown below. | ||
| Essay | T1 Week 8 | 100.00% |
| Essay (3000 words) | Semester 1 Assessment Week 1 Mon 16:00 | 70.00% |
Timing
Submission deadlines may vary for different types of assignment/groups of students.
Weighting
Coursework components (if listed) total 100% of the overall coursework weighting value.
| Term | Method | Duration | Week pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| Autumn Semester | Workshop | 3 hours | 11111011111 |
How to read the week pattern
The numbers indicate the weeks of the term and how many events take place each week.
Dr Simon Rycroft
Assess convenor
/profiles/8703
Dr Daniel Haberly
Assess convenor
/profiles/321250
Prof Ben Rogaly
Convenor
/profiles/28173
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