GOVT2004 Visions of Global Order

2020

4.5

1 x 1-hour lecture weekly
1 x 1-hour tutorial weekly

Assignments, Tutorial participation

What kind of world do we wish to live in? This topic explores competing answers to this question: different visions of world order which have been used to shape, rule, critique, reform and manage the practices and institutions of international relations. From histories of Empire and Colonialism through to contemporary realities of global capitalism and the project of reframing global order for the 21st century, this topic will compare and contrast competing visions of how the world should be ordered, and their impact on the structures, institutions and practices which shape our lives today and into the future.

This topic aims to:

• Introduce students to the main intellectual visions of global order within International Relations

• Equip students to analyse and critique these accounts of global order

• Enable students to understand contemporary debates, events and shifts within the international order in the context of competing interpretive traditions

• Develop student’s analytical capacities and skills for written and aural communication.

On completion of this topic, students will be expected to be able to:

1. Identify and discuss a range of different accounts of international order

2. Articulate the conceptual differences between different visions of global order

3. Identify the principle academic debates informing the study of international relations

4. Identify and summarise key information within the relevant academic scholarship

5. Apply core analytical and critical skills in written form

6. Identify, define and describe ideas in international relations and utilize these in verbal communication.