Multiple Modernities: Social and Political Processes in BRICS Countries

2020/2021

Academic Year

ENG

Instruction in English

4

ECTS credits

Delivered at:

Department of Political Science and International Affairs

Course type:

Elective course

When:

4 year, 1, 2 module

Instructor

Maslovskiy, Mikhail

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The course provides knowledge on social foundations of political institutions and processes, social movements and political culture, sociology of international relations. The course presents a comparative perspective on social and political processes in Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa.

Learning Objectives

• The aim of the course is to acquaint the students with the multiple modernities approach in political sociology and its application to BRICS countries

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Able to learn and demonstrate skills in the field, other than the major field
• Able to identify scientific subject
• Able to think critically and interpret the experience (personal and of other persons), relate to professional and social activities
• Student is capable of executing applied analysis of the political phenomena and political processes - by using political science methods - and in support of practical decision making process

Course Contents

• The multiple modernities approach in political sociology
• Formation of Latin American modernity: the case of Brazil
• Communism as alternative modernity in the USSR and China
• Civilizational state? A comparative perspective on post-Soviet Russia
• Democratization processes in BRICS countries: a multiple modernities perspective

Assessment Elements

• Class activities
  Students’ progress is evaluated at seminar discussions. This component is calculated as an average grade achieved at the seminars.
• Presentation
• Essay
  Each student is supposed to write an essay. The essay is to be submitted no later than 2 weeks before the final class.
• Examination
  The final examination is organized in a test form.

Interim Assessment

• Interim assessment (2 module)
  0.25 * Class activities + 0.25 * Essay + 0.25 * Examination + 0.25 * Presentation

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Eisenstadt, S. N. (2002). The Civilizations of the Americas: The Crystallization of Distinct Modernities. Comparative Sociology, 1(1), 43–61. https://doi.org/10.1163/156913202317346746
• Spohn, W. (2010). Political Sociology: Between Civilizations and Modernities; A Multiple Modernities Perspective. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.F61CB85C
• Tsygankov, A. (2016). Crafting the State-Civilization Vladimir Putin’s Turn to Distinct Values. Problems of Post-Communism, 63(3), 146–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/10758216.2015.1113884

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Curanović, A. (2019). Russia’s Mission in the World: The Perspective of the Russian Orthodox Church. Problems of Post-Communism, 66(4), 253–267. https://doi.org/10.1080/10758216.2018.1530940
• Delanty, G. (2015). Europe in world regional perspective: formations of modernity and major historical transformations. British Journal of Sociology, 66(3), 420–440. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.12144
• Dirlik, A. (2002). Modernity as history: post-revolutionary China, globalization and the question of modernity. Social History, 27(1), 16–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/03071020110094183
• Hunter, W., & Power, T. J. (2019). Bolsonaro and Brazil’s Illiberal Backlash. Journal of Democracy, 30(1), 68–82.
• Katzenstein, P. J., & Weygandt, N. (2017). Mapping Eurasia in an Open World: How the Insularity of Russia’s Geopolitical and Civilizational Approaches Limits Its Foreign Policies. https://doi.org/10.1017/s153759271700010x
• Martin Lipset, & Seymour Martin Lipset. (1994). The Social Requisites of Democracy Revisited. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.C37E972B
• Maslovskiy, M. (2016). The Imperial Dimension of Russian Modernisation: A Multiple Modernities Perspective. Europe-Asia Studies, 68(1), 20–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2015.1116498
• Melo, M. A. (2016). Crisis and Integrity in Brazil. Journal of Democracy, 27(2), 50–65. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2016.0019
• Smith, J. (2009). Civilisational analysis and intercultural models of American societies. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256860903003559
• Smith, J. (2010). The many Americas: Civilization and modernity in the Atlantic world. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368431009355863