Universität Wien

210147 SE M3: Political Theories and Research on Theory (2023W)

Plebeianism: A Political Economy of Democracy

9.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 21 - Politikwissenschaft
Continuous assessment of course work
ON-SITE

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Registration/Deregistration

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Details

max. 40 participants
Language: German

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Friday 10.11. 10:00 - 12:00 Digital
  • Friday 24.11. 10:00 - 18:00 Hörsaal 7 Hauptgebäude, Hochparterre, Stiege 7
  • Friday 01.12. 10:00 - 15:00 Digital
  • Friday 15.12. 08:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum 1 (S1), NIG 2. Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The economic dimension of the democratic project is notoriously under-reflected in political theory. Freedom to govern oneself is based on unspoken socio-economic presuppositions and has just such consequences: overcoming and/or fighting oligarchic relations. The debate that has emerged in recent years around the tradition and theory of plebeianism focuses precisely on this aspect of democratic order and sees in the anti-oligarchic tradition of plebeian thought the key to a political economy of democracy. Based on the separation, also institutional, between plebeians and patricians in the Roman Republic, the concept of plebeianism in contemporary political theoretical debate denotes the insight into the inescapable difference between the many and the few, whereby in the empowerment of the former lies the emancipatory promise of plebeianism. This seminar aims, first, to reconstruct and systematize the various lines of tradition of plebeian thought. In addition to the dominant republican variant, following Machiavelli, liberal and radical democratic interpretations of the concept will be discussed. In a second step, we ask ourselves to what extent the concept of plebeianism is suitable for making the economic dimension of democracy explicit, what the potentials and limits of recourse to plebeian thinking are, and what alternatives there might be. We will discuss texts by Camila Vergara, Jessica Johnson, John McCormick, Claire Taylor, Jeffrey Green, Jacques Rancière, Martin Breaugh, and Andreas Kalyvas, among others.

This is a seminar in political theory and the history of ideas. It is geared towards students, who are willing and motivated to engage with complex texts and discuss them in class. Almost all of the texts are in english.

By the end of this seminar, students should be able to
1) discuss and explain different traditions and theories of plebeianism;
2) articulate and deploy complex political concepts to analyze contemporary discussions in political theory;
3) critically assess the adequacy of core political concepts in light of contemporary and historical events;
4) defend and justify written and spoken arguments with strong textual evidence.

Assessment and permitted materials

a) Aktive Teilnahme (10%)
b) Referat und Diskussionsleitung (15%)
c) Review Essays (15%)
d) Exposé für Seminararbeit (10%)
e) Seminararbeit (50%)

Für die Überprüfung der schriftlichen Teilleistungen kann die Plagiatssoftware 'Turnitin' eingesetzt werden.

Zur Sicherung der guten wissenschaftlichen Praxis kann die Lehrveranstaltungsleitung eine mündliche Reflexion der schriftlichen Teilleistungen vorsehen, die erfolgreich zu absolvieren ist.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Mindestanforderung ist die termingerechte Abgabe und positive Beurteilung sowohl der mündlichen als auch der schriftlichen Teilleistungen.

Examination topics

Pflichtlektüre und Diskussionsergebnisse

Reading list

Zur Vorbereitung:
Vergara, Camila. 2020. Systemic Corruption: Constitutional Ideas for an Anti-Oligarchic Republic. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Green, Jeffrey Edward. 2016. The Shadow of Unfairness: A Plebeian Theory of Liberal Democracy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Breaugh, Martin. 2013. The Plebeian Experience: A Discontinuous History of Political Freedom. New York: Columbia University Press.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Tu 19.09.2023 11:47