Citizenship, Activism and Resistance (L4069A)

15 credits, Level 5

Autumn teaching

On this module, you’ll focus on political sociology. You’ll consider where modern ideas of citizenship come from and how they have they been

  • theorised
  • contested
  • put into practice
  • expanded.

Key to this are debates around the role of the modern nation state (as the dominant ‘container’ of citizenship) in determining who gets included – and who excluded – from the rights of citizenship. In turn, it is important to explore how histories of coloniality and capitalism have shaped contemporary framings of citizenship.

You’ll ask:

  • whether modern citizenship provides the necessary foundation for global democracy, or whether it’s better seen as a device for the maintenance of contemporary global inequalities
  • whether we should see the rise of the welfare state as a positive achievement of working-class struggle, or an insidious tool of neo-colonial domination, whereby gendered and racialised bodies are put into complex hierarchies and pitted against each other
  • how, and to what extent citizenship has provided a basis for – and goal for – social and political activism
  • how the structures and norms of citizenship have been resisted and transformed.

In tackling such questions, we’ll dip into a variety of relevant fields, such as the politics of:

  • work and consumption
  • health, gender, and sexuality
  • migration and surveillance
  • the spread of digital technologies
  • the repercussions of ecological crisis and so-called ‘climate apartheid’.

Teaching

50%: Lecture
50%: Seminar

Assessment

100%: Written assessment (Essay)

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 20 hours of contact time and about 130 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We鈥檙e planning to run these modules in the academic year 2026/27. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We鈥檒l make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

Courses

This module is offered on the following courses: