Dr Leigh Jenco CON4.13

This course is available on the MSc in European Studies: Ideas and Identities, MSc in European Studies: Ideas and Identities (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in Global Media and Communications (LSE and Fudan), MSc in Global Media and Communications (LSE and USC), MSc in International Migration and Public Policy, MSc in Political Theory, MSc in Political Theory (Research) and MSc in Race, Ethnicity and Postcolonial Studies. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

This seminar explores the political and epistemological issues of multiculturalism, broadly understood, in contemporary political theory. After deciding on a tentative definition for “culture,” we will explore how and why the concept has become so integral to normative theories of contemporary political life. In particular, we will focus on how increasing recognition of plurality within liberal democratic regimes has led to new theories of both culture and community. Along the way, we will consider normative questions such as: Should we encourage “global citizenship,” or should we celebrate the local and the national? If cultures are dynamic and hybrid entities, how can they be identified and protected politically? Are there significant and legitimate differences between “the West” and “the rest”—and if so, how must our interpretive approach change as we include voices from culturally diverse groups into already-established political communities?

20 hours of seminars in the LT.

Students are invited to write one 3000 word formative essay, due no later than week 10.

Will Kymlicka, Multicultural Citizenship, Brian Barry, Culture and Equality, Chandran Kukathas, The Liberal Archipelago, Iris Young, Justice and the Politics of Difference, Homi Bhabha, The Location of Culture.

Essay (100%, 5000 words) in the ST.

Student response to this seminar-style course has been very positive, though students frequently request the inclusion of lectures. Because this is a postgraduate political theory course, however, there are strong pedagogical reasons for conducting it as a seminar--which also conforms to best practice at top research universities in the US and elsewhere. I do not lecture because I hope to create an egalitarian environment for intense, fruitful discussion.