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PO-222A
Global Justice and Human Rights in the Age of Globalisation
In a globalised world, defined as much by its problems as its promises ¿ by those who have, and those who have not ¿ global justice and human rights offer a compelling opportunity to imagine a better future. But what role, if any, can global justice and human rights play?
Globalisation has transformed our world. Yet whether it is a `just¿ world, where the most vulnerable and marginalised have their most basic human rights protected, is increasingly uncertain. Globalisation has made us more aware, and more capable, of responding to¿human suffering, but it has also exposed us to profound challenges from political disillusionment to political extremism, from ongoing conflicts to the climate emergency, from widening inequalities to the rise of China. How we attempt to alleviate human suffering and pursue global justice is one of the defining moral, political, and legal challenges of our globalised world.
You will explore:
¿ Perspectives and paradoxes of globalisation and how we might navigate the tension between `progress¿ and global justice
¿ Human rights as a central pillar in a nascent global constitutional order and the role they play in shaping global justice
¿ Real-world case studies of (in)justice
You will ask
¿ What inequalities, and opportunities, does globalisation create and perpetuate?
¿ To what extent do we, as individuals, have a moral duty to help others?
¿ What role do states, the UN and international law, and human rights defenders play in promoting and protecting our human rights?
¿ Can our best intentions be reconciled with the realities of¿recent wars, democracy in crisis, and persistent inequality between the Global North and Global South?
And you will conclude: where do global justice and human rights fit in our globalised world?
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PO-3317
Dissertation
The Politics and International Relations dissertation is a free-standing, 40-credit module for Politics and International Relations students only, which runs across both semesters of Level 6. Candidates conduct research upon a subject of their choice, devised in consultation with a member of staff teaching on the Politics and International Relations degree. The topic must fall within staff research and teaching interests.
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POL1005
The Colour Line: Race and Racism in World Politics
Have you ever wondered how race shapes global events, influences national borders, or affects who gets to belong or who doesn¿t? This module explores the powerful role that race and racism play in world politics, both historically and in today¿s global challenges.
You will examine questions such as: What is race? What is racism? How have these ideas been used to structure global systems of power, identity, and inequality? From colonialism and empire to modern immigration systems and national security debates, you will explore how racial thinking has been embedded in the political, legal, and economic frameworks that shape our world.
Using real-world case studies from across the globe, you will look at how racism intersects with issues such as multiculturalism, Islamophobia, terrorism, social cohesion, and national identity. You will also be introduced to key theories and approaches that help make sense of how race operates within global systems and how it continues to shape people¿s lives today.
Alongside the subject content, you will develop academic skills in critical reading, writing, and argumentation. These will support your wider studies in politics, international relations, and beyond, and prepare you for deeper engagement with global justice, inequality, and identity in future modules.
Accessible, challenging, and globally relevant, The Colour Line encourages you to ask big questions about how the world works and how it might be changed.
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POL2002
Global Justice and Human Rights in the Age of Globalisation
In a globalised world, defined as much by its problems as its promises ¿ by those who have, and those who have not ¿ global justice and human rights offer a compelling opportunity to imagine a better future. But what role, if any, can global justice and human rights play?
Globalisation has transformed our world. Yet whether it is a `just¿ world, where the most vulnerable and marginalised have their most basic human rights protected, is increasingly uncertain. Globalisation has made us more aware, and more capable, of responding to human suffering, but it has also exposed us to profound challenges from political disillusionment to political extremism, from ongoing conflicts to the climate emergency, from widening inequalities to the rise of China. How we attempt to alleviate human suffering and pursue global justice is one of the defining moral, political, and legal challenges of our globalised world.
You will explore:
¿ Perspectives and paradoxes of globalisation and how we might navigate the tension between `progress¿ and global justice
¿ Human rights as a central pillar in a nascent global constitutional order and the role they play in shaping global justice
¿ Real-world case studies of (in)justice
You will ask
¿ What inequalities, and opportunities, does globalisation create and perpetuate?
¿ To what extent do we, as individuals, have a moral duty to help others?
¿ What role do states, the UN and international law, and human rights defenders play in promoting and protecting our human rights?
¿ Can our best intentions be reconciled with the realities of recent wars, democracy in crisis, and persistent inequality between the Global North and Global South?
And you will conclude: where do global justice and human rights fit in with our globalised world?
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POLM02
Methodology in the Social Sciences
I'm no prophet. My job is making windows where there were once walls.
Michel Foucault
This module gives you the tools to think like a social researcher. The syllabus starts by building an understanding of the various underlying ontological and epistemological ideas that animate the world of social research. Getting to grips with these ideas allows you to speak and think in terms that professional social researchers use every day. The tools, frameworks, practices and experiences provided in Methodology in the Social Sciences are designed to induct you into the practice of making sense of society through research as an MA or MSc student.
Our principal focus across the module is applied social research methodology. You¿ll explore how good research questions are built and refined in practice¿through sessions led by experienced researchers from academic staff research groups in Swansea University¿s School of Social Sciences. The module will help you to see research from the inside¿understanding the thinking behind it, and the debates that shape it. This will elevate your critical engagement with the work of other scholars and set you on the path to finding your voice as a social researcher.
By the end of the module, you will have developed an original research question based on your research interests and developed your approach to this question in the form of a structured research proposal. You will have presented your ideas to teaching staff and peers, and received feedback that will help you refine your research plans. The research proposal assignment is designed to support your dissertation work. Many students choose to use their research proposal as the jumping off point for their MA Dissertation project, and the topics chosen for the exercise are used to help assign Dissertation Supervisors with relevant research interests[HE
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POLM17
Dissertation
Throughout your MA course, you¿ve been developing towards this point ¿ the dissertation. You are emerging scholars with fresh insights and depths of knowledge, and this is the time to put these to work and produce an original contribution to the field that you can be proud of.
Over the late spring and Summer, with the extensive support of a supervisor expert in your area (and building on your existing methodology modules), you¿ll scope out, design, and conduct an independent project of study on a topic of your choosing, pursuing the questions that motivate your interest in the subject. You might be poring over declassified intelligence agency archives looking for evidence of complicity in mass violence, charting the everyday politics of energy and logistics that (quite literally) keeps the lights on, or answering the big questions about where we¿re going in an increasingly precarious twenty-first century ¿ this is a chance for you to truly spread your wings and research what interests you.
Between this extended project, and the accompanying presentation of your findings, this represents the culmination of your studies, building on all the modules you¿ve studied and skills you¿ve gathered. This is a great opportunity to develop detailed knowledge of a particular field, hone competencies that will make you a skilled researcher and policy advocate in the real world, give you skills managing a major research project.
