PLEASE NOTE this is a 2013-14 reading list—the precise content may change in future years.
Political Sociology Autumn Term: Politics, Power and Political Action
Week 1: Introduction to Political Sociology
The first lecture provides an introduction to key classic and contemporary perspectives in
political sociology. We will provide an overview of the sub-discipline, including key sociological
perspectives, approaches, and issues. The lecture highlights the diversity and richness of the
subject, as well as the difficulty in drawing boundaries for inclusion of important topics within a
vast, interdisciplinary, and ever-changing field, particularly in the context of globalisation.
Following Nash and Scott (2004) in their introduction to the edited Blackwell Companion to
Political Sociology, we stress the necessary limitations of any attempt to survey this area of
scholarship, either in terms of imposing a conceptual order on the area through choosing a
particular paradigm, or through attempting to be representative (ie. without exclusions). In this
module, we will address some of the ‘classic’ issues in political sociology about how society
affects the state, and we will also explore recent moves in contemporary political sociology
‘toward an understanding of politics as a potentiality of all social experience.’ (Nash 2010, p. 4).
Finally, we will introduce the central themes and questions that will be explored in the autumn
term: politics, power, and political action.
Required Reading:
 Weber, M. (2009) ‘Politics as a vocation,’ in H.H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills (eds.)
From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, Taylor and Francis. (CE)
 Nash, K. (2010) ‘Changing definitions of politics and power’, in Contemporary
Political Sociology: Globalisation, Politics and Power, 2nd edition. Oxford and
Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers. pp. 1-42. (CE)
Recommended Reading:
 Drake, M. S. (2010) ‘Introduction’ and ‘Chapter 1: Political Sociology and Social
Transformation’, in Political Sociology for a Globalizing World, Cambridge: Polity,
pp. 1-24.
Further Reading:
 Janoski, T., et al (ed). (2005) A Handbook of Political Sociology, Cambridge: CUP.
 Nash, K. and A. Scott. (eds) (2012) The Blackwell Companion to Political Sociology,
Oxford and Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.
 Snow, D.A., S. Soule, and H. Kriesi (eds) (2007) The Blackwell Companion to Social
Movements, Chichester, U.K. ; Malden, MA : Wiley-Blackwell.
 Taylor, G. (2010) The New Political Sociology: Power, Ideology and Identity in an Age of
Complexity. Palgrave Macmillan.
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Week 2: Politics and Power
This lecture focuses in depth on key debates about politics and power in political sociology. We
will address some of the most influential perspectives on politics and power within political
sociology, focusing particularly on the works of Lukes, Poggi and Foucault. We will provide a
theoretical overview of these different approaches and discuss the influence of these debates
within political sociology and their relevance to contemporary political sociology analysis. In the
seminars, students will discuss their own close readings of texts. These debates will inform
themes, issues and debates throughout the module.
Required Reading:
Please read Foucault and either Poggi OR Lukes:
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Foucault, M. (1980) ‘Truth and Power’ in Power/Knowledge: selected interviews and
other writings, 1972-1977. Ed. C. Gordon, The Harvester Press, pp. 109-133. (CE)
AND
OR:
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Poggi, G. (2000) Forms of Power, Polity. Chapter 1. (CE)
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Lukes, S. (2005 [1974]) Power: A Radical Review, 2nd ed. Basingstroke: Palgrave
Macmillan. Introduction. (CE) (Full book is recommended reading, especially chapter 2
in the second edition ‘Power, freedom and reason’ which addresses the relationship
between Lukes’ and Foucault’s ideas of power- available as an e-book).
Further Reading:
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Agamben, G. (1998) Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life, Stanford: Stanford
University Press.
Blencowe, C. (2012) Biopolitical Experience: Foucault, Power and Positive Critique,
Palgrave Macmillan.
Dean, M. (1998) Governmentality: Power and Rule in Modern Society, Sage.
Foucault, M. (1978) The History of Sexuality, Volume 1, Penguin.
Foucault M (2003) 'The Subject & Power' In The Essential Foucault, The New Press.
Hacking, I. (1982) ‘Biopower and the Avalanche of Printed Numbers’ Humanities in
Society 5: 279-295
Hearn, J. (2010) Theorizing Power, Polity.
Mann, M. (1986-2013) The Sources of Social Power, Vol 1-4, New York: Cambridge
University Press,
Nash, K. and A. Scott. (eds) (2012) The Blackwell Companion to Political Sociology,
Oxford and Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, Part I: ‘Approaches to Power and
Politics’, especially B. Hindess ‘Foucaultian Analysis of Power, Government, Politics’,
J. Scott ‘Studying Power’, and P. Breiner, ‘Weber and Political Sociology’.
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 Nash, K. (2010) ‘Foucault’s concept of power’ in Contemporary Political
Sociology: Globalisation, Politics and Power, 2nd edition. Oxford and Malden,
MA: Blackwell Publishers.
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anci re, . (2010) Dissensus: On Politics and Aesthetics, London and New York:
Continuum.
 Rose, N. (1999) Powers of Freedom, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
 Rose, N. (2001). 'The politics of life itself', Theory Culture & Society, 18(6), 1-30
 Stoller, A L (2002) Carnal Knowledge & Imperial Power: Race and the Intimate in
Colonial Rule, Berkeley, University of California Press.
Week 3: Capitalism, Class and the State
The relationship between capital, class, and the state is at the heart of Marxist and neo-Marxist
perspectives on political sociology. This week we will look at the role of Marxism in classical and
contemporary debates about political sociology, including critiques of Marxism. We begin by
discussing Antonio Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks, written while he was in prison between 1929
and 1935 in Italy, include critical reflections on the state, politics, civil society, capitalism, class,
power, domination, and 'hegemony'. Gramsci’s writings were highly influential within political
sociology and cultural studies, particularly the writings of the Frankfurt School and the French
Regulation School. Then we trace key neo-Marxist and neo-Gramscian arguments about
capitalism, class and the state (and critical responses to these) in political sociology throughout
the 20th century.
Required Reading:
 Gramsci, A. (1971) ‘State and Civil Society’, In Prison Notebooks Ed. Q Hoare and G.
Smith, New York: International Publishers. (CE)
 Harvey, D. (2005) ‘The Neoliberal State’ in A Brief History of Neoliberalism, Oxford:
OUP. pp. 64-86. (available online as an e-book)
Recommended Reading:
 Jessop, B. (2012) ‘Developments in Marxist theory’, in Nash, K. and A. Scott. (eds)
The Blackwell Companion to Political Sociology, Oxford and Malden, MA: Blackwell
Publishers.
 Klein, N. (2007), The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. London: Allen
Lane. Introduction (CE)
Further Reading:
 Adorno, T. (2001) The Culture Industry: Selected Essays on Mass Culture, Ed. J.M.
Bernstein, New York and London: Routledge.
 Amin, A. (ed) (1994) Post-Fordism: A Reader, Oxford and Malden, MA: Blackwell
Publishers. Chapter 1.
 Birchfield, V. (1999) ‘Contesting the hegemony of market ideology: Gramsci’s
“good sense” and Polanyi’s “Double Movement,”’Review of International Political
Economy 6:1.
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Bridoux, . (2011) ‘Postwar reconstruction, the Reverse Course and the New Way
Forward: bis repetitas?’ Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 5 (1): 43-66.
Butko, T. (2006) Gramsci and the 'anti-globalization' movement: think before you
act Socialism and Democracy 20 (2): 79-102.
Carroll, W. (2010) The Making of a Transnational Capitalist Class: Corporate Power
in the Twenty-First Century, 2nd Ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Clarke, S. (1991). The State Debate, Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Cox, R. (1981) ‘Social Forces, States and World Orders: Beyond International
Relations Theory,’ Millennium 10(2): 126-155.
Esping-Andersen, G. (1990) The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, Cambridge:
Polity.
Dodge, T. (2006) ‘The Sardinian, the Texan and the Tikriti: Gramsci, the
comparative autonomy of the Middle Eastern state and regime change in Iraq,’
International Politics 43, pp. 453-473.
Dodge, T. (2009) ‘Coming face to face with bloody reality: Liberal common sense
and the ideological failure of the Bush doctrine in Iraq,’ International Politics 46,
pp. 253275.
Gibson-Graham J.K. (2006) The End of Capitalism (As We Knew It), Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press.
Gibson-Graham, J. K. (2006) A Post-capitalist Politics, Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota.
Giddens, A. (1971). Capitalism and Modern Social Theory, Cambridge: CUP.
Gill, S. (1995), ‘Globalisation, market civilisation, and disciplinary neoliberalism,’
Millennium: Journal of International Studies 24:3
Gill, S. (ed) (2010) Gramsci, Historical Materialism and International Relations,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Goldthorpe, J. (1984). Order and Conflict in Contemporary Capitalism, Oxford:
Clarendon.
Gramsci, A. (1971) Selections from the Prison Notebooks, Ed. And trans. Q Hoare
and G. Smith, New York: International Publishers.
Hardt, M. and Negri, A. (2000) Empire, Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard University
Press.
Jessop, B. (1993) ‘Towards a Schumpeterian Workfare State? Preliminary Remarks
on Post-Fordist Political Economy’ Studies in Political Economy (40) pp. 7-40.
Katz, H. (2006) ‘Gramsci, hegemony, and global civil society networks,’ Voluntas
17(4): 333-348.
Marcuse, H. (1964) One-Dimensional Man, New York and London: Routledge.
Miliband, R. (1982) Capitalist Democracy in Britain, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Miliband, R. (1983) Class Power and State Power, London: Verso.
Mirowski, P. (2013) Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste: How Neoliberalism
Survived the Financial Meltdown, London: Verso.
Peck, Jamie (2001) Workfare States, New York: Guilford Press.
Przeworski, A (1985) Capitalism and Social Democracy, Cambridge University Press.
Poulantzas, N. (1978) Political Power and Social Classes, London: Verso.
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 Rupert, M. (2000) Ideologies of Globalization: Contending Visions of a New World
Order, London: Routledge.
 Rupert, M (1995) Producing Hegemony: The Politics of Mass Production and
American Global Power, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
 Sklair, L. (2002) Globalization: Capitalism and Its Alternatives, 3rd ed. Oxford: OUP.
 Steele, J. (2009) Defeat: Losing Iraq and the Future of the Middle East, Counterpoint.
 Stephen, M. (2011) ‘Globalisation and resistance: struggles over common sense
in the global political economy’ Review of International Studies 37(1): 209-288.
 Tonkiss, F. (2004) ‘Markets against States: Neo-liberalism,’ in K. Nash and A.
Scott (eds), The Blackwell Companion to Political Sociology, 2nd ed. Oxford:
Blackwell Publishers, p. 250-260.
 Wallerstein, I. (1979) The Capitalist World Economy, Cambridge: CUP.
Week 4: Citizenship
Contemporary debates on citizenship are linked to the growth of social movements, which
have challenged traditional forms of citizenship in liberal democratic states. The sociological
study of citizenship encompasses questions of identity, difference, and equality, and asks
questions that go beyond state boundaries and voting rights. This lecture provides an
overview of a range of debates on citizenship, discussing T.H. Marshall’s model of
citizenship in Britain in the 1940s and critiques of this model; feminist and LGBT critiques of
citizenship as normalizing male, heterosexual, white, heads of households; debates about
the culture of poverty, the ‘underclass’, social exclusion, and neoliberal labour market
policies; discussions around immigration, multiculturalism, social cohesion, and the ‘new
assimilationism’; and discussions of migration and rights across borders.
Required Reading:
 Isin, Engin. (2012) ‘Citizens without frontiers,’ Inaugural lecture given at the Open
University, 7 February 2012. Available online:
http://www.oecumene.eu/files/oecumene/Engin%20Isin%20Inaugural%207%20Februar
y%202012.pdf
 Lister, R. (2007) ‘Inclusive citizenship: realizing the potential’ Citizenship Studies
11(1): 49-61.
Recommended Reading:
 Gupta, A. and . Ferguson (1992) ‘Beyond “culture”: space, identity, and the
politics of difference, Cultural Anthropology 7: 6-23.
 Nash, K. (2010) ‘Citizenship’ in Contemporary Political Sociology: Globalisation,
Politics and Power, 2nd edition. Oxford and Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers,
pp. 131-192.
 Walby, S. (1994) ‘Is Citizenship Gendered?’ Sociology 28 (2): 379-395.
Further Reading:
 Baubock, R. (2003) ‘ Reinventing urban citizenship’ Citizenship Studies 7 (2): 139-160.
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 Drake, M. S. (2010) ‘Citizens, nations and nationalisms’ in Political Sociology for a
Globalizing World, Cambridge: Polity, pp. 95-115.
 Hort, S. and G. Therborn, ‘Citizenship and welfare: politics and social policies,’ in
Nash, K. and A. Scott. (eds) (2012) The Blackwell Companion to Political Sociology,
Oxford and Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, pp. 360-371.
 Isin, E. (2002) Being Political: Genealogies of Citizenship, Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press.
 Isin, E. and G. M. Nielsen (2008) Acts of Citizenship, London: Zed Books.
 Isin, E. et al (eds) (2008) Citizenship Between Past and Future. London: Routledge.
 Joppke, C. (2010 Citizenship and Immigration. Cambridge, UK and Malden, MA:
Polity.
 Levitas, R (2005) The Inclusive Society? Social Exclusion and New Labour, 2nd ed.
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
 Lister, R. (2012) ‘Citizenship and gender’ in Nash, K. and A. Scott. (eds) The
Blackwell Companion to Political Sociology, Oxford and Malden, MA: Blackwell
Publishers. pp. 372-382.
 Lister, R (2003) Citizenship: Feminist Perspectives, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
 Marshall, T. H. (1950) Citizenship and Social Class. Cambridge: University Press.
 Madood, T. et al (2006) Multiculturalism, Muslims, and Citizenship: A European
Approach. London and New York: Routledge.
 Rygiel, K. (2010) Globalizing Citizenship. Vancouver: UBC Press.
 Shafir, G.I. (ed) (1998) The Citizenship Debate: A Reader, Minneapolis: University
of Minnesota Press.
 Somers, M. R. (2010) Genealogies of Citizenship: Markets, Statelessness, and the
Right to Have Rights. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
 Soysal, Y. N. (2012) Post-national citizenship: rights and obligations, in Nash, K.
and A. Scott. (eds) (2012) The Blackwell Companion to Political Sociology, Oxford
and Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, pp. 383-396.
 Varsanyi, M. (2006) ‘Interrogating “Urban Citizenship” vis-à-vis Undocumented
Migration,’ Citizenship Studies 10 (2): 229-249.
Week 5: Democracy
The declining popularity and influence of political parties in Western liberal democracies; the
rise of new social movements; the post 9/11 ‘war on terrorism’; the end of the Cold War and
rise of TINA (There is No Alternative) Neoliberal political ideologies and policies; the Arab
Spring and Occupy movements; and the multiple social, cultural, political and economic
impacts of globalisation on state and society—these recent trends have had a profound
impact on how contemporary political sociologists think about questions of democracy. This
lecture will explore these related questions through focusing on classic and contemporary
debates on democracy, ‘post-democracy’, social justice and human rights, and the
democratization of civil society.
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Required Reading:
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Crouch, C. (2004) Post-Democracy. Cambridge: Polity. Chapter 1: ‘Why PostDemocracy?’ (CE)
Lipset, S.M. (1994) ‘The Social Requisites of Democracy,’ American Sociological
Review 59 (1): 1-22.
Recommended Reading:
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Nash, K. (2010) ‘Globalization and Democracy,’ in Contemporary Political
Sociology: Globalisation, Politics and Power, 2nd edition. Oxford and Malden, MA:
Blackwell Publishers, pp. 193-236.
Streeck, W. (2011) ‘The Crises of Democratic Capitalism’ New Left Review 71, Sept,
5-29.
Further Reading:
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Agamben, G. (2005) State of Exception, Chicago: University of California Press.
Arendt H. (1998) [1958] The Human Condition, Chicago, The University of Chicago
Press.
Desai, M. (2013) State Formation and Radical Democracy in India. New York and
London: Routledge.
Evans, P. et al (1985) Bringing the State Back In, Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Fraser, N. (2008) Scales of Justice: Reimagining Political Space in a Globalizing
World. Cambridge: Polity. Chapter 1.
Held, D. and A. McGrew (eds) (2002) Governing Globalization: Power, Authority
and Global Governance, Cambridge: Polity.
Hynes, P., et al (eds) (2011) Sociology and Human Rights, Abingdon, Oxon; New
York, NY : Routledge.
Hynes, P. et al (eds) (2012) Special Issue on Human Rights, Sociology 46(5).
Klein, N. (2000) No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, London: Flamingo.
Lipset, S.M. (1994) ‘The Social Requisites of Democracy,’ American Sociological
Review 59 (1): 1-22.
Moore, B. (1969) The Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy, London:
Penguin.
Nash, K. (2012) ‘Human Rights, Movements and Law: On Not Researching
Legitimacy’ Sociology 46(5): 797-812.
Polanyi, K. (1975) The Great Transformation, London: Octopus Books.
Sen, A. (2009) The Idea of Justice. London and New York: Allen Lane
Skocpol, T. (2003) Diminished Democracy: From Membership to Management in
American Civic Life. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Skocpol, T. (1979) States and Social Revolutions, Cambridge: CUP.
Toqueville, A. de (original 1835-1840) Democracy in America, various editions.
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Week 6: Reading Week: No Lectures or Seminars
Week 7: Political Parties
This week we will examine theories and debates about political parties within political sociology,
drawing on examples of political parties from the UK, the US, and internationally. We will
consider institutional conditions, national political cultures, and political, economic and cultural
changes since the Second World War. In particular, we will examine the changing role of
political ideologies and the limits of electoral party politics. We will consider questions such as:
‘What is there no labour party in the United States?’ (see Archer), and ‘Was the election of
Barack Obama in 2008 an exception to the decline of political parties?’ (see Nash, 2010)
Required Reading:
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Archer, R. (2010) Why is There No Labour Party in the United States? Princeton:
Princeton University Press. Introduction and Chapter 3. (E-book).
Warden, K., K. Legge and P. Harari (2010) Politics and Power, New York: Palgrave
Macmillan, Chapter 6: ‘Changing ideologies and the transformation of political
parties in the UK’, pp. 107-138. (CE)
Recommended Reading:
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Nash, K. and A. Scott. (eds) (2012) The Blackwell Companion to Political Sociology,
Oxford and Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, Part II,B: ‘Governance and Political
Process’: H. Kitschelt ‘Parties and interest intermediation’, D. Knoke and Xi Zhu,
‘Interest groups and pluralism’, and . Manza, ‘Elections’.
Further Reading:
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Almond, G.A. and S. Verba (1989) The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in
Five Nations, London: Sage.
Bartels, L. (2008) Unequal Democracy, New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Franklin, M. (ed) (2004) Voter Turnout and the Dynamics of Electoral Competition in
Established Democracies since 1945, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Glasberg, D. S. and D. Shannon (2011) Political Sociology: Oppression, Resistance, and
the State, London: Sage, Chapter 4: ‘Power to the People: Voting and Electoral
Participation’, pp. 91-128.
Lipset, S.M. (1963) Political Man, London: Mercury Books.
Mair, P. (ed) (1990) West European Party Systems, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Michels, R. (1958) Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of
Modern Democracy, Glencoe: Free Press.
Moore, B. (1969) The Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy, London: Penguin.
Norris, P. (2004) Electoral Engineering: Voting Rules and Political Behavior, New York:
Cambridge University Press.
Skocpol, T. (2003) Diminished Democracy: From Membership to Management in
American Civic Life. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
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 Zuckerman, A. (ed.) (2006) The Social Logic of Politics, Philadelphia, PA: Temple
University Press.
Week 8: Social Movements
This week explores the political sociology of social movements, focusing in particular on the
new social movements from the 1960s onwards, including the civil rights movement, the
student movement, the women’s movement, the gay liberation movements, and the
environmental movement. The lecture will explore liberal, Marxist, feminist, and cultural
studies perspectives within political sociology on the rise of social movements, including the
Resource Mobilization Theory, New Social Movement Theory, and social movements across
different scales: urban, regional, national, European, and global. We will discuss and some
criticisms of the concept of social movements as a basis for 1) political action and 2)
academic analysis.
Required Reading:
 Diani, M. (1992) ‘The Concept of Social Movement,’ Sociological Review, 40 (1): 1-25.
 Tarrow, S. (2011) Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics, 3rd
ed. Cambridge: CUP. Chapter 1: ‘Contentious Politics and Social Movements’ (CE)
 Tilly, C. and L. J. Wood (2012) Social Movements, 1768-2012, 3rd ed. ‘Chapter 5:
Social Movements Enter the Twenty-First Century’, 95-123 (CE).
Recommended Reading:
 Johnston, H. (2013) States and Social Movements. Oxford: Wiley. (e-book).
 Nash, K. (2010) ‘Social Movements’ in Contemporary Political Sociology:
Globalisation, Politics and Power, 2nd edition. Oxford and Malden, MA: Blackwell
Publishers, pp. 87-130.
Further Reading:
 Beinin, J. (2012) Social Movements, Mobilization, and Contestation in the Middle
East and North Africa, Palo Alto: Stanford University Press. (e-book)
 Bullard, R. (2005) The Quest for Environmental Justice: Human Rights and the
Politics of Pollution, San Fransisco: Sierra Club Books.
 Dean, J. (2010) Rethinking Contemporary Feminist Politics. Basingstoke, Palgrave
Macmillan (e-book).
 Della Porta, D. (ed.) (2007) The Global Justice Movement: Cross-National and
Transnational Perspectives, Boulder, CO, and London: Paradigm.
 Della Porta, D. and S. Tarrow (eds) (2005) Transnational Protest and Global
Activism: People, Passions, Power. Landham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
 Dello, R. and D. Fasenfest (eds) (2010) Social change, resistance and social
practices, Leiden, Netherlands; Boston : Brill. (e-book)
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 Gautney, H. D. (2012) Protest and organization in the alternative globalization era:
NGOs, social movements, and political parties, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan (ebook).
 Goodwin, J. and J. Jasper (eds) (2009) The social movements reader: cases and
concepts, 2nd ed. Chichester, U.K. ; Malden, MA : Wiley-Blackwell.
 Johnston, H. (2013) States and Social Movements. Oxford: Wiley (e-book).
 Melucci, A. (1995) ‘The New Social Movements Revisited: Reflections on a
Sociological Misunderstanding,’ In L. Maheu, Social Movements and Social Classes:
The Future of Collective Action. London: Sage.
 Mészáros, G. (2013) Social movements, law and the politics of land reform: lessons
from Brazil, Abingdon: Routledge.
 Motta, S. C. and A. G. Nilsen (eds) (2011) Social movements in the global south:
Dispossession, development and resistance, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. (ebook)
 Pezullo, P. (2007) Toxic Tourism: Rhetorics of Pollution, Travel and Environmental
Justice, University of Alabama Press.
 Prevost, G. (2012) Social Movements and Leftist Governments in Latin America:
Confrontation or Co-optation? London: Zed Books. (e-book)
 Rahier, J.M. (2012) Black Social Movements in Latin America: From Monocultural
Mestizaje to Multiculturalism, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
 Spires, A. (2011) ‘Contingent Symbiosis and Civil Society in an Authoritarian
State: Understanding the Survival of China’s Grassroots NGOs,’ American Journal
of Sociology, 117(1): 1-45.
 Snow, D.A., S. Soule, and H. Kriesi (eds) (2007) The Blackwell Companion to Social
Movements, Chichester, U.K. ; Malden, MA : Wiley-Blackwell.
 Tarrow, S. (2011) Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics,
3rd ed. Cambridge: CUP.
 Tilly, C. (1978) From Mobilization to Revolution. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Chapters 1-2.
 Tilly C. and L. Wood. (2012) Social Movements, 1768-2012, 3rd ed. Boulder, CO:
Paradigm Publishers.
 Touraine, A. (1981) The Voice and the Eye: An Analysis of Social Movements.
Cambridge: CUP. Chapters 1-2.
 Zald, M. and McCarthy, J. (eds) (1979) The Dynamics of Social Movements:
Resource Mobilization, Social Control, and Tactics, Winthrop Publishers.
Week 9: Urban Politics and the Right to the City
This week we will examine the urban politics of the city. The city constitutes not only the
‘setting’ but also the ‘stakes’ of political contestation. Urban spaces provide sites for political
action and are themselves politicized in struggles over access, control, and representation.
Firstly, we will examine the role of cities in relation to the urban politics of cooperation,
contestation, consent, and we will consider pluralist, elite, and critical theoretical perspectives.
Secondly, we will address the question of political voice in the city, in terms of participation,
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empowerment, and enfranchisement of residents, drawing on the example of the ‘ Right to
the City’. ‘The Right to the City’ was a pivotal urban-based social movement that emerged in
the 1960s, inspired by the urban sociologist Henri Lefebvre’s text ‘ Right to the City’ and the
1968 student movement in Paris. ‘The right to the city’ has also emerged as a slogan in cities
around the world since this time, with city residents from a range of marginalized
backgrounds demanding greater voice and inclusion in the politics and socio-economic life
of the city. Finally, the lecture explores the possibilities and limitations of studying the city
as a micro-site of political sociology.
Required Reading:
 Harvey, D. (2010) Rebel Cities, London: Verso. Chapter 1: The Right to the City. (CE)
 Lefebvre, H. (1996) ‘The Right to the City’, in Writings on Cities, eds. E. Kofman
and E. Lebas, Oxford: Blackwell. (CE)
Recommended Reading:
 Brenner, N., P. Marcuse and M. Mayer, (2009) ‘Introduction: Cities for People, Not
for Profit’, City: analysis of urban trends, culture, theory, policy, action, 13 (2-3): 176184, and other contributions to this special issue of City (esp. Marcuse and Mayer)
 Lefebvre, H. (1995) ‘The Right to the City’, in Writings on Cities, eds. E. Kofman
and E. Lebas, Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 63–181.
 Mollenkopf, . (2007) ‘How to Study Urban Power,’ in Strom, E. A. and .H.
Mollenkopf (eds) (2007) The Urban Politics Reader, New York and London:
Routledge, pp. 99-109.
 Strom, E. A. and J.H. Mollenkopf (eds) (2007) The Urban Politics Reader, New York
and London: Routledge.
Further Reading:
 Davis, M. (1990) City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles, London: Verso.
 Florida, R. (2005) Cities and the Creative Class, New York and London: Routledge.
 Frisby. D. (2001) Cityscapes of Modernity, Cambridge: Polity Press.
 Harvey, D. (1973) Social Justice and the City, London: Edward Arnold.
 Harvey, D. (2000) Spaces of Hope, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
 Jacobs, J. (1961) The Death and Life of Great American Cities, New York: Random
House.
 Lees, L., T. Slater and E. Wyly (2007) Gentrification, London and New York:
Routledge.
 Lefebvre, H. (1991) The Production of Space, Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Mass.:
Blackwell.
 Mandanipour, A., G. Cars and J. Allen (eds) (1998) Social Exclusion in European
Cities: Processes, Experiences and Responses, London: Jessica Kingsley.
 Marcuse, Peter. 1997. “The enclave, the citadel, and the ghetto: what has
changed in the post-Fordist U.S. city”, Urban Affairs Review 33 (2): 228-264.
 Massey, D. (1994) Space, Place and Gender, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota
Press.
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 Mitchell, D. (2003) The Right to the City: Social Justice and the Fight for Public
Space, New York: Guilford Press.
 Purcell, M. (2002) ‘Excavating Henri Lefebvre: The Right to the City and Its Urban
Politics of the Inhabitant,’ Geojournal, 58: 99-108.
 Sassen, S. (2001) The Global City, 2nd ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
 Simone, A-M. (2005) For the City Yet to Come: Changing African Life in Four Cities.
Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press.
 Simmel, G. (2002, original: 1903) 'The Metropolis and Mental Life' in G. Bridge and S.
Watson, eds. The Blackwell City Reader. Oxford and Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
 Smith, N. (2010) Uneven Development: Nature, Capital and the Production of Space,
3rd ed. London: Verso.
 Soja, E. (2000) Postmetropolis: Critical Studies of Cities and Regions, Oxford and
Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.
 Tonkiss, F. (2005) Space, the City and Social Theory, Cambridge: Polity Press.
 Wacquant, L. (1999) ‘America as social dystopia: the politics of urban disintegration
or the French uses of the “American model,”’ In The Weight of the World, eds. P.
Bourdieu et al., trans. P. Ferguson, Stanford: Stanford University Press, pp. 130-139.
 Zukin, S. (1993) Landscapes of Power: From Detroit Disney World, Berkeley:
University of California Press.
Week 10: Alternative Politics
This week we will discuss ‘alternative politics’, or the politics of imagining different futures and
fighting for political change. We will critically examine political ‘alternatives’ in relation to
broader concepts of ‘utopia’, the politics of ‘imagining’, and ‘radicalism’. We will focus
particularly on recent examples of ‘alternative politics’ including Occupy, the Arab Awakening,
and rising global protests for participatory democracy. Drawing on empirical examples, we will
contrast recent protests (since 2011) with social movements of the 1960s and 70s, and with
anti-globalization movements of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Required Reading:
 Read: a selection of 3-4 different essays (typically 1500-2000 words each) published
in openDemocracy (http://www.opendemocracy.net), to share and present to other
students.
 Taylor, A. et al (2011) Occupy! Scenes from Occupied America, Verso, pp. 1-30. (CE)
Recommended Reading:
 Gibson-Graham J.K., et al (2013) ‘Thinking with Marx for a feminist post-capitalist
politics’, in Marx’ Kritix der Gesellshaft, Berlin: Akademie Verlag, available on:

http://www.communityeconomies.org/site/assets/media/EsraErdem/GibsonGraha
mErdemOzselcuk-.pdf
Gibson-Graham, J. K. (2006) A Post-capitalist Politics, Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota.
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 Levitas, R (2010) The Concept of Utopia, New York: Peter Lang, especially
introduction, chapter 1 and chapter 7.
 Newman, J. (2012) Working the Spaces of Power: Activism, Neoliberalism and
Gendered Labour. London and New York: Bloomsbury Academic, Chapter 1:
‘Introduction’ and Chapter 2: ‘Politics’
Recommended Viewing:
 ‘Occupy Everywhere: On the New Politics and Possibilities of the Movement Against
Corporate Power,’ (Nov 2011 video of panel discussion with Naomi Klein, Michael
Moore, Occupy Wall Street organiser Patrick Bruner, et al, at the New School in
NYC):
http://www.thenation.com/video/164494/watch-michael-moore-naomiklein-and-others-owss-possibilities
Further Reading:
 Alimi, E. and D. Meyer (2011) ‘Seasons of Change: Arab Spring and Political
Opportunities,’ Swiss Political Science Review 17(4): 475–479
 Amin, A. (2004) 'Multiethnicity and the Idea of Europe' Theory, Culture & Society
21(2): 1-24.
 Anderson, L. (2012) ‘Demystifying the Arab Spring: Parsing the Differences
between Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.’ Foreign Affairs, 90 (3).
 Berkeley Journal of Social Sciences. ‘Understanding the Occupy Movement:
Perspectives from the Social Sciences’; Online forum that brings together essays,
critical commentary, and research of social scientists on the Occupy Movement.
http://bjsonline.org/2011/12/understanding-the-occupy-movementperspectives-from-the-social-sciences/
 Byrne, J. and R. Wells (eds) (2012) The Occupy Handbook, New York: Back Bay Books.
 Chomsky, N. (2012) Occupy, Penguin.
 Dabashi, H. (2012) The Arab Spring: the end of postcolonialism. London: Zed
Books. (e-book)
 Della Porta, D. and S. Tarrow (eds) (2005) Transnational Protest and Global
Activism: People, Passions, Power. Landham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
 Dello, R. and D. Fasenfest (eds) (2010) Social change, resistance and social
practices, Leiden, Netherlands; Boston : Brill. (e-book)
 Gautney, H. D. (2012) Protest and organization in the alternative globalization era:
NGOs, social movements, and political parties, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan (ebook).
 Hardt, M. and A. Negri. (2011) ‘The Fight for ' Real Democracy' at the Heart of
Occupy Wall Street,’ Foreign Affairs http://www.foreignaffairs.com/print/98542
 Harvey, D. (2012) Rebel Cities. Verso. Part II (especially chapter 7).
 Harvey, D. (2000) Spaces of Hope, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Chapter
8: ‘The Spaces of Utopia’, pp. 133-81.
 Hollis, R. (2012) ‘No friend of democratization: Europe's role in the genesis of the
Arab Spring,’ International Affairs London 88(1).
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 Howard, Philip N. (2012) Democracy's fourth wave? Digital media and the Arab
Spring, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 Khondker, H. H. (2011) ‘ Role of the new media in the Arab Spring,’
Globalizations, 8 (5).
 Manhire, T. (ed) (2012) The Arab Spring: rebellion, revolution, and a new world
order, London: Guardian Books.
 Peters, J. (2012) The European Union and the Arab Spring: promoting democracy
and human rights in the Middle East, Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books.
 Radio
4 Thinking Allowed: ‘Performing Politics in the Streets’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0100gr4
 Taylor, A. et al (2011) Occupy! Scenes from Occupied America, Verso.
 Van Gelder, S. and the staff of Yes! Magazine (eds) (2011) This changes
everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99% movement, San Francisco: BerrettKoehler Publishers.
Additional Reading
The reading lists must in no way be seen as comprehensive. You are strongly encouraged to
find your own additional materials, to pursue lines of enquiry that particularly interest you,
and to seek out and develop your own examples. Particularly relevant journals for you to look
at include Antipode; Acme; Cultural Politics; European Journal of Culture and Political Sociology;
International Political Sociology; International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society; Theory,
Culture & Society; Critical Social Policy, and Economy & Society. In addition, there are a number
of sociology blogs, alternative media, and activist websites that are worth investigating,
including Public Sociology Live http://www.isa-sociology.org/public-sociology-live/ ; Global
Sociology Blog http://globalsociology.com ; ‘Open Democracy’ www.opendemocracy.net ;
‘Right
to
the
City’
http://www.righttothecity.org/
;
‘Occupy
London’
http://occupylondon.org.uk/ ; Red Pepper http://www.redpepper.org.uk/; ‘The Elemental
Present’ http://elementalpresent.wordpress.com/; Thinking Allowed’ on BBC Radio 4:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qy05; and Colorlines http://colorlines.com/.
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