GV4H3      Half Unit
Feminist Political Theory

This information is for the 2017/18 session.

Teacher responsible

Prof Anne Phillips Con 5.07

Availability

This course is available on the MSc in Gender, MSc in Gender (Research), MSc in Gender, Development and Globalisation, MSc in Gender, Policy and Inequalities and MSc in Political Theory. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

This course is capped at 2 groups. The deadline for applications is 1pm, Friday, 29 September 2017. You will be informed of the outcome by 12 noon, Monday, 2 October 2017.

Course content

This course covers some of the central debates in contemporary feminist political theory, with a particular emphasis on the legacy and usefulness of liberalism. The course focuses on debates and differences within feminist political theory, rather than justifications for, or defences of, feminist political theory. Among the problems raised are conceptions of the individual and individual autonomy; the relative invisibility of gender issues in mainstream literature on justice and equality; the tendency to conceive of equality in sex-blind terms; the tendency to presume a universally applicable set of norms. We consider the theoretical debates in relation to a number of contemporary political issues. Topics likely to be addressed include: feminism and contract, individualism and autonomy, identity politics, equality and the politics of difference, marriage, multiculturalism, and universalism.

Teaching

10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the MT.

There will be a reading week in week 6 of the MT for advice and feedback sessions.

Formative coursework

Students will be required to submit a short essay of roughly 1,500 words. Students will be given a list of questions to choose from, and should choose a topic other than the one they choose for their final assessment.

Indicative reading

Most of the material is in the form of articles, and a detailed list will be handed out at the beginning of the course. The following is only an indicative list: Carole Pateman (1988) The Sexual Contract; Iris M Young (1990) Justice and the Politics of Difference; Wendy Brown (1995) States of Injury; Anne Phillips (1995) The Politics of Presence; Clare Chambers (2017) Against Marriage: An Egalitarian Defence of the Marriage-Free State; Eleonore Lepinard (2011) 'Autonomy and the Crisis of the Feminist Subject: Revisiting Okin's Dilemma', Constellations 18/2:205-221.

Assessment

Essay (100%, 4000 words).

Student performance results

(2014/15 - 2015/16 combined)

Classification % of students
Distinction 17.9
Merit 67.9
Pass 14.3
Fail 0

Teachers' comment

This course typically recruits students from both the MSc in Political Theory programme and MSc in Gender programmes; this provides a good mix of expertise from mainstream and feminist theory.

Key facts

Department: Government

Total students 2016/17: 23

Average class size 2016/17: 12

Controlled access 2016/17: Yes

Lecture capture used 2016/17: Yes (MT)

Value: Half Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Personal development skills

  • Self-management
  • Team working
  • Problem solving
  • Application of information skills
  • Communication

Course survey results

(2014/15 - 2015/16 combined)

1 = "best" score, 5 = "worst" score

The scores below are average responses.

Response rate: 84%

Question

Average
response

Reading list (Q2.1)

1.3

Materials (Q2.3)

1.4

Course satisfied (Q2.4)

1.2

Lectures (Q2.5)

1.1

Integration (Q2.6)

1.2

Contact (Q2.7)

1.4

Feedback (Q2.8)

1.3

Recommend (Q2.9)

Yes

96%

Maybe

4%

No

0%