Prof Vesselin Dimitrov

This course is available on the MSc in Culture and Conflict in a Global Europe, MSc in Culture and Conflict in a Global Europe (LSE & Columbia), MSc in Culture and Conflict in a Global Europe (LSE & Sciences Po), MSc in European and International Politics and Policy, MSc in European and International Politics and Policy (LSE and Bocconi), MSc in European and International Politics and Policy (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in Political Science (Conflict Studies and Comparative Politics) and MSc in Political Science (Political Behaviour). This course is freely available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. It does not require permission. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process. For information on controlled access courses, including eligibility, application processes, deadlines, and departmental contact details, please refer to the Controlled Access Courses webpage.

How to apply: To apply for a place on this course, please submit a short statement of no more than 200 words via LfY. Your statement should outline your reasons for applying and explain how the course will support your academic and/or career goals. If applicable, you should also demonstrate how you meet any pre-requisites listed in the course guide. If the course is compulsory for your programme, no written statement is required.

Priority for places on Government (GV) courses will be given first to students for whom the course is compulsory. Where applicable, priority will then be given to students on the Department of Government programmes listed in the ‘Availability’ section of the course guide, followed by students on other programmes listed in that section. Students on all other programmes will be considered next, where a course is available as an outside option. You should ensure that you meet any pre-requisites listed in the course guide before applying. Places on capped courses cannot be guaranteed. Where a course is oversubscribed, places will be allocated based on programme priority and the written statement.

Deadline for applications: The deadline for applications is 12:00 noon on Friday 25 September 2026. You can expect to be informed of the outcome of your application by 12:00 noon on Monday 28 September 2026. Any places remaining after this date will be allocated based on priority and written statement - up until course selection closes.

For queries contact: gov.msc@lse.ac.uk.

The course explores the problems of delayed modernisation, problematic democratisation, conflictual nation-building and geopolitical insecurity in the European semi-periphery, including countries such as Russia, Poland, Spain, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Sweden. It analyses the socio-economic structures, political issues and problems shared by the European semi-periphery from the first wave of liberal globalisation and the emergence of mass politics in the late 19th century to European integration in the early 21st century. It analyses the strategies adopted by political elites and social classes in the face of modernisation, imperial decline, nationalism, and European integration.

Course topics include: The emergence of core and semi-periphery in Europe; Problems of economic modernisation; Political parties and ideologies; State nationalism, sub-state nationalism and problems of nation-state building; Religion: the socio-political power of the church; Ruling elites and structures of power; Fascism and varieties of right-wing authoritarianism in the 1920s and 1930s; Communism; Empire and EU integration.

10 hours of lectures and 20 hours of seminars in the Winter Term.
2 hours of seminars in the Spring Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Winter Term.

Essay (2000 words) in Winter Term Week 6.

Students are required to submit one formative essay in the Winter Term.

K Polanyi, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time (Boston, 2001); M Mann, The Sources of Social Power: Vol. 2, The Rise of Classes and Nation States, 1760-1914, Vol. 3, Global Empires and Revolution, 1890-1945, and Vol. 4, Globalizations, 1945-2011 (Cambridge, 2012-13); B Moore, Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy (Boston, 1967); E Hobsbawm, The Age of Capital, 1848-1875 (London, 1975), The Age of Empire, 1875-1914 (London, 1989), Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century, 1914-1991 (London, 1994), and Nations and Nationalism since 1780 (Cambridge, 1992); D Lieven, Empire (London, 2000); N Stone, Europe Transformed 1878-1919 (Oxford, 1999); J Zielonka, Europe as Empire: The Nature of the Enlarged European Union (Oxford, 2007).

Exam (75%), duration: 120 Minutes in the Spring exam period.

Essay (25%, 2500 words) in Spring Term Week 1.