Social Theory and Political Analysis

Second Essay Topics
1.

An essay topic of your own devising. Any such topic must be approved by your tutor: i.e. you should
present a written topic, via e-mail, to your tutor for approval prior to writing the essay.

2.

Why, for Agamben and Foucault, are sovereign power and biopolitics integral to our understanding
of modern subjectivity?

3.

Drawing on Michel Foucault’s notion of human capital and homo œconomicus, Wendy Brown
argues that neoliberal political rationality results in depoliticisation. Assess this claim.

4. How does the “Anthropocene” era challenge social theory and political analysis?
5.

What do Zizek, Badiou and/or Swyngedouw mean by the “depoliticisation” of climate change and
environmental movements? To what extent do you agree? (You need not engage all three thinkers.)

6. Judith Butler begins her essay, “Violence, Mourning, Politics,” claiming: “I propose to consider a
dimension of political life that has to do with our exposure to violence and our complicity in it, with
our vulnerability to loss and the task of mourning that follows, and with finding a basis for
community in these conditions.” In pervasive situations of human vulnerability, what sorts of
community does Butler propose? What sort of vision of “the human” do these communities
demand?
7.

How and why have primitive accumulation (Marx) and geographic expansion (Luxemburg)
returned to contemporary political analysis and social theory? Drawing on and extending Marx and
Luxemburg, Nancy Fraser outlined three backgrounds to capitalism’s foreground: production and
social reproduction; nature and power; polity and economy. You may also want to look at David
Harvey in the supplementary readings, as well as Bieler et al., to see how these ideas can be
elaborated in concrete political and social examples of recent times.

8. Adorno writes: “Because society can neither be defined as a concept in the current logical sense,
nor empirically demonstrated, while in the meantime social phenomena continue to call out for
some kind of conceptualization, the proper organ of the latter is speculative theory. Only a
thoroughgoing theory of society can tell us what society really is.” Adorno thus criticises
sociological and political scientific work that relies on empirical analysis without explicit
theorisation. But he also theorises from the concrete. Considering Adorno’s lecture texts and his
“Society” essay (all in the required reading), and guided by the supplementary essays, explain why,
for Adorno, theory is essential in social and political analysis.
9. Adorno and Butler both believe that suffering always takes place within—and is generated by—
social and cultural contexts. How do they understand ideology to construct subjects and their
bodies in certain ways that can create suffering and obscure pain?
10. The final weeks in this subject have invoked debates over universality and particularity. Why has this
long-standing philosophical debate emerged again in recent decades? You can discuss regarding
any of the topics (e.g., twentieth century history, uneven geographical development, suffering,
climate change, feminism, war, violence) we have discussed in the course.
NB: You may write one essay on the same topic as your tutorial paper.

Due Date and Word Length
The essay should be 2000 – 2200 words and will count for 50% of total assessment. It is due by 5pm, Thursday, 12
November.
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Essay Topics: Second Essay – Social Theory and Political Analysis, 2015

Submission
Assessment submission in the School of Social and Political Sciences is a two-step process. please note that both
steps must be completed by the due date and time before work can be assessed.
i. Students must submit assessment electronically (in word doc format) through the Turnitin function, via the online
submission portal on the LMS site of this subject. This will act as an electronic receipt of assessment submission.
AND
ii. All written work for assessment must be submitted to the School office and include a correctly completed School
Assessment Coversheet. The cover sheet includes a student declaration, which students must sign. The declaration
relates to the originality (lack of plagiarism, collusion, etc.) of student work. Essay Coversheets are available from
relevant subject LMS sites and can also be found in the ‘Student’ section of the School’s website. Assessment should be
typed in double-spacing in 12 point font on one side of the sheet only, and with a margin of at least 4 cm on the left-hand
side of the page. All work submitted through the School office will be collated and passed on to the relevant
tutor/lecturer within 24 hours. Please note: students are required to prepare their assessment (ie. properly collated and
a completed coversheet) prior to submission. Stationery will not be provided at the School office. Assignments will not
be accepted via fax or email. Students are expected to retain a copy of all work submitted for assessment.

Extension Policy and Late Submission of Work
Extensions for assessment other than the final piece will be handled by tutors / subject coordinators in accordance with
the current policy outlined below:
Students are able to negotiate a short-term extension of up to 5 working days with tutors for in-semester assessment.
Longer terms of up to 10 working days can only be approved by the subject coordinator. Extensions are not granted
after due dates have passed. An extension of time after a deadline has passed will usually be given only for a reason that
falls within the guidelines for Special Consideration. A specific date will then be agreed upon and enforced unless
evidence for additional Special Consideration is produced. To apply for an extension, students must complete an
Assignment Extension Request form available from relevant subject LMS sites (and from the ‘student’ sections of the
School’s website) and email it their tutor/subject coordinator, along with any supporting documentation where
possible, prior to the submission date. Students will then be notified of the outcome of the application by their Tutor or
Subject Coordinator via the student’s university e-mail account. Extensions for the final piece of assessment due during
the examination period may be granted by the subject coordinator on the provision of some documentation for a
maximum of TEN working days (two weeks) and on the condition that the work will be marked in time for a final grade
to be returned by the results submission deadline set by the School. Special Consideration forms should be submitted
for issues which impact on the whole of semester work and for issues affecting assessment where more than a twoweek extension is requested.

Penalty for Submission of Late Assessment
Essay-based assessment (or equivalent) submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 10% per
working day. In-class tasks missed without approval will not be marked. All pieces of written work must be submitted to
pass any subject.