The course Socio-Political History of the Contemporary World offers Philosophy, Politics, and Economics students an introductory global historical overview of the key actors and factors in politics, society, economy, international relations, and culture from the French Revolution to the Gulf War of 2003. It serves as a foundation for students to begin contextualizing philosophical-ideological, political, and economic knowledge on a global scale, which they will acquire in the rest of the degree.
As such, the course establishes general knowledge about the history and society of the contemporary world, providing a diachronic perspective of global transformations. Equally important is the understanding that the present, according to the epistemological logic of history, follows a genetic-determinist principle: nothing is random, but causal, mutable, and the result of human decisions.
Events, processes, and phenomena from the late 18th century to today are crucial because they have shaped our current reality.
INTRODUCTION: Contemporary History, the foundation of our time
0.1. General introduction
0.2. Program and methodology
UNIT 1: THE BIRTH OF CONTEMPORANEITY (1776?1914)
1.1. The liberal revolutionary cycle
1.2. Economic and social transformations. The birth of the labor movement
1.3. From nationalism to imperialism
UNIT 2: TIMES OF CRISIS (1914?1945)
2.1. World War I
2.2. From the Russian Revolution to the rise of fascism
2.3. World War II
UNIT 3: THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE WORLD AND THE POLITICS OF BLOCS (1945?1989)
3.1. The Marshall Plan and the Cold War
3.2. The decolonization process and the birth of new states
3.3. The Welfare State and human rights
3.4. The Middle East and the oil crisis (1971?73)
UNIT 4: THE NEOLIBERAL REVOLUTION AND GLOBALIZATION
4.1. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the USSR. The neoliberal revolution (Thatcher and Reagan)
4.2. Regional integration (EU, OAS, MERCOSUR, SAED, etc.) and unipolar globalization
4.3. 9/11, Gulf Wars, rise of China, 2008 crisis
4.4. The crisis of liberalism. Towards a multipolar world? End of history or clash of civilizations?
Lectures by the professor
Student presentations through group work and individual contributions
Research, reading, and analysis of documents
Individual tutorials
Individual assignments
Class debates
Ordinary call:
To be eligible for assessment in the ordinary call, all evaluable activities must have been completed. These activities must be submitted by the deadlines set by the professor. If, for a duly justified reason and previously communicated to the professor, a student cannot submit the assignments within the established period, they may do so before the date of the final exam, so that the professor can grade them. However, in such cases, the professor is not obliged to provide feedback on those activities.
The student has the right to take the final written exam even if they have not submitted all other evaluable activities; however, the final grade for the course will only be calculated if all required activities have been submitted, and in accordance with the assessment criteria and weighting outlined in this syllabus. If any required activity is not submitted or completed, the student will be marked as ?Not Presented? in the official records.
Extraordinary call:
The evaluation criteria are the same as those for the ordinary call, meaning that all evaluable course activities must be submitted. Grades from completed activities (including the final written exam) will be retained, pending completion of the remaining activities. The same weighting criteria will apply as in the ordinary evaluation.
This measure applies only within the current academic year; if the extraordinary call is not passed, re-enrollment will require repeating the entire course.
Written assignments: 40%
Attendance and participation: 20%
Final written and in-person exam: 40%
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FERNÁNDEZ, Antonio, Historia Universal. Edad contemporánea, Barcelona, Vicens Vives, 2000.
VILLARES, Ramón y BAHAMONDE, Angel, El mundo contemporáneo. Siglos XIX y XX, Madrid, Taurus, 2001.
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