Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Bachelor in Philosophy, Politics and Economics

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Sociopolitical History of the Contemporary World

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Description
This course covers the following topics: The American and French revolutions. The reshaping of Europe after the Napoleonic process and the restorations. The birth of the nation and the rise of nationalisms. The ascent of the bourgeoisie, the labor movement. Shifts in international hegemony: Paris, Berlin, and New York as the capitals of the 19th and 20th centuries. The Great War, the Weimar Republic, and fascisms. The Second World War and the reorganization of the global stage after 1945. Human rights, the Welfare State and its crises, the Cold War, and the bipolar world. The triumph of (social and political) neoliberalism, the collapse of the USSR, globalization, and the rise of China.
Type Subject
Primer - Obligatoria
Semester
First
Course
1
Credits
6.00
Previous Knowledge
Objectives

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.

Contents

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?

Methodology

Lectures by the professor

Student presentations through group work and individual contributions

Research, reading, and analysis of documents

Individual tutorials

Individual assignments

Class debates

Evaluation

To be eligible to take the final exam, whether in the regular or extraordinary session, all evaluable activities must have been completed.

The use of AI is prohibited in this course. Therefore, the use of such tools by students will be considered fraud and will result in the application of the current regulations for such infractions.

EXTRAORDINARY SESSION
The evaluation and weighting criteria are the same as in the regular session, so it is necessary to submit all evaluable activities.

Evaluation Criteria

Written assignments: 40%
Attendance and participation: 20%
Final written and in-person exam: 40%

Basic Bibliography

AROSTEGUI, J., BUCHRUCKER, C. y SABORIDO, J., El mundo contemporáneo, historia y
problemas, Barcelona, Crítica, 2001.
ARTOLA, Miguel y PÉREZ LEDESMA, Manuel, Contemporánea. La historia desde 1776, Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 2011.
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.

Additional Material

ARMSTRONG, Karem, Los orígenes del fundamentalismo. Barcelona, Tusquets, 2016.
BLANNING, T.C.W., El Siglo XIX. Europa 1789-1914. Historia de Europa Oxford, Barcelona, Crítica, 2002.
CASANOVA, Julián, Europa contra Europa (1914-1945), Barcelona, Crítica, 2012.
Id., La venganza de los siervos: Rusia 1917, Barcelona, Crítica, 2017.
CHOMSKY, Noam, El nuevo orden mundial (y el viejo). Barcelona, Crítica, 2002.
FERRER, A. (2013). Historia de la globalización. Vol. II: la revolución industrial y el segundo orden mundial. Buenos Aires: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
IGES, Orlando, La Revolución rusa (1891-1924). La tragedia de un pueblo, Barcelona, Edhasa, 2000.
FUKUYAMA, Francis, El fin de la historia y otros ensayos. Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 2017.
GARCÍA DE CORTÁZAR, F. y LORENZO, J, Mª, Historia del mundio actual (1945-1995). Vol. 1, Memoria de medio siglo. Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 1996.
GELLNER, E. (2008). Naciones y nacionalismos desde 1870. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.
HOBSBAWM, E. (1992), Naciones y nacionalismo desde 1780, Barcelona, Crítica, 1992.
Id., La era de las revoluciones (1789-1848). Barcelona, Crítica, 1997.
Id., La era del capital (1848-1875). Barcelona, Crítica, 2011.
Id., Historia del siglo XX. Barcelona, Crítica, 2012.
HUNTINGTON, Samuel, Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. New York:, Simon&Schuster. 2011.
ILIFFE, J., África: historia e un continente. Madrid, Akal, 2013.
INIESTA, F., Kuma, Historia del África negra. Barcelona, Bellaterra, 2018.
JACKSON, Gabriel, Civilización y barbarie en la Europa del siglo XX, Barcelona, Crítica, 2008.
JUDT, Tony, Postguerra. Una historia de Europa desde 1945, Madrid, Taurus, 2006
JOVER ZAMORA, J,Mª; GÓMEZ-FERRER, G. y FUSI, J.P., España, sociedad, política y civilización (siglos XIX y XX), Madrid, Debate, 2001.
LEWIN, M.,El siglo soviético. ¿Qué sucedió realmente en la Unión Soviética?, Barcelona, Crítica, 2017.
LOWE, Keith, Continente salvaje. Europa después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, Barcelona, Galaxia Gutenberg, 2012.
MAYER, A.L., Las furias: violencia y terror en las revoluciones francesa y rusa, Zaragoza, Prensas de la Universidad de Zaragoza, 2014.
MAZOWER, Mark, El imperio de Hitler. Ascenso y caída del nuevo orden europeo, Barcelona, Crítica, 2008.
McMAHON, R., La Guerra Fría. Una breve introducción, Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 2016.
NOLTE, E., La guerra civil europea, 1917-1945. Nacionalsocialismo y bolchevismo, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1994.
NOUSCHI, M.,Historia del siglo XX. Madrid, Ed. Cátedra, 1996.
POWASKI, R.E., La Guerra Fría. Estados Unidos y la Unión Soviética, 1917-1991, Barcelona: Crítica, 2016.
ROBERTSON, R. Tres olas de globalización. Historia de una conciencia global, Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 2005.
ROGAN, Eugen, Los árabes. Del Imperio Otomano a la actualidad. Barcelona, Critica, 2018.
SNYDER, Timothy, Tierras de sangre, Europa entre Hitler y Stalin, Barcelona, Galaxia Gutenberg, 2017.
STEARNS, P.N., Una nueva historia para un mundo global. Barcelona, Crítica, 2012.
STEGER, M. B. y ROY, R. K., Neoliberalismo. Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 2011.
STIGLITZ, J., El malestar en la globalización, Madrid, Taurus, 2002.
TAMAMES, R. y DEBRASA, F., China Tercer Milenio. Barcelona, Planeta, 2013.
TORTELLA, G., La revolución del siglo XX. Capitalismo, comunismo y democracia, Madrid, Taurus, 2000.
ZIEGLER, J., Odio a Occidente, Barcelona, Península, 2017.