In this course, students will become familiar with two of the most important categories in political, social, and economic studies: sovereignty and globalization, both in their theoretical dimension and their application to concrete cases in the contemporary global context.
Students will be introduced to the accumulated knowledge in the Social Sciences on the functioning of global governance processes, correlations between political agendas and international economic practices, as well as the rules of the international system and the practical consequences of conflicts in the global arena.
The learning perspective combines analytical interpretation tools and contextualized empirical studies.
Students will be able to develop a rational and well-reasoned understanding of the main correlation processes between sovereignty and globalization in the 21st century, with an emphasis on understanding conceptual networks between state, citizenship, and democracy in the face of the challenges posed by economic and financial globalization, the complex links between globalizing technological, social, and cultural dynamics, and the feedback loop between political participation, equality, and social rights.
Each theoretical topic is anchored to a practical case, allowing students to address the themes of sovereignty and globalization through their implementation in real-world social conditions, such as human development, democratic structure, and the expansion of basic rights, freedoms, and civic opportunities.
Topic 1: Introduction ? Theoretical-Analytical Framework
1.1. Definitions of Sovereignty and Globalization
1.2. A theoretical framework for understanding global systems: Game Theory and Cooperation Theory
1.3. Basic research approaches in Social Sciences on sovereignty and globalization: Central authority, Prisoner?s dilemma, Sovereign power (Hobbesianism), Security dilemma, Reciprocity (Axelrod). Theoretical basis: Rational Choice Theory. Critiques of Rational Choice. Protected Values (Tetlock, Ginges, Atran)
Topic 2: State, Sovereignty, Economy
2.1. The role of the state in the 21st century. State theory and theory of the state
2.2. Mixed economy and neoliberalism(s)
2.3. Intervention of the sovereign state. Balancing rights. Is there a public reason?
2.4. Free market vs. economic sovereignty. The never-ending debate. Primacy of freedoms or political sovereignty
2.5. The myth of the market as the primary structure of society. The invisible hand cannot solve basic social problems (e.g., COVID health crisis)
2.6. State, sovereignty, economy
UNIT 2: GLOBALIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT
Topic 3: Economic and Social Globalization
3.1. Case study: Globalization and the future of work
3.2. Smart machines and social cohesion
3.3. Artificial intelligence: social benefits, cultural applications
3.4. The issue of school dropout
3.5. Singularity: When machines are better than humans at inductive reasoning
3.6. The impact of mechanization on the future of work. Social crisis
3.7. Worker losses: capital flows, offshoring
Topic 4: Globalization and Development
4.1. Case study: Poverty reduction and ending hunger
4.2. Preconditions: Basic infrastructure and human capital
4.3. The structure of income inequality
4.4. Solutions: Fiscal policies. Increased tax revenue
4.5. Distribution of multidimensional poverty worldwide
4.6. Risk factors: Tax havens
4.7. Most affected regions ? Example: Africa
UNIT 3: CITIZENSHIP, POLITICS, EQUALITY, RIGHTS
Topic 5: Citizenship, Participation, Cultural Diversity
5.1. Case study: Migration and civic integration policies
5.2. Paradigms of cultural diversity management: assimilation, integration, multiculturalism, interculturalism
5.3. Global demographic imbalances. Demographic transition
5.4. The four pillars of EU citizenship policy
5.5. The eight levels of sociocultural segmentation
5.6. Xenophobia and discrimination
5.7. Challenges, dilemmas, questions
Topic 6: Equality and Social Rights
6.1. Case study: Human Development Index
6.2. The eight greatest obstacles to human development
6.3. The issue of distributive justice (Rawls, Sen), Habermas, Communitarianism
6.4. The category of social justice ? Amartya Sen?s approach
6.5. Social inequality and gender inequality
6.6. Outlook
UNIT 4: SOVEREIGNTY AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
Topic 7: Global Governance Mechanisms
7.1. Case study: Trade war between the United States and China
7.2. National Security Strategy. National Defense Strategy
7.3. The South China Sea conflict
7.4. China?s challenges: fair trade practices, wage increases and labor rights, more public spending on pensions and healthcare
7.5. Hub-and-spoke: The United States' international economic model (both under Trump and Biden)
7.6. Trade war explained using the three-dimensional chess model
7.7. Distortion of global rules. Application of Game Theory
7.8. Balancing public health and the economy ? Case study: Coronavirus 2020?2021
7.9. Conclusions
Ordinary call:
To be evaluated in the ordinary call, all evaluation-related activities must be completed. These activities must be submitted by the deadlines set by the instructor. If, for a duly justified and communicated reason, they cannot be submitted on time, students may submit them before the final exam so that the instructor can grade them, though they are not obligated to provide feedback in that case.
Students have the right to take the final written exam even if not all assignments have been submitted, but the final grade will only be calculated if all activities have been delivered and according to the criteria and weightings in this course guide. If any activity has not been completed or submitted, it will appear as "Not submitted" in the final record.
Extraordinary call:
The evaluation criteria are the same as in the ordinary call. All course evaluation activities must be submitted. Grades from previously completed activities (including the final written exam) will be retained while awaiting completion of pending activities. The same weighting criteria will apply. This rule is valid only for the current academic year. If the extraordinary call is not passed, re-enrollment means repeating the full course.
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