Off the Centre: Introduction to the Radical Political Thought

2021/2022

Учебный год

ENG

Обучение ведется на английском языке

5

Кредиты

Кто читает:

Департамент теории права и сравнительного правоведения

Статус:

Курс по выбору

Когда читается:

1-й курс, 4 модуль

Преподаватель

Белькович Родион Юрьевич

Course Syllabus

Abstract

Unification of the First World states under the banner of liberal democracy and the dominance of the human rights agenda as a common vocabulary of political elites sometimes create an illusion of the end of intellectual history. Liberalism promotes itself as a natural phenomenon, a default worldview of any society developed enough to fight the “perversions” of the extreme left and right alike. This “liberal millennialism” does not differ much in this respect from the Soviet insistence on Communism as being an unsurpassable pinnacle of political philosophy. The current events though show an altogether different picture – the growing discontent of the people on both sides of the political spectrum, leading to direct action and even violence, reminds us of the potent yet mostly hidden intellectual forces which always exist on the fringes of mainstream ideology. This course is an introduction to the history of radicalism in political philosophy. Through readings in classical and contemporary authors, lectures and class-room discussions the students will try to grasp the nature and the allure of radicalism as an ever-present mode of thinking about the things political.

Learning Objectives

• To understand the foundations and the internal logic of various currents of radical political thought

Expected Learning Outcomes

• To understand the crucial concept of Alienation and its connection with anthropological dimension of Marx's thought
• To understand the influence the private market idea has on the development of right-wing anarchism
• To understand the logic and the forms of the revolt against the traditional order in Modern Times
• To understand the main currents in the development of leftist thought in the XXth century
• To understand the origins and the nature of reactionary attitude towards the contemporary world and its political and spiritual aspects
• To understand the roots of the radical thought in Antiquity and the Middle Ages
• To understand the various intellectual pathes which lead to the struggle against the state as a historical phenomenon

Course Contents

• Being Radical Before Modernity: Crusade Against the Common
• Too Enlightened Not to Rebel: Modern Reason vs. Ancien Régime
• Early Marxism: The Spectre of Alienation
• Anarchism: Ni Dieu ni Maître
• Revolt Against the Modern World: The Extreme Right
• The Left in the XXth Century: The Soviet and the "New"
• Libertarianism: The Private War Against the State

Assessment Elements

• Classroom discussion activity
• Essay

Interim Assessment

• 2021/2022 4th module
  0.6 * Classroom discussion activity + 0.4 * Essay

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Burke, E. (2001). Reflections on the Revolution in France. Electric Book Co.
• Derrida, J., Van Reenen, S., & De Ville, J. (2018). Before the Law : The Complete Text of Préjugés. Minneapolis: Univ Of Minnesota Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1918054
• Étienne de La Boétie. (2020). Anti-Dictator : The Discours Sur La Servitude Volontaire of Étienne De La Boétie. Barakaldo Books.
• F. A. Hayek, & Bruce Caldwell. (2014). The Road to Serfdom : Text and Documents: The Definitive Edition. Routledge.
• Gentile, G., & Gregor, A. J. (2017). Origins and Doctrine of Fascism : With Selections From Other Works. Routledge.
• GUY DEBORD. (2012). Society Of The Spectacle. [S.l.]: Bread and Circuses. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=nlebk&AN=1149446
• Hans-Hermann Hoppe. (2013). The Economics and Ethics of Private Property : Studies in Political Economy and Philosophy (Vol. 1993). Springer.
• Hans-Hermann Hoppe. (2017). Democracy – The God That Failed : The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy and Natural Order. Routledge.
• Herbert Marcuse. (1974). Eros and Civilization : A Philosophical Inquiry Into Freud. Beacon Press.
• Herbert Marcuse. (2014). One-Dimensional Man : Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society: Vol. Unabridged. Beacon Press.
• Hobbes, T. (2009). Leviathan : The Matter, Forme & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiastical and Civill. The Floating Press.
• Joseph de Maistre, & Richard A. Lebrun. (1993). St Petersburg Dialogues : Or Conversations on the Temporal Government of Providence. McGill-Queen’s University Press.
• Joseph de Maistre. (1996). Against Rousseau : On the State of Nature and On the Sovereignty of the People. McGill-Queen’s University Press.
• Julius Evola. (2018). Men Among the Ruins : Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist. Inner Traditions.
• Karl Marx. (2014). Economic & Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. Digireads.com Publishing.
• Locke, J., & Shapiro, I. (2003). Two Treatises of Government : And a Letter Concerning Toleration. Yale University Press.
• Marcus Tullius Cicero. (2014). “On the Republic” and “On the Laws.” Cornell University Press.
• Marx, K., Lukes, S., Isaac, J. C., & Engels, F. (2012). The Communist Manifesto. Yale University Press.
• Mikhail Bakunin. (2018). God and the State. Charles River Editors.
• Murray N. Rothbard. (1998). The Ethics of Liberty. NYU Press.
• Peter Kropotkin, & Iain McKay. (2014). Direct Struggle Against Capital : A Peter Kropotkin Anthology. AK Press.
• Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, & Iain McKay. (2011). Property Is Theft! : A Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Reader. AK Press.
• Plato. (2009). The Republic. The Floating Press.
• Plato., & Tyler, W. S. (William S. 1810-1897 ed. (1887). Plato’s Apology and Crito; with notes.
• Rousseau, J.-J., Dunn, S., & May, G. (2002). The Social Contract : And, the First and Second Discourses. Yale University Press.
• Sophocles. (2019). The Collected Works of Sophocles : The Complete Works PergamonMedia. PergamonMedia.
• Spooner, L. (1992). No treason. Generic NL Freebook Publisher.
• Stirner, M. 1806-1856., & Byington, S. T. (Steven T. 1868-1957, tr. (1907). The ego and his own.
• The foundations of modern political thought. Vol.1: The Renaissance, Skinner, Q., 2005
• The foundations of modern political thought. Vol.2: The age of Reformation, Skinner, Q., 2005
• V. I. Lenin, & Todd Chretien. (2015). State and Revolution. [N.p.]: Haymarket Books. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=982978

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Prison notebooks. Vol.1: ., Gramsci, A., 2011
• Prison notebooks. Vol.2: ., Gramsci, A., 2011
• Prison notebooks. Vol.3: ., Gramsci, A., 2011