PSCI287 - Political Action Dissent

An introduction to the study of political theory, and specifically to the problems of political action. Exploration of questions about civil disobedience, legitimate authority, ethics and politics, and the challenge of creating a just order in a world characterized by multiple beliefs and identities. Discussion of the social contract, liberalism, democracy, decolonization, violence, revolution, globalization, universalism, and cultural relativism, and differences of race, class, and gender. Authors include Sophocles, Plato, Martin Luther King, Jr., John Locke, Niccolo Machiavelli, Max Weber, Malcolm X, Mohandas Gandhi and Frantz Fanon.