POL 621 Modern French Political Thought
This course explores the writings of French thinkers searching for meaning and understanding in a time of great triumphs and tragedies. The French preoccupation with the human condition - how persons perceive, experience, and seek meaning in the world - confounds the left-right political spectrum and distinguishes it from Anglo-American philosophical dispositions and even within the Continental tradition. The course begins with a theoretical and historical overview from the late 19th Century to today, then surveys leading schools of French thought, such as existentialism, personalism, structuralism, and postmodernity, and considers their relevance to Western political crises of neoliberalism, populism, the welfare state, and identity.
Cross Listed Courses
POL 422 & POL 621