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Lehrende: Dr. Julian Müller
Veranstaltungsart:
Hauptseminar
Anzeige im Stundenplan:
Semesterwochenstunden:
2
Credits:
4,0
Unterrichtssprache:
Englisch
Min. | Max. Teilnehmerzahl:
1 | 25
Kontingentschema: Phil_Standard_WS1415
Weitere Informationen:
Für den erfolgreichen Besuch dieser Veranstaltung im Rahmen des Fachspezifischen Wahbereichs werden 4 LP angerechnet.
Kommentare/ Inhalte:
What is populism? Some theorists conceive of populism as a political approach that is different from ideologies such as liberalism, egalitarianism or anarchism in that it does not have a specific agenda. To put it differently, populism differs from other political approaches in that it lacks a specific content. It is therefore unsurprising that in the political arena, leftwing, rightwing as well as neoliberal political approaches are often tagged as being populist. However, even though tagging a specific political agenda as populist has a pejorative ring to it, some politicians and even political theorists have started to wear the predicate ‘populist’ as a badge of honor. The political theorist Chantal Mouffe, for instance, recently published a new book titled “For a Left Populism.”
The goal of this class is two-fold. Populism is not only a buzzword, but more importantly, a contested concept. One of the core goals of philosophy – going back to antiquity – is to clarify contested concepts. For this reason, the first goal of this class is to compare and analyze various attempts to clarify the concept of populism. The readings will center around two recent books: “What is Populism” by Jan-Werner Müller, and “Populism: A Very Short Introduction” by Cas Mudde and Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser, two of the most renowned experts in the field. The main readings are complemented by various essays and newspaper articles that attempt to get at the heart of populism and its recent rise to prominence.
The second goal of this class is purely methodological. Whenever philosophers seek to clarify concepts, they are essentially engaging in a normative task. They recommend certain accounts of the target concept – e.g., populism – and reject other ones. However, proposing and rejecting concepts is an exercise that necessarily relies on a set of criteria. The second goal of this class is thus to reflect on the methods that philosophers (and social scientists) employ when they try to illuminate and clarify concepts. Having a better understanding of the methodological underpinnings of conceptual analysis, the class will inquire into what kind of criteria theorists implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) rely on when analyzing the notion of populism.
The class thus serves both as an introduction to the method of conceptual engineering (30%) and as an introduction into populism (70%) understood as a specific mode of engaging in democratic politics.
Literatur:
1. Müller, Jan-Werner? (2016): What Is Populism? University of Pennsylvania Press.
2. Mudde, Cas; Kaltwasser, Cristobal Rovira (2017): Populism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press.
3. Cappelen, Herman (2018): Fixing Language: An Essay on Conceptual Engineering. Oxford University Press.
4. Burgess, Alexis; Plunkett, David (2013): Conceptual Ethics I, Philosophy Compass (8/12): 1091–1101.
5. Burgess, Alexis; Plunkett, David (2013): Conceptual Ethics I, Philosophy Compass (8/12): 1102–1110.
Zusätzliche Hinweise zu Prüfungen:
Studienleistung:
- presentation, diligent(!) class preperation
Prüfungsleistung:
- term paper, presentation, diligent(!) class preperation
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