Academic Catalog

IR529 INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY

Course Code: 3140529
METU Credit (Theoretical-Laboratory hours/week): 3(0-0)
ECTS Credit: 6.0
Department: International Relations
Language of Instruction: English
Level of Study: Graduate
Course Coordinator: Assoc.Prof.Dr. ÞERÝF ONUR BAHÇECÝK
Offered Semester: Fall and Spring Semesters.

Course Content

International political sociology (IPS) has recently emerged as a sub-field of international studies.
The main tenets of this new literature are the emphasis on social practices, a sociological approach to the international and international political problems as the main analytical focus. This course surveys the contributions of scholars inspired by Michel Foucault’s thought to the study of International Relations. It introduces students to Foucault’s later work known as governmentality
and the genealogical method. The course then focuses upon current transformations in world
politics from a governmentality perspective. In particular, it highlights the international political
sociology literature on questions such as international order, war, political power, governance, reason of state, risk, territoriality and borders. The objectives of this course are assessing the contributions of governmentality perspective to the IR discipline and developing the skills to use
theoretical concepts to analyze empirical political phenomena.