Module description
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the political order of the Federal Republic has continued to evolve as major social and economic shifts have transformed the lives of Germans in both East and West. After 1990, long term social trends such as the impact of mass immigration, the growing strength of the environmental movement and the reconfiguration of the economy and the welfare state became intertwined with the sudden impact of German reunification and the wider transformation of the international state system which had helped to bring it about.
Split into five sections, each consisting of two classes, this fifteen-credit level six module will explore this dynamic interaction between deep structural shifts in German society and the day-to-day debate and deal-making which defines the politics of the Berlin Republic twenty-one years after reunification. Each section will explore a major economic, social or cultural theme at the centre of modern German politics by examining how long-term structural trends have affected current political developments. The classes will focus on a recent incident in German politics relevant to a section’s wider theme which may or may not have gained significant public attention. Through the use of a wide range of archival, press and audio-visual sources, students will have the opportunity to develop a better understanding of the underlying socio-economic factors shaping current events in German politics.
*Please note that module information is provisional and may change from year to year.
Assessment details
One 2000 word essay (40%) and one 3000 word essay (60%)
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students will be able to demonstrate practical and intellectual skills appropriate to a level 6 module and in particular they will be able to demonstrate the following;
- a detailed awareness of the main theoretical debates that have shaped the study of contemporary German politics;
- key critical skills necessary to apply theory to the analysis of a range of political movements and current events;
- the ability to draw critically on their own personal experience of German political debate during their year abroad;
- a command of the interdisciplinary as well as disciplinary methods of analysis appropriate to the study of key social, political and economic developments in contemporary Germany;
- an ability to evaluate the impact of current debates over German identity and social change;
- an ability to refine their judgement by close reading of diverse primary sources and by the reading of a wide range of secondary literature;
- an ability to present their views in discussion and in written form in response to current issues in German politics.
Teaching pattern
One-hour lecture and one-hour seminar, weekly
Indicative teaching schedule
Week 1: Political Milieus and Party Ideologies
Week 2: Industry and Power in the Federal Republic
Week 3: Political Conflict and the Welfare State
Week 4: The National Politics of Environmental Change (focus on socio-economic costs of Energiewende)
Week 5: East German Communities and the Transformation of Political and Economic Structures
Week 6: Immigrant Communities and the Transformation of Political and Economic Structures
Week 7: National Security in the Federal Republic
Week 8: Germany and the EU
Week 9: Germany in the European Economy
Week 10: Germany's Foreign Policy
Note that this teaching schedule is indicative and subject to change.
Suggested reading list
- Silke Mende, "Nicht rechts, nicht links, sondern vorn" : eine Geschichte der Gründungsgrünen”, München, Oldenbourg, 2011.
- Ed Turner, Political Parties and Public Policy in the German Länder: When Parties Matter (New Perspectives in German Political Studies), Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
- Simon Green, Dan Hough (eds.), The Politics of the New Germany, Routledge, 2012.
- Beverly Crawford, Power and German Foreign Policy: Embedded Hegemony in Europe (New Perspectives in German Political Studies), Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.