Learning outcomes: after completing the course, students will have attained the following learning outcomes:
- in-depth knowledge and understanding of historical developments related to the course topic;
- in-depth knowledge of the historiography within the course topic;
- in-depth knowledge of the theoretical discourse about this topic;
- knowledge of a relevant historical case pertaining to the specialised topic.
Learning objectives and skills: after completing the course, students will be able to:
- critically reflect and actively participate in classroom discussions about the topic;
- apply concepts, historiography and theories connected with the course topic;
- collaborate in reading groups (tutorial groups);
- devise and develop a research question on the basis of an in-depth case study of their choice;
- apply their newly acquired knowledge of the theoretical discourse and historiography to a case study of their choice;
- conduct independent research focusing (mainly) on in-depth secondary literature.
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This is the third course of Specialisation 2: Political Conflict in Modern Europe.
(English track International Relations/History).
The Arab Spring in the Middle East, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine and the Rose Revolution in Georgia are only some of the most prominent examples of revolutionary revolt on a massive scale in recent years. Revolutions seem to occur everywhere on the fringes of Europe, seem to easily cross national borders, and shape the world we live in in unexpected ways. At the same time, revolutions are the topic of intense debate among scholars: how should they be appreciated and understood? Do revolutions cause chaos, civil war and unrest? Or, are they, instead a catalyst for the development of democratic societies and social justice? Furthermore, how and why do revolutions actually occur? And why do some revolutions succeed while others fail?
This course focuses on the explanations for revolutions and other forms of political upheaval in a long-term historical perspective. The course investigates four different academic theories which claim to explain the causes, developments, and consequences of revolutions, coups and regime changes. We particularly focus on social class, the actions of the state-elites, ideology, and transitions to democracy. We apply these different explanations to concrete historical and recent instances of political upheaval, from the eighteenth century right up to the Arab Spring in the world of today. Students learn to weigh up different explanations and develop an understanding of the various dynamic processes that determine the course and consequences of revolutions. In their own individual research project, students finally apply these various explanations to investigate a concrete revolutionary case in past or present.
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