Face-to-face , first term, 30 hours of theory.

First term
Thursday from 13:30 to 15:30 at 43 Botanique 5

French.

The course aims to give an overview of the major political doctrines, from their origins in antiquity to the ideologies of the 20th century. Based on the reading of classical and contemporary authors and textbooks, but also using other media - press articles, film extracts and others - the perspective adopted brings conceptual history into dialogue with political and social history. The course and seminar aim to show that it is possible to better understand the contemporary world - its problems, challenges and possibilities - using the tools of philosophy and political thought. On the pedagogical level, the course aims, through lectures, readings, discussions and seminar presentations, to encourage students to improve their note-taking, to supplement their notes with articles and extracts from reference works, to develop their spirit of synthesis and the linking of knowledge, and to deepen their understanding of certain questions related to their readings, guest lectures and current debates.

For the Bachelor in History :

For the Bachelor in Modern Languages and Letters: German, Dutch and English :

For the Bachelor in Philosophy :

For the Bachelor in Information and Communication :

For the Bachelor in Political Sciences: General :

For the Bachelor in Sociology and Anthropology :

The lectures cover the following themes and authors:
Part 1: At the origins of contemporary political doctrines
1. Antiquity
2. The confrontation between the Ancient and the Modern
3. The links between religious and political doctrines
Part 2: Political doctrines from Machiavelli to Marx
4. Modern theories of the state and sovereignty
Machiavelli, Bodin, Hobbes: absolute sovereignty
Rousseau: popular sovereignty
Locke: liberalism and limits to the power of the state
5. Reactionary and conservative thinking
6. Marx: understanding the world to change it
Part 3: Ideologies of the 20th century
7. Socialism(s) and communism
8. Fascism(s) and National Socialism

The reading seminar, after an introductory session and presentation of the expected results, goes into more detail on the following themes (based on the reading and presentation by students of texts from authors, whether or not they were studied in the framework of the lecture and cited here for information purposes):
Session 1: Ancient and Modern (Benjamin Constant)
Session 2: The State (Thomas Hobbes and John Locke)
Session 3: Social criticisms (Karl Marx and Simon Weil)
Session 4: Feminist criticisms (Olympe de Gouges et Françoise Vergès)
Session 5: (De-)Colonialism, racism and totalitarianism (Aimé Césaire and Michel Foucault)
Session 6: Populism (Chantal Mouffe)
Session 7: What ecological political doctrines for the future? (Baptiste Morizot et Starhawk)

Description of the lecture:
Rooted in the history and analysis of political ideas, the course gives students an overview of what can be understood by political "doctrines" and "ideologies". The aim is first to identify the foundations of modern and contemporary political thought since Antiquity and the invention of the Polis. It then presents the major theories of the state and sovereignty and the main political doctrines from Machiavelli to Marx and the criticisms of industrial society in the 19th century. Finally, it is a question of painting a picture of the great currents of ideas that marked the 20th century (socialism and communism, fascism), emphasising the elements of continuity and rupture with respect to the "classics”. The presentation is oral, based on a detailed lesson plan, readings of articles or viewing of excerpts, and includes, depending on the opportunities, guest lectures by external speakers or participation in certain scientific events.

Description of the activity involved and of the reading seminar:
In a word, the students will have to read and participate as actively as possible. On the one hand, the lecture will be complemented by the reading of a book; for each part of the course, complementary readings will also be proposed. On the other hand, the reading seminar is structured on an agenda and a portfolio of readings (texts, extracts or chapters). Students will be asked to take turns presenting, alone or in small groups, the extract(s) that serve as a support for each session. The other students will have to report on their readings, their difficulties and what they have learned from their readings. The texts are chosen in relation to the sessions of the lecture course. Students should be able to synthesise what they read (themes, thesis, argumentation of the text), relate the texts and authors studied, and question them in relation to the themes of the course and current political issues. As the seminar sessions take place in smaller groups, they are also an additional opportunity to ask questions of elucidation and a place for debate.

Articulation between the lecture, the involving activity and the reading seminar:
As already mentioned, the reading of a book complements the lectures, deepening or broadening themes seen in the course from another angle and in another format, requiring the development of a spirit of synthesis.
The readings of the seminar may concern extracts from classical authors generally studied in political doctrines (Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, Arendt...) or articles or book extracts on these classics, the questions they raise or most recent debates.

The examination is written. It includes open questions on the lecture (lecture and reading(s), for 2/3 to 75% of the final mark) and on the other compulsory reading(s) as presented and studied in seminar (25% to 1/3 of the final mark).
In order to encourage et value students' active participation in the seminar sessions, up to two bonus points (in addition to the mark obtained for the written examination in the 1st or 2nd session) may be awarded to students who have presented one of the compulsory readings in a satisfactory manner and actively took part in the seminar as a whole. All students who wish to present a paper will be given the opportunity to do so.

Références (sélection) du cours magistral (lectures non obligatoires)
Catherine Audard, Qu'est-ce que le libéralisme?, Paris, Gallimard, 2009, p. 48-67.
Jean-Jacques Chevallier, Les grandes œuvres politiques de Machiavel à nos jours, Paris, Armand Colin, 1970, rééd.
Jean-Marc Ferry et Justine Lacroix, La pensée politique contemporaine, Bruxelles, Bruylant, 2000.
Simone Goyard-Fabre, L'État, figure moderne de la politique, Paris, Armand Colin, 1999, pp. 5-44.
Gérard Mairet, Les grandes œuvres politiques, Paris, Le Livre de Poche, 1993 rééd.
Gérard Mairet, Le principe de souveraineté, Paris, Gallimard, Folio/Essais, 1997.
Pierre Manent, Histoire intellectuelle du libéralisme, Paris, Hachette, 1987, pp. 89-117 (Ch. IV: Locke, le travail et la propriété).
Pierre Manent, « Présentation » à Joseph de Maistre, Considérations sur la France (1797), Bruxelles, Complexe, 1988, rééd., pp. VII-XVIII.
Olivier Nay, Histoire des idées politiques, Paris, Armand Colin, 2007, rééd.
Olivier Nay, Johan Michel et Antoine Roger, Dictionnaire de la pensée politique, Paris, Armand Colin, 2005.
Pascal Ory (dir.), Nouvelle histoire des idées politiques, Paris, Fayard, 2010.
Philippe Raynaud, « Préface » à Edmund Burke, Réflexions sur la révolution de France (1790), Paris, Hachette, 2004, pp. IX-CV.
Julien Weisbein et Samuel Hayat, Introduction à la sociohistoire des idées politiques, Bruxelles, Louvain-la-Neuve, De Boeck Supérieur, 2020.

Exemples de lectures complémentaires pour le cours magistral (à titre indicatif, à préciser en début d'année)
Silvia Federici, Le capitalisme patriarcal, trad., Paris, La Fabrique Éditions, 2019, 184 p.
Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe et Jean-Luc Nancy, Le mythe nazi , Éditions de L'Aube, 1991, rééd. 2016, 80 p.
Rosa Luxemburg, La Révolution russe, trad., Éditions de l'Aube, 2013, 64 p.

Exemples de lectures obligatoires pour le séminaire (à titre indicatif, à préciser et compléter en début d'année)
Session 1: Benjamin Constant, De la liberté des Anciens comparée à celle des Modernes, Paris, L. G. F., Coll. Pluriel, 1980, pp. 493-515.
Session 2: Thomas Hobbes, Le Léviathan ou Matière, forme et puissance de l'État chrétien et civil, Folio, 2000 [1651], pp. 336-353; John Locke, Traité du gouvernement civil [1690], § 4-15 & 95-122.
Session 3: Karl Marx, Le manifeste du Parti Communiste [1848], Chapter I: Bourgeois et Prolétaires (online); Simone Weil, Réflexions sur les causes de la liberté et de l'oppression sociale (excerpts).
Session 4: Olympe de Gouges, Déclaration des droits de la femme et de la citoyenne; Françoise Vergès, Le féminisme décolonial (excerpts), La Fabrique.
Session 5: Aimé Césaire, Discours sur le colonialisme; Michel Foucault, « Il faut défendre la société » (excerpts).
Session 6: Chantal Mouffe, L'illusion du consensus (excerpts).
Session 7: Baptiste Morizot, Manières d'être vivant (excerpts), Actes Sud.