Please note - Swinburne University of Technology

Section 3
The Consciousness of the People. This section looks at
theories of hegemony and class consciousness in Australia.
Section 4
The Rule of the People? This section considers the question:
who rules?
Reading guides are distributed.
AP20l Political Sociology
No. of hours per week: three hours
Prerequisite: any stage one political studies
subject or an approved equivalent
Assessment: continuous
Subject aims and description
In this subject, key aspects of the relationships between
politics and society are examined. It is an introduction to the
theme of power and its exercise. Its main objective is to
provide students with the basic skills necessary to identify
and understand major forms of power, which they can apply
to their immediate environment or to the broader
dimensions of society.
Topics to be considered include the historical background to
political sociology; classic views about the nature of human
beings and society; an analysis of the concepts of power,
authority and influence, with reference to Max Weber; the
problem of locating power in modern society and an
examination of three theories of power and society, namely
Marxist, elitist and pluralist theories; the definition of
democracy and the debate about its various models.
Preliminary reading
Dowse, R.E. and Hughes. J.A. ~litical Sociology. London: Wiley, 1972,
ch. 1
AP202 Europe, Capitalism and The Third World
No. of hours per week: three hours
Prerequisite: any stage one political studies
subject or approved equivalent
Assessment: by essays and tutorial participation
Subject aims and description
This subject relates the shaping of today's Third World to the
emergence of capitalism in Western Europe.
It examines the forces that haw produced the uneven
development where some parts of the world are industrialised
and rich and other parts still technically primitive
and poor.
The broad themes of the subject are the social origins of
capitalism and the process of proletarianisation, the
Industrial Revolution, European colonisation and the making
of a world economy.
Preliminary reading
Hill, C. Reformation to Industrial Revolution 1530- 1780.
Harmondsworth: Penguin. 1969
Textbook
Wolf, E. Europe and the Rople Without History. Berkeley: University
of California, 1982
AP204 Modern Japan
No. of hours per week: three hours
Prerequisite: any stage one political studies
subject or an approved equivalent
Assessment: by class work and essays
Subjeet aims and description
Discussion centres around the problems of Japanese
nationalism reflected in the nature of Japan's modernisation,
the consequences of her emergence as a world power, her
defeat, and re-emergence as an economic power. An
examination of the social configuration of Japanese society
will shed light on what are claimed to be the characteristic
features which distinguish contemporary Japan from other
industrialised societies, especially in politics, education,
business operations and employer-employee relations.
Preliminary reading
Storty, R. A History of Modern japan. 2nd ed, Hanondsworth:
Penguin, 1969
AP206 Politics of China A
(This subject cannot be taken by students who
have passed AP305 Comparative Politics: China A
or AP309 Chinese Politics A)
No. of hours per week: three hours
Prerequisites: one stage one political studies
su bjed
Assessment: continuous
Subject aims and description
In 1949 the Chinese Communist Party came to power after
the defeat of the Nationalists. This subject investigates the
development of "New China" through an examination of the
political system, different models for economic growth, social
restructuring, mass campaigns and the place given to
dissent. Through an examination of these issues, an
understanding of the facton that haw made China the
nation it is today, its political culture, shifting ideological
framework and changing relations with the West will be
reached. By the end of the subject, some insights into the
future options that lie before China will be possible.
References
Meisner. M. Mao's China and After. New York: The Free Press. 1986
Spence, J. The Search for Modern China. New York: W.W. Norton &
Company, 1990
Townsend, 1. and Womack, B. hlitics in China. 3rd ed, Boston: Little
Brown. 1986
Modem Australia
No. of hours per week: three hours
Prerequisite: any stage one political studies
subject or equivalent
Assessment: by essays and tutorial participation
Subject aims and description
AP207
This subject explores the patterns of change that have
shaped contemporaty Australia. It starts by looking at the
attempts to build a fairer society at the turn of the century.
and at the modern social institutions which emerged from
that process. It next considers the impact of the Great War.
of prosperity in the 1920s and depression in the 1930s on
the manner in which wealth and power were shared. It then
examines how the experience of those thirty years shaped
the grand plans to establish a more just and secure nation
after the Second World War. Through a survey of the long
post-war boom, it analyses the effects of Australia's relations
with its major allies on domestic and foreign policies. The
subject concludes with a study of the ways in which recent
governments have tried to adapt national interests to a
rapidly changing world.
Preliminary reading
Macintyre, 5. The Oxford History of Australia: vol.4,1901-1942, The
Succeeding Me, Melbourne: Oxford University Press. 1986