Advanced studies in political science, public administration

Duration

30h Th

Number of credits

Lecturer

Damien Piron

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

Neoliberalism could be defined as a 'buzzword', as it is used daily by a wide range of political actors, associations and scholars in order to describe (often with a critical standpoint) several reforms that are implemented in fields as diverse as employment, public administration, health care, scientific research, etc.
By introducing student with classic as well as more recent works belonging to the increasingly vast international literature dedicated to neoliberalism, the theoretical part of the course aims at providing them with new analytical tools, enabling them to better understand the rationality lying behind contemporary public policies reforms.
In the second part of the course, which builds upon the content of the theoretical lectures, students will then be invited to apply (at least one of) these theories to an original and topical case study, selected by themselves.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

At the end of this course, the student is expected to be able to:

• Compare and contrast several theoretical perspectives on neoliberalism;
• Critically comment these perspectives;
• Apply and discuss (at least) one of these perspectives in relation with a topic of his/her choice

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

• Ex-cathedra course with active participation of students
• Writing and presentation of the paper (15 pages)

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Face-to-face; active participation of the students is highly encouraged.

Recommended or required readings

Cahill, D., Cooper, M., Konings, M., & Primrose, D. (2018). Introduction: Approaches to Neoliberalism. In D. Cahill, M. Cooper, M. Konings, & D. Primrose (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Neoliberalism (pp. xxv-xxxiii). London: Sage.
Chiapello, E. (2017). Critical accounting research and neoliberalism. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 43, 47-64.
Chorev, N. (2018). Neoliberalism and Supra-National Institutions. In D. Cahill, M. Cooper, M. Konings, & D. Primrose (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Neoliberalism (pp. 260-270). London: Sage.
Dardot, P., & Laval, Ch. (2013). The New Way of the World: On Neoliberal Society. London: Verso.
Davies, W. (2014). Neoliberalism: A Bibliographic Review. Theory, Culture & Society, 31(7-8), 309-217.
Davies, W. (2017). The Limits of Neoliberalism: Authority, Sovereignty and the Logic of Competition. London: Sage.
Foucault, M. (2008). The Birth of Biopolitics-Lectures at the Collège de France (1978-1979). Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Morales, J., Gendron, Y., & Guénin-Paracini, H. (2014). State privatisation and the unrelenting expansion of neoliberalism: The case of the Greek financial crisis. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 25(6), 423-445.

Assessment methods and criteria

Final essay: 15 pages (state of the art and theoretical framework, case study, main findings)
Oral presentation + Q&A session

Work placement(s)

Organizational remarks

Contacts

damien.piron@uliege.be
d.piron@uclouvain.be 

Items online