Social Ontology and Political Economy

Tuesday 23 February – 23 March 2021 (two lectures/day every Tuesday for five weeks)

Teacher: Dr Karim Knio

Location: Online via Zoom

Tuition: Members: free; non-members 500 euros

Description: This course aims to emphasize the necessity and desirability of embedding thematic and empirical research within ontological debates to produce rigorous scholarly research. It introduces students to fundamental debates in social ontology and highlights their subsequent implications on political economy analysis. Namely, the course focuses on two important ontological debates in their own right before it develops a cartography which charts their intersection, then this cartography is subsequently situated within the classic debate on neoliberalism in critical political economy literatures. In so doing, the course not only demonstrates how different approaches interpret and articulate neoliberalism, but it also reflects on the making of theoretical approaches in their own right. This should provide doctoral students with various analytical skills to help them in appropriately navigating through various academic literatures as well as situating their own research.

In principle, the course is equivalent to 8 ECTs of course work, although as this is a new course, it needs to be approved by the PhD’s respective authority.