Populism and Democracy
- Canovan, Margaret (2005). The People. Cambridge: Polity Press.
- Hellström, Anders (2016) Trust Us: Reproducing the nation and the Scandinavian Nationalist Populist Parties. New York/Oxford: Berghain Books
- Panizza, Fransisco (2005). Populism and the mirror of democracy. London/New York: Verso.
- Norocel, Cristian, Hellström, Anders and Bak-Jørgensen, Martin (2020) Nostalgia and Hope: Intersections between Politics of Culture, Welfare, and Migration. Cham: Springer.
- Moffitt, Benjamin (2020) Populism. Cambrige: Polity Press.
- Mouffe, Chantal (2019) For a left populism. London/New York: Verso.
- Mudde, Cas (2019) The Far Right Today. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Race, Privilege, and Social Justice
- Oluo, Ijeoma (2018) So You Want to Talk About Race. Seal Press. 245p
- Solomos, J. (2022). Race, ethnicity and social theory. Routledge. 314p (Available digitally through the library)
- Selected peer-reviewed journal articles (OA journal articles available through the library)
IMER Research Areas
About the course
During the Spring 2025, the following modules will be offered:
Populism and Democracy (15 credits)
Populism is often used in the public debate as an insult, a label you attach to someone you ultimately dislike and is short-time oriented in his approach to solve political issues. But is populism really the anti-thesis of democracy? Is populism an ideology, a style, a logic or a discourse? The first part of the course deals with the conceptual issues and how the concept can be used for empirical analysis. This section connects populism to societal processes and external events relevant for the reciprocal interaction between the political reproduction of national identities, the transformation of European welfare systems, and contemporary politics of migration. In the second part of the course feature case specific illustrations of the party-political environment, civil society mobilization, media representations and popular attitudes towards immigration, before and after the so-called refugee crisis. To instigate this further the course will dwell deeper into various empirical settings in Europe, but also beyond. The teaching techniques will employ a blend of lectures, regular seminar and role-play events. The course is examined in written form displaying the ability of applying the concept of populism analytically. The student will receive substantial feedback in written form.
Race, Privilege, and Social Justice
In this course, we engage in conversations on race, privilege, and social justice. Through readings, dialogue, and reflections, we develop our knowledge about how race is made and re-made through social and political relations. Together, we learn how to address and talk about race.
Our goal is to shift our perspective from viewing racism and structural racism as static issues to understanding them as dynamics we all participate in and perpetuate, both consciously and unconsciously. From a multidisciplinary and multi-contextual perspective, we explore where race matters and why we cannot move “beyond race” in the face of persistent racisms, hierarchies, and inequality.
Course content
This course develops knowledge and understanding of central issues in international migration and ethnic relations (IMER). It draws on ongoing research at the department and the expertise of the teaching researchers. The aim is both to develop an understanding of state of the art knowledge in the field and to examine how such knowledge is and can be produced. In so doing, the course consistently combines and integrates theoretical and methodological queries. No previous IMER courses are required, but rather a general acquaintance with key scientific criteria and academic literacy in the social sciences.
The course’s underlying pedagogical philosophy is that the generic intellectual skills of critical thinking and independent analysis are best developed in delimited thematic contexts, in which the connection between knowledge about (findings and theories) and knowledge how (methodology) are most visible and open for scrutiny. To this end, the course is focused on key problems and questions in contemporary IMER research, and benefits from the expertise and current research in the department. Apart from offering students in-depth knowledge on a selected set of subjects in the IMER field, it also develops a more profound and general understanding of what it means “to know” something and how such knowledge is produced in the social sciences.
The course is divided in two modules (15 + 15 credits), each of which consists of one general (7.5 credits) and one specific (7.5 credits) part. The first introduces the field, key concepts and theories, important findings and main controversies through a series of lectures and seminars with assigned readings. The second, specific part consists of individual work on a more specific topic within the wider area, in which students in dialogue with the teacher(s) select and review a particular research field. The reviewed material can be either secondary or primary. Teaching in the second part is organized as a series of supervision workshops where students and teacher(s) meet and discuss selection and assessment of their respective research fields.
The aim of the course is to offer first-hand, research-embedded knowledge by experts in the field, which means that the exact content every year will depend on the teaching researchers. The exact content of the course, including readings, is announced every Fall, at least two months before the course starts.
Syllabus and course literature
You can find a list of literature in the syllabus, along with other details about the course.
Entry requirements and selection
Entry requirements
General eligibility for university studies and English 6 + 30 credits within Social Science
Selection
University credits completed 100%
Course literature
Course evaluation
Malmö University provides students who participate in, or who have completed a course, with the opportunity to express their opinions and describe their experiences of the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarise the results of course evaluations. The University will also inform participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures taken in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).
