This module uses a range of contemporary key concepts and methods in political geography and geopolitics to understand how, why and in what ways current and emergent forms of sovereignty, statehood and territory are mobilised by states, cities, organisations and individuals in an increasingly globalized world. Specifically, drawing on historic and contemporary examples (including case studies of inter alia Lebanon, Russia, the European Union), the module examines:
- How sovereignty emerged and been sustained as one of the critical drivers of political geography by actors and organizations, and how is it manifested at a variety of spatial scales; and
- How sovereignty is implicated in current and likely future patterns and processes of political contestation, (dis)integration and geopolitical developments locally, nationally and globally in the 21st century.
By the end of the module you will be able to:
- Recognise the political implications, elements and functioning of sovereignty at a variety of scales, and understand the core components of critical geographic thought with regard to contemporary sovereigntyscapes.
- Relate critical geography approaches to questions of sovereignty, states, borders, territories, equity and justice, migration, citizenship, urban change, and contemporary geopolitics.
- Understand some of the key concepts in contemporary political geographical and geopolitical thought and the key events and processes underpinning changing political geographies of sovereignty.