GLCb1011 Globalization and its challenges

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. et Mgr. Jiří Baroš, Ph.D. (lecturer)
György Ligeti, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Josef Patočka (lecturer)
doc. PhDr. Csaba Szaló, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Ing. Soňa Enenkelová (assistant)
Mgr. Karel Němeček (assistant)
Ing. Zuzana Talašová (assistant)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Csaba Szaló, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: doc. PhDr. Csaba Szaló, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies (34,00 %), Department of Political Science – Faculty of Social Studies (33,00 %), Department of Environmental Studies – Faculty of Social Studies (33,00 %)
Timetable
Tue 14:00–15:40 M011
Prerequisites
TYP_STUDIA(B)
none
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course introduces students to various layers of ever increasing interconnection and interdependence of societies at the global level. The rising concern about the fate of the world as a whole and the massive processes of destabilisation of social institutions and certainties is addressed, too.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, a student will be able to:
- identify and summarize important features of the major periods in the history of globalization;
- identify and describe current trends of globalization;
- write an essay outlining local modes of appropriation of global processes in respect to its political, environmental and social aspects;
Syllabus
  • 16.09.25 Introduction. Globalization and crisis of capitalism
  • Reading: Mies, Maria and Veronika Bennholdt Thomsen, 1999: The Subsistence Perspective: Beyond the Globalised Economy. London: Zed Books. Chapter 2: Globalisation and Subsistence. P. 24 – 64.
  • Gagyi, Agnes, 2021: The Political Economy of Middle Class Politics and the Global Crisis in Eastern Europe: The case of Hungary and Romania. Subchapter: What is Crisis in a Global Sense?. P. 55 – 63.
  • 23.09.25 Economic globalisation, climate change and environmental decline
  • Reading:
  • Klein, Naomi, 2014: This changes everything. New York: Simon and Schuster. Chapter 2: Hot Money: How Free market Fundamentalism Helped Overheat the Planet, p. 64 – 95.
  • Hornborg, Alf, 2001. The power of the machine: Global inequalities of economy, technology, and environment. Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press. Chapter 4: Ecosystems, World Systems, and Environmental Justice. P. 49-64.
  • 30.09.25 Whose ‚green transition‘? Economic globalization vs. energy democracy
  • Reading:
  • Reading:
Haag, Steffen et al., 2024: Who profits from the green energy rush? Derisking and power relations in Africa’s renewable energy finance. Transnational Institute [online]. Available at: https://www.tni.org/en/article/who-profits-from-the-green-energy-rush 07.10.25 Beyond globalization: pathways to emancipatory socio-ecological transformation
  • Reading:
  • Hanna, Thomas M. and Marjorie Kelly, 2021: Community Wealth Building: The Path towards a Democratic and Reparative Political Economic System. Democracy Collaborative [online].
  • Sweeney, Sean and John Treat, 2018: Trade Unions and Just Transition: the Search for a Transformative Politics. Trade Unions for Energy Democracy [online]. Available at: https://www.tuedglobal.org/working-papers/trade-unions-and-just-transition-the-search-for-a-transformative-politics
  • 14.10.25 On the investment – a general introduction
  • Reading:
  • MacKinnon, Danny, and Andrew Cumbers. 2019. An Introduction to Economic Geography: Globalization, Uneven Development and Place. Abingdon: Routledge. pp. 1-96.
  • 21.10.25 Water: a special commodity
  • Reading:
  • MacKinnon, Danny, and Andrew Cumbers. 2019. An Introduction to Economic Geography: Globalization, Uneven Development and Place. Abingdon: Routledge. pp. 97-224.
  • 04.11.25 Investment and sustainability
  • Reading:
  • MacKinnon, Danny, and Andrew Cumbers. 2019. An Introduction to Economic Geography: Globalization, Uneven Development and Place. Abingdon: Routledge. pp. 225-306.
  • 11.11.25 Companies, employees and the exploitation of the workforce
  • Reading:
  • MacKinnon, Danny, and Andrew Cumbers. 2019. An Introduction to Economic Geography: Globalization, Uneven Development and Place. Abingdon: Routledge. pp. 307-388.
  • 18.11.25 Human Rights in Global Politics
  • Reading:
  • Glendon, Mary Ann 2002. A World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. New York: Random House, Ch. 12 (“Universalism under Siege”), 221-233.
  • Pogge, Thomas. 2010. Politics as Usual: What Lies Behind the Pro-Poor Rhetoric. Cambridge: Polity Press, Ch. 2 (“Recognized and Violated by International Law: The Human Rights of the Global Poor”), 26–56.
  • 25.11.25 Open and Closed Borders
  • Reading:
  • Miller, David. 2019. “Is There a Human Right to Immigrate?” In: Sarah Fine, Lea Ypi et al. Migration in Political Theory: The Ethics of Movement and Membership. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 11-30.
  • Oberman, Kieran. 2019. “Immigration as a Human Right.” In: Sarah Fine, Lea Ypi et al. Migration in Political Theory: The Ethics of Movement and Membership. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 32-53.
  • 02.12.25 Nationalism and Cosmopolitanism
  • Reading:
  • Held, David. 2010. Cosmopolitanism: Ideals and Realities. Cambridge: Polity Press, 67–92.
  • Miller, David. 2016. Strangers in Our Midst: The Political Philosophy of Immigration. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, Ch. 1 (“Cosmopolitanism, Compatriot Partiality, and Human Rights”), 20–37.
  • 09.12.25 Corporate Capitalism and Modern Democracy Reading:
  • Wolin, Sheldon 2004. Politics and Vision. Princeton: Princeton UP, s. 557-568, 581-606.
Literature
    required literature
  • MILLER, David. Strangers in our midst : the political philosophy of immigration. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2016, 218 stran. ISBN 9780674088900. info
  • MACKINNON, Danny and Andrew CUMBERS. An introduction to economic geography : globalization, uneven development and place. 2nd ed. Harlow: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2011, xvi, 334. ISBN 9780273727279. info
  • HELD, David. Cosmopolitanism : ideals and realities. 1st ed. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2010, xiii, 306. ISBN 9780745648361. info
  • WOLIN, Sheldon S. Politics and vision : continuity and innovation in Western political thought. Expanded ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004, xxiv, 761. ISBN 0691126275. info
    not specified
  • see Syllabus
Teaching methods
Lectures, class discussion. Active attendance on 10 session.

Study workload in hours for 6 ECST: 150 hours
Classes: 24 hours
Preparation for seminars, readings and assignments: 100 hours
Revisions for written exam: 25 hours
Assessment methods
Assesment
Active attendance on 10 session (activity bonus 10 points).
Six assignments during the term (30 points).
Final written examination (60 points).
Language of instruction
English
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2023, Autumn 2024.
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