Despite the predictions that consigned it to eternal oblivion, Karl Marx’s thought has returned to the limelight in recent years. Faced with a deep new crisis of capitalism, many are again looking to an author who in the past was often wrongly associated with the Soviet Union, and who was too hastily dismissed after 1989. After the waning of interest in the 1980s and the “conspiracy of silence” in the 1990s, new or republished editions of his work have become available almost everywhere.

This course deals with the development of sociological theory in the major foundational thinkers of the 19th and early 20th century. Much of classical sociological theory was focused upon growing awareness of society, as such, being the subject of profound change.

This course deals with the developments of some of the most significant international social movements from the end of Ancien Régime to the fall of Berlin Wall (1789-1989). These include social movements that were formed around the French Revolution, the Revolutions of 1848, the Paris Commune, the birth of Soviet Union, the Chinese Revolution, the anticolonialist process in Asia, Africa and Latin America, the protests of 1968, as well as Socialist Feminism.

The course will examine some of the most important writings of the major German authors of the first half of the Nineteenth Century, who transformed irreversibly the philosophical and the political thought. The first part of the seminar will focus on two of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s main works: the Phenomenology of the Spirit and the Elements of the Philosophy of Right, which will also be considered in relation to the most important Marxist secondary literature on Hegel written in German.

Two decades after 1989, when he was too hastily consigned to oblivion, Karl Marx has returned to the limelight. In the last few years Capital has not merely received the attention of university professors, but has also been the focus of widespread interest prompted by the international financial crisis, as leading daily and weekly papers throughout the world have been discussing the contemporary relevance of its pages.

In the last few years Capital has not only received the attention of university professors, but has also been the focus of widespread interest prompted by the international financial crisis, as leading daily and weekly papers throughout the world have been discussing the contemporary relevance of its pages. Furthermore, the literature dealing with Marx, which all but dried up 20 years ago, is showing signs of revival in many countries; and there are now, once again, many international conferences and university courses dedicated to his analysis of capitalism.

En este curso serán examinadas algunas de las principales concepciones de democracia en la edad moderna y contemporánea. Su objetivo fundamental, siguiendo un enfoque interdisciplinario, es ofrecer un panorama general de la elaboración de este concepto en el pensamiento filosófico-político occidental. En particular, el tema que guiará el curso será la crisis de la democracia, o sea un ahondamiento sobre los factores – económicos, sociales y políticos – que, en distintas épocas y sociedades han determinado la crisis de los modelos democráticos existentes y el comienzo de nuevas temporadas políticas.