The Politics of (Post-)Truth (L2109)

30 credits, Level 6

Spring teaching

The success of political campaigns and actors that utilise misinformation and conspiracy theories – from Vote Leave to Donald Trump – has made ‘post truth’ a commonplace label for 21st-century politics. But what actually is post-truth politics?

This module combines perspectives from Continental philosophy with current political research to give you the tools to critically analyse and discuss the origins, logic and manifestations of post-truth politics. You’ll explore the politics of truth and post truth by engaging with:

• Nietzsche’s idea of ressentiment
• Foucault’s work on truth-telling,
• psychoanalysis
• critiques of neoliberalism
• cultural histories of conspiracy.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 33 hours of contact time and about 267 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2025/26. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.