The Neoliberal Age? Making Sense of Political and Social Change in Modern Britain (L2113)

30 credits, Level 6

Spring teaching

Since 1945, the UK has experienced significant political realignments, civil war, the loss of empire, and the emergence of new social movements and NGOs.

Questions about the role of the state, free markets, social rights, and citizenship have provoked controversial debates about whether contemporary British history can be characterised as the ‘age of neoliberalism’. This module explores these debates ‘from below’ and asks: how have ordinary people understood, discussed and shaped social and political change in modern Britain?

The module will introduce you to various sources and research methods, and guide you in applying these methods to a relevant dissertation topic.

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.