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| Semester | spring semester 2024 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Louis Oberli (louis.oberli@unibas.ch) |
| Content | Money and state finance has an enormous impact on the capabilties of a society. Yet common knowledge about their workings is rare. They are often treated as a given and not understood as changeable by politics. Yet a glimpse at history will quickly show that how money is created and how states finance themselves has continually adjusted. Our main goal in this course is to understand money and state financing as social, i.e. determined by discourse and power structures. We will consider modern and contemporary examples and stay close to the actual political process shaping these systems. |
| Bibliography | The literature we'll work with mostly stems from modern monetary theory. This includes text by economists, like Stefanie Bell - The role of the state and the hierarchy of money. The economic concepts we need will be introduced in the course and we focus on wider societal implications, therefore no prior knowledge of economics is required. Part of the literature is also adjustable according to the needs and interests of the participants. A centre piece of the course is Lev Menand and Joshua Younger - Money and the public debt: treasury market liquidity as a legal phenomenon. It traces the history of the US-Dollar and US state financing. Through this concrete example we'll be able to see what institutional arrangements already existed and what challenges brought them to their modern form. From our sociological perspective, we'll be especially interested in which actors and views are involved in the shaping of these monetary arrangements. |
| Comments | The course will be in English. But don't let insecurity in speaking prevent you from participating. This is intended to be an opportunity to exercise your language skills. |
| Admission requirements | No prior knowledge of economics is required. |
| Course application | Belegen |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Monday | 12.15-14.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 26.02.2024 | 12.15-14.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Monday 04.03.2024 | 12.15-14.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Monday 11.03.2024 | 12.15-14.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Monday 18.03.2024 | 12.15-14.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Monday 25.03.2024 | 12.15-14.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Monday 01.04.2024 | 12.15-14.00 | Ostern |
| Monday 08.04.2024 | 12.15-14.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Monday 15.04.2024 | 12.15-14.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Monday 22.04.2024 | 12.15-14.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Monday 29.04.2024 | 12.15-14.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Monday 06.05.2024 | 12.15-14.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Monday 13.05.2024 | 12.15-14.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Monday 20.05.2024 | 12.15-14.00 | Pfingstmontag |
| Monday 27.05.2024 | 12.15-14.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Modules |
Electives Bachelor Sociology: Recommendations (Bachelor's degree subject: Sociology) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | To pass you have to read the literature, attend regularly and write a brief (2-3 pages) summary of a text and its discussion in the course. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Soziologie |