DHIS 25A15 - Liberalism: a comparative history, Britain and France

The aim of this course is to shed a light on the history of Liberalism through a comparison between Britain and France. “Liberalism” is a difficult question with manyfold definitions and controversial points of view. To build step by step the history of liberal movements, liberal ideas and their contradictions, both through the British political history and the French history should provide to the students a better understanding both of historical debates and today issues.

Traditionally, Britain has been viewed as the country of a successful liberalism whereas France has been sometimes mocked as the country of a failed liberalism. Those clichés will be questioned during the sessions. The course is conceived at the crossroads of political history, intellectual history and political philosophy.

There is no specific knowledge as a prerequisite

It’s better for the students to have a notion of the time-line (political events) for both countries

Every session is organized in two parts: one for the lecture of the Professor, a second for a debate of the class

• An oral presentation (30% of the final grade)
• A written final exam in class 50%
• Oral participation to the discussions of the class 20%