About Politics
Politics is an essential activity in all societies. It comprises the institutions and ideas that shape power and conflict, and structure the decisions about how we live together.
Studying politics is an exciting and rewarding experience, and can foster insights into how society works and enable skills that help us understand, communicate and resolve shared problems. Graduates with degrees in politics often go on to work in areas such as journalism, the civil service, local government, public policy and even in politics itself.
Politics at Goldsmiths is a new and expanding department, teaching and undertaking research in various aspects of political life including: political theory; European and international politics; British politics; economics and political economy; and public policy.
‘Daring to think differently and to challenge the norms’ is central to the Goldsmiths Mission Statement. ‘Working beyond the boundaries of preconceptions’ is how we get there in Goldsmiths Politics. Our greatest strength in politics is in pushing the boundaries of our discipline and we are aided by being part of a College with a reputation for the innovative use of new social theory and for the strength of commitment it shows toward interdisciplinarity.
The Department of Politics comprises 10 full-time teaching and research staff plus a number of visiting tutors who play a key role in our degree programmes. Staff offices are located on floors 6 and 7 of the Warmington Tower and all staff have office hours when they regularly make themselves available to meet students. Support staff (Elaine Webb) attend to the departmental office on floor 6 and deal with most enquiries from students and visitors.
Teaching on all degrees is primarily by lectures and seminars and these take place in the facilities across the campus. A timetable of individual courses and the locations of lectures/seminars is posted outside the Departmental office on floor 6 of the Warmington Tower.
Goldsmiths has a track record of high quality teaching and research. In 2000, the Department's provision of politics and economics courses achieved an excellent 22/24 in the government's Teaching Quality Audit. In the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise of British Universities, the Department increased its grade to 4.
Research profile
The Politics Department has particular research interests in:
(See Staff pages for particular research interests).
- Anarchism and Syndicalism
- Balkans and East Central European Politics and Contemporary Politics
- British Politics and Contemporary British History
- European Politics and Contemporary European History
- Chinese politics
- Comparative Politics
- Democratisation
- the European Union
- Fascism and the Contemporary Far Right
- Genocide
- Globalisation
- Health Politics and Policy
- Historical sociology
- History of Ideas
- International Relations
- Local and Regional Government
- Marxism
- Migration and Refugees
- Modern Italian History and Politics
- Modern and Post-Modern Thought
- Nationalism
- New Social Movements
- Political Biography
- Political Economy
- Political and Social Theory
- the Politics of the Welfare State
- Postcolonial Studies
- Post-Conflict Reconciliation
- Public Administration and the Civil Service
- Public Policy
- Radical change
- Revolutions