This module examines the intersections between forms of legal regulation, conceptions of power and spatial configurations and plans. It traces elements of such intersections accessibly with the aid of insights from a variety of the most relevant fields (including legal geography, architectural history and theory, critical planning studies, urban design, spatial studies, anthropology, legal theory and philosophy). It interrogates the intersections in question both through a thorough introduction to all the contemporary relevant theories and practices of spatial power configuration and with a focused 5 week seminar preparation of a unit theme, each year, on a particular city or relevant event which informs the assessment set.
Total contact hours: 24
Private study hours: 126
Total study hours: 150
This is an optional module for all Law degrees
Main assessment methods
The module will be assessed by 100% coursework as follows:
Essay, 4,000 words (100%)
Reassessment methods
Reassessment instrument (100% coursework)
Agamben, G, Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life (Stanford University Press, 1998)
Delaney D, The spatial, the legal and the pragmatics of world-making: nomospheric investigations (Routledge, 2010)
Hirst, P, Space and Power: Politics, War and Architecture (Polity Press, Cambridge 2005)
Philippopoulos-Mihalopoulos, A, Spatial Justice (Routledge, 2014)
Weizman, E, Forensic Architecture (Sternberg Press, 2014)
Zartaloudis, T, G. Agamben: Power, Law and the Uses of Criticism (Routledge, 2012).
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
The intended subject specific learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate critical knowledge and understanding of the histories and theories of the interweaving of law, space and power;
2. Demonstrate critical knowledge and understanding of key aspects of the government of spatial apparatuses;
3. Demonstrate critical knowledge and understanding of the main contemporary intellectual debates at the intersection of law and spatial
studies;
4. Demonstrate critical knowledge and understanding of key aspects of the intersection of legal thought with geography, architecture, urban
design, urban law and theories of spatial power;
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1. Independently acquire detailed knowledge and understanding of areas, both legal and non-legal;
2. Donstrate an independence of mind and an ability to critically challenge received understandings and conclusions;
3. Read complex legal and non-legal materials, summarising them accurately;
4. Correctly employ complex legal terminology and methods of citation and referencing for legal and other academic materials;
5. Conduct independent research which informs a sustained and complex argument;
6. Appreciate that juridical problems can only be fully understood through interdisciplinary research methods;
7. Undertake original legal research – e.g. online, subject specific journal searches.
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