Spaces of Social Change

Module code: GY3151

This module examines how geographers have approached processes of social change and transformation, with particular reference to activism and social movements in various national and international contexts. The module is structured around three themes: 

• 'Consuming Change', which looks at the positive and negative consequences of ethical consumption as a driver for social change
• 'Violence', which considers the role of violence (and non-violence) as a strategy to achieve social change
• 'Postcoloniality', which uses the international campaign to end apartheid in South Africa as a case study, considering how the different strands of that campaign contributed to the post-apartheid settlement and the social injustices that persist in South Africa

We will explore how human geography may be used to understand the different ways in which social change is constituted by different social actors in different spaces.