2011/12 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

HIST3386 New World, New Jerusalem: Welfare and the State in Europe, 1939-64

40 creditsClass Size: 16

Module manager: Dr Mark Smith
Email: m.b.smith@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2011/12

Module replaces

HIST3384

This module is not approved as an Elective

Module summary

At the heart of Europe's transformation between the 1940s and the 1960s was a new relationship between people and government, and at the core of this relationship was a new approach to welfare. Welfare states gained intensity and reach in the newly stable democracies of the West and in the de-Stalinizing dictatorships of the East. Although Eastern and Western Europe were ruled by divergent ideologies, the state practices that shaped their welfare policies had much in common. Drawing on social, political, cultural and economic evidence, embracing the stories of politicians, technocrats, workers, and peasants, and exploring the intellectual context, this module offers a multi-dimensional historical approach to European welfare states in the Second World War and post-war era. It ranges in focus from particular policies to broad explanatory themes. By studying in detail the welfare states of the Soviet Union of Stalin and Khrushchev on the one hand, and of Britain and France on the other, it introduces students to innovative ways of comparing and contrasting mid-twentieth century Europe's democracies and dictatorships.

Objectives

The objectives of this module are:
1. to develop high-level skills of historical enquiry, interpretation, synthesis and argument, and the ability to demonstrate these in written papers, seminar discussion, and presentations;
2. to develop a critical understanding of a number of secondary literatures and a diverse set of primary sources;
3. to develop the ability to form sophisticated and very well informed arguments about the topics under discussion.

Learning outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be able to display:
1. a detailed knowledge of the origins and development of the system of welfare in three European countries (the USSR, Britain, and France) in the period from 1939 to 1964;
2. an ability to evaluate the precise impact of the Second World War on the delivery of welfare and the evolution of social rights in the countries in question;
3. an ability to use welfare as an analytical tool for comparing and contrasting the historical development of Western and Eastern Europe in this period.

Skills outcomes
High-level skills of historical enquiry, interpretation, synthesis and argument, with particular attention to detailed analysis of primary sources.

Syllabus

Students will study blocks of topics relating to the USSR, Britain and France. Study of the USSR will include 'Stalinist civilization' and its welfare system on the eve of the Second World War, the responses to the crisis of wartime destruction, the proto-reforms of late Stalinism, and the major changes of the Khrushchev era, such as the mass housing programme and the utopian vision of the 1961 party programme.

In the second block of topics, students will study the evolution of the welfare debate in Britain during the war, the major components of Labour's welfare state in Britain, and the responses of Conservative politicians in the 1950s. The third block will be devoted to the changes and continuities that marked the French approach to welfare at the end of the 1930s, during the Vichy regime, and in the reforms that followed the liberation.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Seminar	22	2.00	44.00
Private study hours			356.00
Total Contact hours			44.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			400.00

Private study

Weekly reading, writing of three short papers each semester that are posted to the VLE, preparation of two short presentations per semester, work for the assessed essay, revision for the exam.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

- Seminar discussion, ongoing formal work (short papers and presentations) and meetings in office hours.
- Students will also be offered meetings to discuss essays.
- Many students will write a dissertation in the area of the special subject, supervision of which offers another one-to-one opportunity to monitor general progress.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	1 x 4,000 word assessed essay to be submitted in exam week 2 in January	40.00
Presentation	Three short papers and two short presentation in each semester	10.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		50.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Exams

Exam type	Exam duration	% of formal assessment
Standard exam (closed essays, MCQs etc)	3 hr 00 mins	50.00
Total percentage (Assessment Exams)		50.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 21/03/2012

Disclaimer

Browse Other Catalogues

• Undergraduate module catalogue
• Taught Postgraduate module catalogue
• Undergraduate programme catalogue
• Taught Postgraduate programme catalogue

Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team.PROD