ΠΙΘ511: Political and Economic Theory

The Module ΠΙΘ511 “Political and Economic Theory” is one of the two required Modules of the first semester of the first year of the MA "PNYX: Political History, Theory and Practice". Its aim is to offer a systematic training in the field of political and economic theory. The deep understanding of political and economic theoreti­cal thinking, in their historical dimension, is a necessary condition for the engage­ment with politics. Cultivating theoretical thinking in the fields of politics and eco­nomics will allow students to approach politics in a thorough and constructive way. For this purpose, a representative selection of the most important traditions of political and economic theory from antiquity to the present is made. These theo­retical aspects are examined combined with case studies from the past or current political reality, so that the inseparable relationship between theory and (political) practice is constantly highlighted. By delving into selected aspects of theoretical thinking in the fields of politics and economics, students can acquire significant knowledge and shape their own theoretical understanding. At the same time, in the context of the teaching, the interconnections between the various theo­retical approaches become clear, while many confusing issues of the political dialogue regarding the exact theoretical content of many popular "-isms" are clari­fied.

The Module ΠΙΘ511 consists of the Introductory Part and four distinct but in­terrelated Parts:

• Introductory Part: Ancient Greek Political and Economic Thought
• Part 1: Political Thought of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries
• Part 2: Classical Political Economy and Criticism of Political Economy
• Part 3: The Neoclassical Political Economy and the Foundation of Eco­nomic Science
• Part 4: Keynesian Economics and Political Thought in the 20th Century