Teaching applied politics: From employability to political imaginary
| Author | Edwin Bacon |
| DOI | 10.1177/0263395717694401 |
| Published date | 01 February 2018 |
| Date | 01 February 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Learning and Teaching in Politics and International Studies |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0263395717694401
Politics
2018, Vol. 38(1) 94 –108
© The Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/0263395717694401
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Teaching applied politics:
From employability to
political imaginary
Edwin Bacon
Birkbeck, University of London, UK
Abstract
The growth of applied politics teaching in recent years is often conflated by academics, institutions,
and professional associations with the employability agenda increasingly promoted by government.
Many academics – politics faculty to the fore – object to the imposition of neo-liberal values
on universities, the commodification of higher education, and a focus on employability in their
teaching. These developments, coupled with a sense that the teaching of practical politics lacks
intellectual rigour, undermine the growth of applied politics courses and programmes. There is,
however, no reason why applied politics teaching must embrace neo-liberal norms. Nor is the
alternative the introduction, as has happened in a few institutions, of courses teaching the practice
of radical activism. Norms and values in applied politics can come from students, producing
content and knowledge as they develop skills and approaches to practical politics. Applied politics
itself represents a bridge between political science and political life beyond the university and
serves the needs of students across the ‘careerist-activist’ spectrum. Far from being intellectually
light, a values-focused approach to applied politics has a pedagogical depth beyond that offered
in much of the current politics curriculum. It offers a pedagogy not just of information but of
formation and transformation.
Keywords
applied politics, employability, pedagogy, political practice
Received: 20th June 2016; Revised version received: 26th September 2016; Accepted: 15th December 2016
Introduction – Applied politics, employability, and the state
Debates around the teaching and learning of politics at university occur at the nexus of
student interests, government interventions, institutional strategies, and academics’ nor-
mative concerns over the nature and purpose of politics as an academic discipline. The
positions of these four actors – students, government, institutions, and academics – are all
Corresponding author:
Edwin Bacon, Department of Politics, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX,
UK.
Email: e.bacon@bbk.ac.uk
694401POL0010.1177/0263395717694401PoliticsBacon
research-article2017
Learning and Teaching in Politics
and International Studies
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