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2021/2022  KAN-CPOLV1023U  Tech, Power & Politics

English Title
Tech, Power & Politics

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Quarter
Start time of the course Fourth Quarter
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for BSc/MSc i International Business and Politics, MSc
Course coordinator
  • Lars Dyrhagen - Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC)
  • Co-coordinator
    Mikkel Flyverbom - Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC)
Main academic disciplines
  • Globalisation and international business
  • International political economy
  • Political Science
Teaching methods
  • Blended learning
Last updated on 14-06-2021

Relevant links
Learning objectives
This course explores and questions how tech companies apply power to change markets for democracy, products and labor.

Whether your career will be within a business, policy-making, media, academia or civil society - and whether you want to fight the power of tech companies, observe it, or promote it - the course will help you to:
  • Be familiar with theories regarding the constitution of technologies, power and markets.
  • Demonstrate knowledge about the dynamics between technology and the markets for democracy, products and labor.
  • Analyze cases and situations of rapid technological change and their implications to participating actors within technology, business, public policy, civil society, academia and media.
  • Assess policy interventions on tech companies in local, national and international contexts.
Course prerequisites
There are no formal requirements, but you should be interested in public policy and politics to succeed in this course. Consequently, it is advantageous if you either attended the courses at the CBS IBP bachelor program, political science studies or their equivalents; you possess deep subject matter interest; or you participate in political parties or NGOs.
Examination
Tech, Power & Politics:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Size of written product Max. 15 pages
Assignment type Case based assignment
Duration Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Summer
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
A new exam assignment must be answered. This applies to all students (failed, ill, or otherwise)
Description of the exam procedure

You will receive two weeks to prepare and hand-in the exam. 
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

In recent years, tech companies emerge as some of the most powerful institutions on the planet impacting the markets for commerce, democracy, and labor.

 

  • Amazon and Netflix outcompete incumbent businesses and change the landscape of commerce and culture;

 

  • Facebook and Google challenge democracy and media; and 

 

  • Uber accelerates the gig economy and the way people work with conflicting interests of labor unions.

 

Meanwhile, policymakers in Brussels, Beijing and Washington D.C. struggle to keep pace with formulating and designing policies that keep pace with technological innovation.

 

This course will challenge your practical and intellectual senses. Practically, the course will equip you to understand the way tech changes how we trade, make political decisions and work. And intellectually, you will be part of a course not afraid of asking the big questions starting with "why" and "how" without definite answers.
Description of the teaching methods
The course offers you a mix of learning in-class, online and offline. Be prepared for interactions and active engagement as this course is not for the student who prefers to hide.
Feedback during the teaching period
We will work with prepared and spontaneous feedback in three forms: Student-to-student, student-to-teacher and teacher-to-student.
Student workload
Lectures and workshops 35 hours
Preparation (studying for lectures and workshops) 91 hours
Exam preparation 80 hours
Expected literature

The course draws on literature from political science, economics, sociology and history and real-life cases to help you understand what constitutes technology, power and markets and the implications for actors in technology, business, public policy, civil society, academia and media.
Last updated on 14-06-2021