The Tragedy of the Obsolescence of Politics

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The skepticism, cynicism, and even violence directed towards the institutions, processes and persons of politics are symptomatic of its obsolescence. This is a tragedy because politics is what makes possible modern civilized life.  What if the core tragedy of the 21st century is that the price of surviving climate breakdown is authoritarianism?  Of the many burdens borne by the generations to come in the twenty-first century, one is to recapture or to redefine politics fit for challenges resistant to the known limits and possibilities of political life.

• On the Meaning of Politics: Compromise and Decision, Public and Private
• Politics After All of the Gods have Died: The End of History, or the Last Man?
• The Social Bases of Politics: Interest/Value/Identity; Pluralism or “Tribalism”
• State and Government: Authority, Power, Legitimacy; Capacity and Instruments
• Message Sent, Message Received? Democracy, Parties and Elections, (anti-)Social Movements
• Conclusion: The old world is dying; a new world struggles to be born

Biography of Instructor

Dr. Ernie Keenes is a retired journalist, academic and vigneron.  He worked in radio and television news covering Winnipeg city hall and the Manitoba legislature, and as an editor and writer at the Canadian Press and Broadcast News.  He worked as a researcher and writer in the government relations industry After earning a B.A. Honours degree in Political Studies at the University of Manitoba, he received his Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in International Relations at Carleton University, specializing in Canadian Foreign Economic Policy and International Political Economy.  He has published on International Relations theory and Canadian foreign economic policy management. He has taught a wide variety of courses in Politics at universities across Canada.

More recently he worked in wine retail, was on the roster of the British Columbia VQA tasting panel, and shared in an acre of vines and a small winery in B.C.’s Okanagan valley.  He has worked as Deputy Editor of Harper’s Wine and Spirit Gazette in London, U.K., and written a variety of articles on the wine industry as a freelance journalist.

Dates and time                                                       Location

Winter 2025 Term 2                                                    Axworthy Health and RecPlex

Wed Feb 26                 1:30 to 3:30 pm                      Multipurpose Room

Wed Mar 5                  1:30 to 3:30 pm                      Multipurpose Room

Wed Mar 12                1:30 to 3:30 pm                      Multipurpose Room

Wed Mar 19                1:30 to 3:30 pm                      Multipurpose Room

Wed Mar 26                1:30 to 3:30 pm                      Multipurpose Room

Wed Apr 2                   1:30 to 3:30 pm                      Multipurpose Room

If you are experiencing difficulty with the online registration process, please call (204) 988-7650 to register by phone.

To learn more about the University of Winnipeg’s 55+ program, please click here.

To view a University of Winnipeg campus map, parking map or accessibility map, please click here.

If you have any questions about this course, or would like to be added to a waitlist, please email b.doran@uwinnipeg.ca.