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Semester 2

Empires (SCAN08010)

Subject

Social Anthropology

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

2

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Course Summary

The course will introduce students to classic themes and concepts in colonial studies, post-colonial studies, cultural studies and political economy, through accounts of cultural, political and economic change in the social anthropology of Africa, Latin America, South Asia and the Pacific. Key themes include: colonialism and post colonialism, capitalism, sovereignty, globalization, political violence, science and technology, consumption, religion.

Course Description

Empires are alive and well. Our contemporary world continues to be shaped by many different kinds of empire: from the nation states that assert political and military control over mineral resources in foreign lands to the global corporations that control public access to medicines, food, and telecommunications; from attempts to unify new territories and populations by force to attempts to expand global markets under the banner of freedom and liberation. This course asks, how are we to understand Empires today. How might we approach Empires as cultural projects of power and control? How might we approach Empires from the perspective of those without them? What does it mean to consider contemporary Empires in the light of colonialism? And how might the study of past Empires help us to reflect on the limits to globalizing ambition? Rooted in the contribution of social anthropology to an understanding of world history and global social transformations from below, this course approaches the study of Empires through the study of social, cultural and political change in Africa, Latin America, South Asia and the Pacific. The course and will be of particular interest to students taking courses in social anthropology, politics and international relations, and geography as well as African, South Asian, or Middle Eastern Studies, philosophy, economics and law. Indicative Themes include: Encountering Empire(s), Empires and the People Without Them, Rulers and Ruled, Bitter Sweet Empires, Empires of Terror and Trauma, Empires of Mind, Empires of Spirit, Empires of Things, Technologies of Empire, After Empires.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0%

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