AANK12041U Political Anthropology, advanced course: The politics of Invisibility
The politics of invisibility is focused on formations of power and powerlessness that are hidden from the public eye. Based on ongoing research on illicit flows of people, money and goods the course will shed light on some of the elements of social life that are confined to the shadows of society. It will look at concealed and clandestine figures and forces and grant us an overview of our theoretical and methodological possibilities of grasping them. Drawing on contemporary anthropological advances within the literature on politics, criminology and critical ethnography we will explore a range of subjects such as; social shadows, indeterminacy and suspicion and focus on various social flows and formations, such as; alternative political formations, informal economies, criminal networks and undocumented migrants.
The different theoretical and empirical perspectives will be analytically engaged through an exploration of the concept of invisibility on three levels, i.e. structural, social, and existential, moving across scale within the realm of the political.
The course builds on the ongoing collaborative research project Invisible Lives and will combine research-based teaching and teaching-based research. Students will be given the possibility and supervision to draft an independent paper and present it at a student lab – an exploratory workshop with invited speakers.
At the end of the course, students should be able to:
1) identify and formulate anthropological questions within the field of invisible lives, illicit flows and/or shadow politics
2) summarize and critically discuss themes and empirical cases
3) reflect critically on central debates and recent theoretical advances on the issue
4) apply relevant analytical concepts in an analysis of an individually selected case
5) Incorporate central elements from the course into a presentation of an individual paper for the student lab.
BSc-, Credit-, Open Education and all international students:
500 pages obligatory literature.
MSc students: 500 pages obligatory literature + 200 pages of
literature chosen by students
Literature chosen by students must be relevant to the course’s subject matter.
Course literature will be available in Absalon on the course website
1 x 4 hours x 7 weeks
- Category
- Hours
- Class Exercises
- 8
- Course Preparation
- 112
- Exam
- 35
- Guidance
- 2
- Lectures
- 10
- Seminar
- 8
- Study Groups
- 35
- Total
- 210
International-, credit and Open University students; read about
application here:
International
students/Credit
students/
Open University
Deadline: June 1st for autumn, and December 1st for
spring.
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Type of assessment
- Written assignmentEssay.
Length: Min. 21.600 - max. 26.400 keystrokes for an individual essay. For group exams plus an additional min. 6.750 - max. 8.250 keystrokes per extra group member.
The essay assignments can be written individually or in groups of max. 4 people. Read more about the rules for group examinations in the
curriculum 4.3.1.
The examination essay must address a relevant topic from the course and must include literature from the course syllabus. - Exam registration requirements
- To be eligible to take the course exam, the student must 1) participate actively in class throughout the course 2) present an independent paper at one of the student labs. 3) act as discussant on at least two presentations of fellow students’ papers.
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- No external censorship
- Re-exam
- 1. & 2. Re-exam
For written exams:
A new essay/portfolio with a revised problem statement is submitted at the announced date. The student must register for the re-exam.
For oral exams:
A revised synopsis with a new problem statement is submitted at the announced date. The students must hereafter participate in a new oral exam at the announced date. The student must register for the re-exam.
Criteria for exam assesment
See learning outcome
Course information
- Language
- English
- Course code
- AANK12041U
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Level
- Full Degree MasterBachelor choice,Full Degree Master choice
- Duration
- 1 block
- Placement
- Spring And Block 4
- Schedule
- See time table
- Course capacity
- 30
- Continuing and further education
- Price
6000 DKKR
- Study board
- Department of Anthropology, Study Council
Contracting department
- Department of Anthropology
Course responsibles
- Henrik Erdman Vigh (2-6a78426370766a7471306d7730666d)
- Line Richter (12-6f6c716831756c666b776875436471776b7572316e7831676e)