AANB05081U Political Anthropology, introductory course

Political Anthropology is concerned with the way resources, power and authority is distributed in different societies. More specifically it explores the negotiation of social possibilities and limitations, the constructions of social categories and positions as well as differentiations- and discrimination processes. From studies of close relations to analyses of global constellations, political anthropology investigates ideas and ideologies of community and society and illuminates people's attempts of realising, upholding, and preventing these. Hence, Political Anthropology is concerned with both the global and the local. It considers national policies and political decisions as well as unofficial connections, international networks and illegal organisations. The unique methods of anthropology makes us capable of both illuminating the official "visible" policy and its consequences as well as the unofficial and "invisible" political positions and processes. In this way Political Anthropology elaborates our knowledge of the world's political diversity and constructions of power. The aim of this basic course is to introduce and discuss key theoretical and thematic developments in Political Anthropology. The course will depart from classical anthropological studies of stateless societies and go on to engage with themes such as states and governance; authority and political forms; constructions of political identities; and social transformations and reconfigurations. A crosscutting subject throughout the course will be the ways in which political forms and practices are situated in local as well as global contexts.