AANA17100U CANCELLED: Markets, Power, and Global Cities

Volume 2018/2019
Content

This course focuses on the intersections of capital, power, and market activity in global cities, including Copenhagen, Berlin, London, New York City, Chicago, Tokyo, and Mumbai.

Specifically we explore the interrelationship between the production of labor markets and subjects at the top and bottom of the economy in global cities: for example, male dominated transnational professional labor markets in finance and technology; feminized lower wage markets in clerical, service and factory work. We do so by thinking through the political, economic, and cultural impact of larger contemporary and historical processes: globalization and urbanism; capitalism and neoliberalism; migration and debt; environmentalism and climate change; technology and societal transformation.

Particular emphasis will be on the technological revolution including the digitalization of 21st century banking and the rise of FinTech; the growth of migration, job supply, and survival circuits; the emergence of sustainable forms of business and consumption; and the formation of transnational professional networks and institutions. We will approach all of these issues through a range of critical essays, histories and ethnographies. 

Examples of anthropological scholars read: Arjun Appadurai; Carla Freeman; and Bill Maurer.

Learning Outcome

Knowledge         

  • At the end of the course students are expected to be able to describe and reflect upon anthropological knowledge, theories and methodologies regarding globalization,  the globalization of markets and the rise of global cities; the relationship between capitalism and neoliberalism; and various analytic understandings of forms of power and difference such as gender, sexual, ethnic, class difference.

 

Skills

  • At the end of the course students are expected to be able describe the central problems in the course literature in relation to the empirical content of the reading.
  • Be able to identify and choose particular methods, such as using multi-sited fieldwork, to study and analyze different kinds of global markets and cities.

     

Competences

  • At the end of the course students must be able to independently carry out anthropological (ethnographic) scholarship on markets, power and global cities.
  • Be able to apply theories and methods regarding globalization, markets and global cities to practical situations in business and the labor market in Denmark and throughout the world.

BSc 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 via Absalon

Lectures
The course also serves as a part of the specialised track in Business and Organisational Anthropology.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Exam
  • 80
  • Lectures
  • 42
  • Preparation
  • 85
  • Total
  • 207
Continuous feedback during the course of the semester
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written examination
Length: The portfolio exam can be taken individually or in groups of maximum four students. The portfolio exam consists of 3-7 submissions. The number of submissions is set by the lecturer. The total length of all of the submissions must not exceed 30,000 keystrokes for a single student. For groups of two students the maximum is 40,000 keystrokes. For groups of three students the maximum is 45,000 keystrokes and for groups of four students the maximum is 50,000 keystrokes.
Aid
All aids allowed
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
No external censorship
Re-exam

 

1. re-exam:

An essay with a revised problem statement must be submitted at the announced date. The students must sign up for the 1. re-exam.

2. re-exam:

A new essay with a revised problem statement must be submitted at the announced date next semester. The students must sign up for the 2. re-exam.

Criteria for exam assesment

See description of learning outcome.