AANB05081U Political Anthropology, introductory course

Political Anthropology is concerned with the distribution of resources, power and authority in different societies. More specifically, it explores negotiations of social possibilities and limitations, constructions of social categories and positions as well as processes of differentiation and discrimination. From studies of close-knit communities to global constellations, political anthropology investigates people's attempts of realizing, upholding, or changing communities, societies and networks. Hence, political anthropology is concerned with both the local, national and global levels, as it considers national policies and political decisions as well as unofficial connections, international networks and illegal organizations. The ethnographic approach of anthropology illuminates 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 the subfield of political anthropology. The course begins by providing a genealogical history of classical political anthropological studies of stateless societies, while situating these foundational studies in relation to relevant themes in political philosophy. It then engages with themes such as state power, national identity, globalization, colonialism, post-colonialism, global capitalism, neo-liberalism, violence and conflict. 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, as well as a focus on how anthropology legitimates its own role as a critical discipline in the world outside of academia.