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16875-01 - Seminar: War and State Formation in 20th-Century Africa 3 KP

Semester Herbstsemester 2015
Angebotsmuster Jedes Herbstsemester
Dozierende Sara Anna Hellmüller (sara.hellmueller@unibas.ch)
Martina Santschi (martina.santschi@unibas.ch, BeurteilerIn)
Inhalt Violent conflict and civil wars in Africa have often been seen as the cause or as the result of state fragility, weakness or outright failure. According to this way of thinking, many post-colonial states in Africa have ‘failed’ to hold on to their monopoly over the use of violence and thereby ‘proven’ the limits of their capacity to exercise power over society, as the upsurge in civil wars across the continent in the immediate post-Cold War era would indicate. In this seminar, we engage critically with such perspectives and ask instead how states in Africa, as elsewhere throughout the world, are (also) the product of (internal and inter-state) warfare. Civil wars, it will be argued, while being the cause of immense suffering on the part of civilian populations, do not simply destroy political orders. They contribute to shaping and producing them. Examples will be drawn from a variety of cases throughout the continent.
Lernziele Students understand and reflect on the role of violent conflict and war in the history of state formation in Africa. They have knowledge of the historical sociology of the state as well as the most important theories of (civil) war, and are able to critically analyse and weigh the importance of factors such as ethnicity, natural resources (scarcity and abundance) and state weakness as assumed causes of violent conflict.
Literatur A full reading list will be provided at the beginning of the course. Here is a selection of indicative reading:
Tilly, C. (1985). War Making and State Making as Organized Crime. In P. B. Evans, D. Rueschemeyer, & T. Skocpol (Eds.), Bringing the State Back In. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 169-187.
Englebert, P. & Dunn, K.C. (2013). Inside African Politics, London: Routledge (Chapter 7: The Shifting Landscape of Conflict and Security, pp. 267-312).
Cramer, C. (2006). Civil War is not a Stupid Thing: Accounting for Violence in Developing Countries. London: Hurst & Co.
Weblink www.swisspeace.org

 

Unterrichtssprache Deutsch
Einsatz digitaler Medien Online-Angebot obligatorisch

 

Intervall Wochentag Zeit Raum

Keine Einzeltermine verfügbar, bitte informieren Sie sich direkt bei den Dozierenden.

Module Modul Basics: Politics (Master Studiengang: African Studies)
Modul Culture and Society (Master Studiengang: African Studies (Studienbeginn vor 01.08.2013))
Modul Fields: Governance and Politics (Master Studiengang: African Studies)
Modul Globalisierung, Kultur und Internationale Entwicklung (Bachelor Studienfach: Geographie (Studienbeginn vor 01.08.2015))
Modul Institutionen, Verbände, Religionsgemeinschaften (Master Religion - Wirtschaft - Politik)
Modul Internationales Zusatzwissen (Master European Studies (Studienbeginn vor 01.02.2015))
Modul Konflikt/Kooperation (Bachelor Studienfach: Gesellschaftswissenschaften (Studienbeginn vor 01.08.2013))
Modul Politik, Entwicklung und soziale Ungleichheit (Bachelor Studienfach: Soziologie)
Modul Politik, Entwicklung und soziale Ungleichheit (Bachelor Studienfach: Soziologie (Studienbeginn vor 01.08.2013))
Modul Sachthematische Fragestellungen der Ethnologie (Bachelor Studienfach: Ethnologie (Studienbeginn vor 01.08.2013))
Modul Sachthemen der Ethnologie (Bachelor Studienfach: Ethnologie)
Vertiefungsmodul Global Europe: Staatlichkeit, Entwicklung und Globalisierung (Master European Global Studies)
Leistungsüberprüfung Lehrveranst.-begleitend
Hinweise zur Leistungsüberprüfung Reading, active participation in class, one presentation, one lead of discussion, and a short critical review.
An-/Abmeldung zur Leistungsüberprüfung Anmelden: Belegen; Abmelden: nicht erforderlich
Wiederholungsprüfung keine Wiederholungsprüfung
Skala Pass / Fail
Wiederholtes Belegen beliebig wiederholbar
Zuständige Fakultät Philosophisch-Historische Fakultät, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch
Anbietende Organisationseinheit Departement Gesellschaftswissenschaften

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