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43511-01 - Seminar: Desire Lines - Lines of Control: A political and cultural history of fencing (3 KP)
| Semester | Frühjahrsemester 2016 |
| Angebotsmuster | einmalig |
| Dozierende | Giorgio Miescher (giorgio.miescher@unibas.ch, BeurteilerIn) |
| Inhalt | Define, on the two-dimensional surface of the earth, lines across which motion is to be prevented, and you have one of the key-themes of history.” With this provocative statement the historian Reviel Netz argued for the necessity of a history of fencing in his seminal book Barbed Wire (2004). Fences are indeed the most common form to prevent movement. This is achieved thanks to two of their key characteristics: Firstly, fences constitute physical barriers in space which can have various forms, ranging from simple wire or wooden fences to more massive forms such electrical fences or even barbed wire roles. Secondly, fences demarcate space and function as conveyor of limited access and property rights. This is why a history of fencing always requires us to think about fences in a way that accounts for their materiality as much as their economic, political and symbolic meaning. Fences express a specific spatial regime of sovereignty (they control access) and of property (they mark land as commodity). In other words – fences tell us something about the power relations at work, and they do so in particular ways: materially and visually. The grid of fences pervading a landscape visualises the control over land, livestock, and game, as much as it materially references labour relations, modes of production, transport, law, surveillance and policing. Yet, a history of fencing has to understand fences not only as manifestation of control but also of ambitions and fears. The high electrical fence surrounding a house, for instance, not only marks the owner’s assertion that this is his/her house, but also the fear that somebody might break into his/her property. In other words fences also tell us something about the desires and anxieties prevalent in a given society. Namibia and South Africa have a complicated and intricate history of fencing. Endless fences along roads, for instance, are well known to everyone who has travelled overland in these two countries. In Namibia and South Africa the presence and/or absence of fences first and foremost points to a long and contested history of land dispossession and appropriation. Southern African fencing history is, however, not limited to the fencing of farming land. Fences also played an important role as a technology of warfare, policing and confinement. South Africa has, to mention just two examples, features numerous border fences erected against unwanted movement of people and animals since the late 19th century, and fenced prison camps such as the first so-called concentration camp in the early 20th century. |
| Lernziele | The seminar approaches Southern African history, and in particular Namibian and South African history, through fences and the act of fencing, and thereby explores unconventional analytical paths in retracing key-topics and conflicts in the region’s history. By means of selected examples the seminar will discuss various forms of fencing, the underlying anxieties and desires, and the way the acts of fencing changed the life of people and animals. The literature on fencing is new and the readings will introduce students to an emerging field of historical inquiry. There are, on the other hand, rich sources we will work with in the seminar, among them texts, maps, and images. |
| Anmeldung zur Lehrveranstaltung | Registration on MonA |
| Unterrichtssprache | Englisch |
| Einsatz digitaler Medien | kein spezifischer Einsatz |
| Intervall | Wochentag | Zeit | Raum |
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Keine Einzeltermine verfügbar, bitte informieren Sie sich direkt bei den Dozierenden.
| Module |
Aufbaumodul Neuere und Neueste Geschichte (Bachelor Studienfach: Geschichte (Studienbeginn vor 01.08.2013)) Modul Analysefelder: Akteure - Erfahrungen - Praktiken (Master Studiengang: Europäische Geschichte) Modul Areas: aussereuropäisch (Master Studiengang: Europäische Geschichte) Modul Aufbau Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Bachelor Studienfach: Geschichte) Modul Culture and Society (Master Studiengang: African Studies (Studienbeginn vor 01.08.2013)) Modul Epochen der europäischen Geschichte: Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Master Studiengang: Europäische Geschichte) Modul Ereignisse, Prozesse, Zusammenhänge (Master Studienfach: Geschichte (Studienbeginn vor 01.08.2013)) Modul Fachkompetenz Globaler Wandel (Master Studienfach: Geographie) Modul Fields: Governance and Politics (Master Studiengang: African Studies) Modul Fields: Knowledge Production and Transfer (Master Studiengang: African Studies) Modul Fields: Media and Imagination (Master Studiengang: African Studies) Modul History (Master Studiengang: African Studies (Studienbeginn vor 01.08.2013)) Modul Kommunikation und Vermittlung historischer Erkenntnisse (Master Studienfach: Geschichte (Studienbeginn vor 01.08.2013)) Modul Methoden und Diskurse historischer Forschung (Master Studienfach: Geschichte (Studienbeginn vor 01.08.2013)) Modul Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Master Studienfach: Geschichte) Modul Neuere und Neueste Geschichte (Master Studienfach: Geschichte (Studienbeginn vor 01.08.2013)) Modul Profil: Geschichte Afrikas (Master Studiengang: Europäische Geschichte) Modul Profil: Schweizer Geschichte (Master Studiengang: Europäische Geschichte) Modul Vertiefung Globalisierung, Kultur und internationale Entwicklung (Master Studienfach: Geographie (Studienbeginn vor 01.08.2015)) |
| Prüfung | Lehrveranst.-begleitend |
| An-/Abmeldung zur Prüfung | Anmelden: Belegen; Abmelden: nicht erforderlich |
| Wiederholungsprüfung | keine Wiederholungsprüfung |
| Skala | Pass / Fail |
| Belegen bei Nichtbestehen | nicht wiederholbar |
| Zuständige Fakultät | Philosophisch-Historische Fakultät, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Anbietende Organisationseinheit | Kompetenzzentrum Afrika |