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44946-01 - Seminar: Entangled histories: Southern Africa and Israel (3 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2016 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers |
Giorgio Miescher (giorgio.miescher@unibas.ch, Assessor)
Erik Petry (erik.petry@unibas.ch) |
| Content | There is an ongoing debate on the analogy between apartheid South Africa and contemporary Israel. Prominent veteran leaders of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa like the archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu have repeatedly denounced Israel’s policy in the occupied territories as apartheid. For Tutu the politics of separation in Israel mirrored the experiences in South Africa under apartheid. Recalling the role of boycott, disinvestment and sanctions in ending apartheid in South Africa Tutu endorsed similar campaigns to end the same issues of inequality and injustice in Israel. In Israel the comparison of Israel with apartheid South Africa is widely denounced as a delegitimisation of the State of Israel and as an act of anti-Semitism. Taking the pointed debates in South Africa as a starting point the seminar aims to explore the complex field of entangled histories between the two countries with their many-folded political, economic and personal links. On a political level, for instance, the two countries had a complex history in which Israel has been among the critics as well as the close collaborators of apartheid South Africa, and especially the military collaboration with Israel was of outmost importance for the South African governments of the 1970s and 1980s. On a personal level, too, complex relations existed among the two countries. The Zionist cause, for instance, served among young leftist activists with a Jewish background as an important reference in the interwar period and the years after. After its foundation in 1948 the state of Israel could rely on continuous support by Jewish communities in South Africa with a notable immigration from South Africa taking place in the decades to come. In light of these entangled histories the seminar tries to understand the often made analogy between apartheid South Africa and contemporary Israel. We will engage with international definitions of apartheid as formulated by the United Nations as well as with recent research on the thesis that Israel is practicing forms of colonialism and apartheid. In doing so, we do not frame the discussion as a simple comparison between two different states and their respective politics of separation and rule. Instead we will raise the question whether the term apartheid might be applied to describe forms of segregation and exclusion in a more general way as proposed by the concept of global apartheid. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|
No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Aufbaumodul Neuere und Neueste Geschichte (Bachelor's degree subject: History (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Doktorat Jüdische Studien: Empfehlungen (PhD subject: Jewish Studies) Modul Areas: transnational - global (Master's degree program: European History) Modul Aufbau Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Bachelor's degree subject: History) Modul Culture and Society (Master's degree program: African Studies (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Epochen der europäischen Geschichte: Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Master's degree program: European History) Modul Ereignisse, Prozesse, Zusammenhänge (Master's degree subject: History (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Europäisierung und Globalisierung (Master European Global Studies) Modul Fields: Governance and Politics (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul Fields: Knowledge Production and Transfer (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul Fields: Media and Imagination (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul Geschichte, Literatur, Religion (Master's degree subject: Jewish Studies) Modul History (Master's degree program: African Studies (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Internationales Zusatzwissen (Master European Studies (Start of studies before 01.02.2015)) Modul Kommunikation und Vermittlung historischer Erkenntnisse (Master's degree subject: History (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Methoden und Diskurse historischer Forschung (Master's degree subject: History (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Master's degree subject: History) Modul Neuere und Neueste Geschichte (Master's degree subject: History (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Profil: Geschichte Afrikas (Master's degree program: European History) Modul Profil: Moderne (Master's degree program: European History) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Kompetenzzentrum Afrika |