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72405-01 - Practical course: Race, Affect and Security (3 CP)
| Semester | spring semester 2025 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Nadira Soraya Haribe (nadira.haribe@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | The course explores narratives and understandings of security from a sociological perspective using affect and critical race theories. With a focus on affective dimensions of security we look at topics of surveillance, profiling, prevention, criminalisation and counterterrorism while understanding both past and present forms and roles of racialisation within narratives of threat and safety. This includes discourses of migration and the formation of minorities in different contexts such as the so-called ‘Muslim question’ in Europe. Understanding race as a social and imagined construct with real-life consequences, the module looks at discriminatory design, the notion of race as technology as well as how race is used within technologies of control. The readings will provide understandings of intersectional configurations of the question of security, including aspects of gender, dis/ability and class. Asking ‘what is it that makes us safe?’, the module further introduces academic work on imagination beyond ‘security’ including affective relationality, care as well as abolitionist research and praxis. |
| Learning objectives | Learning Objectives and Outcomes 1. Students are able to demonstrate knowledge of different theorizations and understandings of ‘security’ and how these relate to each other. 2. Students are able to critically analyse racial and affective dimensions of ‘security’ and understandings of threat. 3. Students understand and are able to recognise and theorise discriminatory design, and further have a broad understanding of race as technology and race as a social construct with real-life consequences. 4. Students are familiar with intersectional approaches to sociological research and are able to apply an intersectional lens in their own research. |
| Bibliography | Preliminary Reading Suggestions • Ahmed, Sara. (2004) The Cultural Politics of Emotions. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. • Gregg, Melissa & Gregory J. Seigworth (Eds.). (2010) The Affect Theory Reader. Durham & London: Duke University Press. • Benjamin, Ruha. (2019) Race After Technology. Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code. Cambridge, Medford: Polity. |
| Course application | The course is limited to 20 participants. In the case of high demand, selection will be based on a short (300 words) written assignment related to the themes of the exercise course. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Wednesday | 14.15-16.00 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 19.02.2025 | 14.15-16.00 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Wednesday 26.02.2025 | 14.15-16.00 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Wednesday 05.03.2025 | 14.15-16.00 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Wednesday 19.03.2025 | 14.15-16.00 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Wednesday 26.03.2025 | 14.15-16.00 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Wednesday 02.04.2025 | 14.15-16.00 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Wednesday 09.04.2025 | 14.15-16.00 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Wednesday 16.04.2025 | 14.15-16.00 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Wednesday 23.04.2025 | 14.15-16.00 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Wednesday 30.04.2025 | 14.15-16.00 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Wednesday 07.05.2025 | 14.15-16.00 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Wednesday 14.05.2025 | 14.15-16.00 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Wednesday 21.05.2025 | 14.15-16.00 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Wednesday 28.05.2025 | 14.15-16.00 | Rheinsprung 21, Seminarraum 00.004 |
| Modules |
Modul: Gesellschaft in Osteuropa (Bachelor's degree program: Eastern European Studies) Modul: Gesellschaft in Osteuropa (Bachelor's degree subject: Eastern European Cultures) Modul: Politik, Entwicklung und soziale Ungleichheit (Bachelor's degree subject: Sociology) Modul: Sachthemen der Ethnologie (Bachelor's degree subject: Anthropology) Modul: Themen der Nahoststudien (Bachelor's degree subject: Near & Middle Eastern Studies) Modul: Themen der Near & Middle Eastern Studies (Master's degree subject: Near & Middle Eastern Studies) Modul: Transfer: Europa interdisziplinär (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Ungleichheit, Konflikt, Kultur (Master's degree subject: Sociology) Modul: Vertiefung Themenfelder der Geschlechterforschung (Master's degree subject: Gender Studies) Module: Conflicts and Peacebuilding (Master's degree program: Changing Societies: Migration – Conflicts – Resources) Module: Fields: Governance and Politics (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: The Urban across Disciplines (Master's degree program: Critical Urbanisms) Specialization Module Global Europe: Work, Migration and Society (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Soziologie |