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78214-01 - Seminar: Geographies of Power: Urban Violence in the (Post)Colonial City (3 CP)
| Semester | spring semester 2026 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Dany Tiwa (dany.tiwa@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | Course Description: This advanced seminar moves beyond pathological or sensationalist narratives to investigate the city as a primary site where violence is not merely contained, but actively produced, spatialized, and contested. We approach violence as a relational phenomenon, deeply embedded in the political, economic, and social fabric of the urban. The course critically examines how power, space, and identity intersect to normalize, perpetuate, and sustain various forms of violence, from the spectacular to the slow and systemic. The curriculum is structured to first deconstruct established typologies of violence (e.g., political, criminal, gendered, structural) and then transcend them, pushing students to analyze the interconnected logics that underpin them. We will engage with and critique key theoretical frameworks—from Interactionist and Structuralist to Feminist, Decolonial, and Poststructuralist approaches—paying particular attention to how enduring legacies of colonial urban planning, racial capitalism, and institutionalized inequality fundamentally shape the urban experience of violence. A core analytical thread is the dialectical relationship between urban space and violence. We will interrogate how a city’s material and symbolic organization—its architecture, infrastructure, borders, and planning regimes—can both inhibit and actively incubate conflict. Conversely, we will study how violence itself (re)shapes urban space, producing new geographies of fear, segregation, and resistance. Through in-depth empirical case studies from the Global North and South, students will learn to apply critical theory to analyze how specific urban contexts mediate the legitimacy of force and shape the emotional, political, and embodied responses to violent events. The seminar concludes by critically examining practices of resistance, resilience, and the contested politics of urban peace and security. Course structure: the seminar is organized around five thematic blocks: 1. Theorizing violence by deconstructing key frameworks. 2. Spatialities of violence is the city: analyzing the violence of planning and the planning of violence. 3. Political economies and institutions of violence. We will explore the roles of state and non-state actors, and the market. 4. The embodied and affective city. We will examine the cultural and phenomenological dimensions of violence. 5. Spatial practices of resistance and reclamation will help us critique and explore alternatives to securitization. |
| Learning objectives | Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: • Critique the city as a dynamic terrain where violence is politically produced and spatially contested. • Deconstruct established typologies of violence to reveal their underlying political and spatial logics. • Evaluate the utility and limitations of major theoretical frameworks for explaining violence in the contemporary capitalist city. • Articulate and analyze the dialectical relationship between a city’s spatial organization and the patterns of violence within it. • Apply advanced theoretical concepts from critical urban studies to empirical cases of urban violence. • Analyze how spatial, social, and historical contexts construct the legitimacy of violence and shape affective and political responses to it. |
| Comments | This course is capped at 35 students. Students from other programs are welcome with a priority for students from the MSG Critical Urbanisms and MSG Changing Societies on timely registration. |
| Admission requirements | registration mandatory |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Wednesday | 14.15-16.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 18.02.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 25.02.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Fasnachtsferien |
| Wednesday 04.03.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 11.03.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 18.03.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 25.03.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 01.04.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 08.04.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 15.04.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 22.04.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 29.04.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 06.05.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 13.05.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 20.05.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Wednesday 27.05.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Alte Universität, Seminarraum -201 |
| Modules |
Modul: Sachthemen der Ethnologie (Bachelor's degree subject: Anthropology) Modul: Theory and General Anthropology (Master's degree subject: Anthropology) Modul: Transfer: Europa interdisziplinär (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Module: Conflicts and Peacebuilding (Master's degree program: Changing Societies: Migration – Conflicts – Resources) Module: Europeanization and Globalization (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Module: Fields: Environment and Development (Master's degree program: African Studies) 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 details | pass / fail |
| 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 | Fachbereich Urban Studies |