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23787-01 - Seminar: Making War, Building States? Research seminar on the dynamics of civil wars in Africa (3 CP)
| Semester | spring semester 2010 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers |
Laurent Goetschel (laurent.goetschel@unibas.ch)
Didier Péclard (didier.peclard@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | Why do rebels fight? Do they have a cause to defend? In the last 20 years, the origins and causes of civil wars in Africa have been a constant object of debate. In the wake of influential works such as A. Hoeffler and P. Collier's "greed vs. grievance" model and M. Kaldor's "New Wars" theory, the very political nature of such conflicts has been questioned. The 'new wars' of the 1990s were no longer fought 'with' or 'alongside the people' for the defence of clearly articulated political projects sustained by identifiable ideologies, but 'against the people' by greedy rebels exclusively interested in getting their share of the economic and political cake. Drawing on the various criticisms that were made to the economicist bias of such theories, this seminar will focus on the political legitimacy of civil wars. Considering that "civil war is not a stupid thing" (C. Cramer), we will try to understand how 'rebels' strive to articulate their violent actions around political and social claims, and how they deal with the potential contradictions between the use of violence and their quest for legitimacy. This advanced block seminar is the first of a series of three that will take place during three successive semesters as of spring term 2010. The second seminar will be dedicated to 'the politics of peace', while the third will engage with issues of post-conflict state rebuilding. |
| Learning objectives | This advanced seminar will provide MA and PhD students insight into the study of civil wars and conflicts in 20th century Africa. |
| Bibliography | Cramer, Christopher. 2006. Civil War is not a Stupid Thing. Accounting for violence in developing countries, London, Hurst. Schlichte, Klaus. 2009. In the Shadow of Violence. The Politics of Armed Groups. Frankfurt a.M., Campus Verlag. |
| Comments | Participation to the preparatory meeting in March is compulsory. |
| Weblink | www.europa.unibas.ch |
| Admission requirements | Abgeschlossenes BA Studium |
| Course application | Anmeldung bitte bei Daniel Michel (d.michel@unibas.ch) bis zum 15.3.2010 |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|
No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Modul Culture and Society (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul Internationales Zusatzwissen (Master European Studies) Political Sciences (Doktorat an der Philosophisch-Historischen Fakultät (Studienbeginn vor 01.08.2011)) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Lehrveranstaltungsbegleitend |
| 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 | University of Basel |
| Offered by | Europainstitut |