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| Semester | fall semester 2015 |
| Course frequency | Every fall sem. |
| Lecturers |
Sara Anna Hellmüller (sara.hellmueller@unibas.ch)
Martina Santschi (martina.santschi@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | Violent conflict and civil wars in Africa have often been seen as the cause or as the result of state fragility, weakness or outright failure. According to this way of thinking, many post-colonial states in Africa have ‘failed’ to hold on to their monopoly over the use of violence and thereby ‘proven’ the limits of their capacity to exercise power over society, as the upsurge in civil wars across the continent in the immediate post-Cold War era would indicate. In this seminar, we engage critically with such perspectives and ask instead how states in Africa, as elsewhere throughout the world, are (also) the product of (internal and inter-state) warfare. Civil wars, it will be argued, while being the cause of immense suffering on the part of civilian populations, do not simply destroy political orders. They contribute to shaping and producing them. Examples will be drawn from a variety of cases throughout the continent. |
| Learning objectives | Students understand and reflect on the role of violent conflict and war in the history of state formation in Africa. They have knowledge of the historical sociology of the state as well as the most important theories of (civil) war, and are able to critically analyse and weigh the importance of factors such as ethnicity, natural resources (scarcity and abundance) and state weakness as assumed causes of violent conflict. |
| Bibliography | A full reading list will be provided at the beginning of the course. Here is a selection of indicative reading: Tilly, C. (1985). War Making and State Making as Organized Crime. In P. B. Evans, D. Rueschemeyer, & T. Skocpol (Eds.), Bringing the State Back In. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 169-187. Englebert, P. & Dunn, K.C. (2013). Inside African Politics, London: Routledge (Chapter 7: The Shifting Landscape of Conflict and Security, pp. 267-312). Cramer, C. (2006). Civil War is not a Stupid Thing: Accounting for Violence in Developing Countries. London: Hurst & Co. |
| Weblink | www.swisspeace.org |
| Language of instruction | German |
| Use of digital media | Online, mandatory |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|
No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Modul Basics: Politics (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul Culture and Society (Master's degree program: African Studies (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Fields: Governance and Politics (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul Globalisierung, Kultur und Internationale Entwicklung (Bachelor's degree subject: Geography (Start of studies before 01.08.2015)) Modul Institutionen, Verbände, Religionsgemeinschaften (Master Religion - Economics - Politics) Modul Internationales Zusatzwissen (Master European Studies (Start of studies before 01.02.2015)) Modul Konflikt/Kooperation (Bachelor's degree subject: Social Sciences (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Politik, Entwicklung und soziale Ungleichheit (Bachelor's degree subject: Sociology) Modul Politik, Entwicklung und soziale Ungleichheit (Bachelor's degree subject: Sociology (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Sachthematische Fragestellungen der Ethnologie (Bachelor's degree subject: Anthropology (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Sachthemen der Ethnologie (Bachelor's degree subject: Anthropology) Vertiefungsmodul Global Europe: Staatlichkeit, Entwicklung und Globalisierung (Master European Global Studies) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Reading, active participation in class, one presentation, one lead of discussion, and a short critical review. |
| 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 | Departement Gesellschaftswissenschaften |