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| Semester | spring semester 2018 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Julia Tischler (julia.tischler@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | "In the last reckoning all things are purchased with food." This statement of a high-ranking South African official in 1941 signifies the enormous significance of agriculture in the modern world. Although the agricultural sector is seen to be declining in relative significance, most Africans – both in the past and in the present – have been involved in agricultural production. Globally speaking, agriculture has remained crucial in providing food and raw materials to industries and rising numbers of urban dwellers. The lecture explores major changes in African agriculture, from early food production and pastoralism to the phase of intensified production during the pre- and early-colonial cash crop boom. As many studies have shown, commercialization could also mean an increased use of forced labor. Moreover, while colonial administrations actively encouraged peasant production in some colonies, white minorities in settler colonies tried their best to undermine African peasantries. We will also discuss how agriculture featured in post-colonial nation-building, tracing how the sector changed from the earlier phase of relative economic prosperity to economic decline and falling world market prices from the 1970s onwards. Current debates on land-grabbing and smallholder farming show that agriculture is still a hot topic. In conjunction with a chronologically structured overview, the lecture will address key historiographic debates and methodological questions. Among others, it will deal with peasant resistance, the uneven spread of capitalism in African countrysides, as well as changing gender roles. Finally, the lecture emphasizes cross-continental and trans-continental entanglements, asking how African rural producers were embedded (or not) in global networks of consumption and trade. |
| Bibliography | M. Tauger (2011) Agriculture in World History. Abingdon: Taylor & Francis. C. Bayly (2004) The Birth of the Modern World, 1780-1914. Malden: Blackwell. D. Bryceson, C. Kay, and J. Mooji (eds, 2000) Disappearing Peasantries? Rural Labour in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Bourton: ITDG Publishing. |
| Admission requirements | Für Studierende der Geschichte aller Studienfächer und -stufen, Studierende anderer Studienfächer, HörerInnen. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Course auditors welcome |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
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No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Grundmodul Neuere und Neueste Geschichte (Bachelor's degree subject: History (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Analysefelder: Strukturen - Prozesse - Transformationen (Master's degree program: European History) Modul Areas: aussereuropäisch (Master's degree program: European History) Modul Basics: History (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul Basis Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Bachelor's degree subject: History) Modul Ereignisse, Prozesse, Zusammenhänge (Master's degree subject: History (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Fachwissenschaft / Geschichte (Master's Studies: Educational Sciences) Modul Fachwissenschaft / Geschichte (Master's Studies: Educational Sciences (Start of studies before 01.08.2015)) Modul Fields: Knowledge Production and Transfer (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul Forschung und Praxis (Master's degree subject: East European History) Modul Introduction to Interdisciplinary African Studies (Master's degree program: African Studies (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) 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 Profil: Geschichte Afrikas (Master's degree program: European History) Modul Profil: Moderne (Master's degree program: European History) 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) Modul Synthese (Master's degree subject: History) Modul Theorie und Praxis (Master's degree subject: East European History (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) |
| Assessment format | record of achievement |
| Assessment details | Schriftliche oder mündliche Prüfung in Absprache mit dem/der Dozierenden. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | one repetition, repetition counts |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Departement Geschichte |