Back
Semester | fall semester 2020 |
Course frequency | Once only |
Lecturers | James Lawrence Merron (james.merron@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
Content | This course elaborates on citizenship and mobility through the prism of public health in Africa. We will explore the concept of ‘therapeutic citizenship’ and the transnational landscape within which people and institutions move, thinking critically about forms of citizenship that arise when institutions are absent and where other forms of citizenship can not be relied upon to secure life itself. In situations where citizenship emerges from ‘triage’ - i.e. the method of deciding who lives and who dies - medical treatment is contingent on social relations and the ability to capitalise on social networks (both local and international). The context in which social inequalities are transcribed into biological differences challenges our sociological imaginations, encouraging us to re-evaluate the theories, concepts, and methods that we might take for granted. The course then proceeds by addressing the politics of social and biological transformation, with a focus on the experiential ‘technologies of the self’ through which people negotiate life, death and their place in the world. |
Learning objectives | Participants will learn to frame research questions that relate to citizenship and mobility, using case studies drawn from Africa in the purview of public health. Students will leave the course with a competence and sensitivity toward the ethical, conceptual and methodological challenges of conducting research on these topics. |
Bibliography | Vinh-Kim Nguyen (2010). The Republic of Therapy. Duke University Press. Giorgio Agamben (1998). Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life. Stanford University Press. Miriam Ticktin (2014). “Transnational humanitarianism”. Annual Review of Anthropology, 43, 273-289. Sabine Netz et al. (2019). “Claiming citizenship rights through the body multiple”. Citizenship Studies, 23(7), 637-651. Peter Redfield (2017). “Doctors without borders and the moral economy of pharmaceuticals”. In A. Bullard (Ed.), Human Rights in Crisis (pp. 129-144). Routledge. |
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: Erweiterung Gesellschaftswissenschaften M.A. (Master's degree subject: Political Science) Modul: Fields: Governance and Politics (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul: Forschungsfelder der Ethnologie (Bachelor's degree subject: Anthropology) Modul: Theory and General Anthropology (Master's degree subject: Anthropology) Modul: Ungleichheit, Konflikt, Kultur (Master's degree subject: Sociology) Module: Migration, Mobility and Transnationalism (Master's degree program: Changing Societies: Migration – Conflicts – Resources) |
Assessment format | continuous assessment |
Assessment details | Students are expected to read one text per week and be prepared to discuss this text in detail during class time. Each session’s discussion will be guided by a student who will present on a key topic from the literature (plus issues surrounding it). This presentation and feedback will provide the material for a short (3-5 page) paper due at the end of the semester. |
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 Soziologie |