Back
| Semester | spring semester 2023 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Ernest Sewordor (ernest.sewordor@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | Africa’s colonial encounter with Europe since the nineteenth century significantly shaped the subjection of pre-existing local legal traditions to western legal frameworks. In the process, African “customary” laws were often left in place inasmuch as they did not contradict colonial ideas of good governance. At different times when Africans appeared before “colonial” or “native” courts—depending if a lawsuit was a criminal, civil, or so-called “native” affair—they exploited the existing legal pluralism, making calculated manoeuvres to achieve the outcomes they desired. Ultimately however, the activities that were considered criminal/legal or illicit/licit were defined by colonial rather than “customary” laws. Since achieving independence from the late 1950s onward, African countries have made important interventions to decolonise their political, social, and economic systems, yet much of the criminal laws today are still profoundly rooted in colonial legal assumptions. |
| Learning objectives | Taking the modern state as an entry point, this course invites participants to critically reflect on distinct but complementary themes in the literature from inter-disciplinary lenses. Throughout the course, students will be (a) given a survey of crime and law in African history; (b) introduced to conceptual frameworks with which to examine the criminal and legal pasts of Africa; (c) guided to use archival sources in conducting research and assess the ethics of doing criminal and legal African history. |
| Bibliography | Bayart, Jean-Fraçois, Ellis, Stephen and Hibou, Béatrice. The Criminalization of the State in Africa. Translated by Stephen Ellis. Oxford: James Currey, 1999. Comaroff, Jean and Comaroff, John L. The Truth About Crime: Sovereignty, Knowledge, Social Order. University of Chicago Press, 2016. Waller, Richard. ”Legal History and Historiography in Colonial Sub-Saharan Africa.” In Thomas Spear (ed). The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Historiography: Methods and Sources Vol 1. Oxford University Press, 2018. |
| Admission requirements | Für Studierende BSF Geschichte und BSG Osteuropastudien mit abgeschlossenem Einführungskurs der Geschichte. Teilnahme an der ersten Sitzung ist obligatorisch. Die Teilnehmerzahl ist auf 25 beschränkt. Bei Überbelegung werden Studierende, die noch kein Proseminar in dem Modul absolviert haben, bevorzugt zugelassen. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Monday | 16.15-18.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 20.02.2023 | 16.15-18.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 27.02.2023 | 16.15-18.00 | Fasnachstferien |
| Monday 06.03.2023 | 16.15-18.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 13.03.2023 | 16.15-18.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 20.03.2023 | 16.15-18.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 27.03.2023 | 16.15-18.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 03.04.2023 | 16.15-18.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 10.04.2023 | 16.15-18.00 | Ostern |
| Monday 17.04.2023 | 16.15-18.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 24.04.2023 | 16.15-18.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 01.05.2023 | 16.15-18.00 | Tag der Arbeit |
| Monday 08.05.2023 | 16.15-18.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 15.05.2023 | 16.15-18.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 22.05.2023 | 16.15-18.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 4 |
| Monday 29.05.2023 | 16.15-18.00 | Pfingstmontag |
| Modules |
Modul: Basis Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Bachelor's degree subject: History) |
| 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 | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Departement Geschichte |