Power-sharing, Multiculturalism and Cooperation (2017/18)

Course Description:

With respect to the first module of the course (Prof. Estella Carpi), the second module aims to provide a more strict anthropological reading on violence. How can socio-cultural anthropology contribute to the understanding of the causes, characteristics, and effects of mass violence, collective traumas, as well as the politics of post-conflict situations? The course will response these questions through theoretical key-concepts and ethnographic case studies from Balkans, Argentina, Rwanda, Palestine, etc., which will offer a comparative outlook. We will critically review theories and discourses on phenomena ranging from the so-called ethnic conflicts, religious clashes, structural violence, routinization of terror, painful memories, state violence. The course will also queries contemporary hot topics, like terrorism and refugee crisis, and critically scrutinize the prominent effects of politics of intervention such as multiculturalism, human rights and humanitarianism. Students will have ample opportunities for in-class discussion and debate.

Course Objectives:

Upon successful completion of the course, students will become familiar with fundamental concepts, paradigms, and debates that have shaped anthropological understanding of violence. They will develop the necessary analytic insight to critically discuss ethnic rhetoric, to debate the cultural construction of identity, to assess conditions of structural violence, and to interrogate sites marked by post-conflict policies. They will be able to apply that knowledge to enhance their own research design.

Course Structure:

The course is divided in 6 units (1 unit per week). Each unite includes 2 modules (tot: 12 modules). Each module lasts 3-hour (1 hour= 45 min.). Classes will be held in English.