Document Type

Syllabus

Publication Date

Spring 2024

Course Description

This course is designed to introduce you to rich and diverse sources of political theory from around the globe. It is explicitly focused on decolonizing and expanding what has traditionally been called the ‘canon’ of political theory, which is predominantly Western and European, demonstrating clearly that political theory is and has always been global. As such, one of the key insights presented in this course is that political theory is most vital, urgent, and inclusive, when it attends to the very specific local problems that give rise to it. It will analyze how political theory is deeply embedded in local networks of power, identity, and structure and how these converge and diverge with the global. This course will introduce you to globalizing political theory in a thematic way and cover a range of thinkers from disparate times and places. It will begin with an exploration of Colonialism and Empire. Colonialism and the extractive violence of imperialism have affected a significant part of the Global South. How have political theorists imagined post-colonial liberation? Thinkers explored in this section of the course include Ho Chi Minh, Frantz Fanon, Claudia Jones, and Achille Mbembe. It will then move to a thematic exploration of Gender and Sexuality. The question of women’s political participation and place in the public sphere has been essential in thinking about broad questions of modernity, human rights and citizenship. More recently, sexuality and the place of sexual minorities has been significant in the framings of religious political identity, the refusal of westernization, and the engagements with democracy. The authors explored in this section include Ayatollah Khomeini, Lélia Gonzalez, G.A. Parvez and Leila Ahmed. This will be followed followed by a thematic exploration of Religion and Secularism, which will critically examine the historically specific concept of secularism and analyze its role in a global political context where religion often plays a central and constitutive role in politics through the work of Qutb, Guru Nanak, and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. A thematic consideration of Marxism and Socialism will then follow that will examines how these have emerged as central ideologies and processes in the 20th century and beyond. Despite originating in the West, Marxism has traveled across the globe forcing a radical reconsideration of the systems and structures of the places to which it arrived. The works of Ernesto “Che” Guevara and R. İhsan Eliaçık will be explored in this section of the course. It will then turn to an exploration of the pressing issues of Democracy and Protest. Many studies of political theory and politics more generally, tend to treat democracy as a concept that originates in the West, but is of universal value and appeal. By contrast, this section will examine the varied meaning and valences of democratic protest around the world by exploring the Hong Kong protests through the lens of Daoist philosophy and the works of Nascimento in Brazil. Finally, the course will conclude with an examination of Race, Ethnicity, and Indigeneity, through Titu Cusi Yupanqui, Haunani-Kay Trask, and W.E.B. DuBois.

Student Outcomes

After completing the course students will be able to:  Critically analyze theoretical texts from around the globe and consider different interpretations and applications  Ask and confront challenging and difficult questions about the intersection of global and local politics  Learn to do close reading and textual analysis of complex texts  Improve their ability to clearly express political ideas both orally and in writing.  Develop capacities for clear, thorough, and independent thought that demonstrates the ability to analyze arguments based on evidence and to understand the value and limitations of multiple types of evidence

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