81691 - Political Anthropology (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students are able to develop an anthropological analysis of specific political contexts. They can apply such a knowledge in critical terms in research and intervention projects aimed at understanding and resolving conflicts, relating local to national and global contexts.

Course contents

Often portrayed as peripheral or backward, sub-Saharan Africa actually represents a unique laboratory for understanding political, economic, and social transformations that, in many cases, anticipate dynamics now observed in other regions of the world. Since the end of the Cold War, the continent has been plagued by complex and protracted conflicts, fueled by war economies, transnational networks, and forms of informal and predatory accumulation. This context has witnessed, on the one hand, a profound crisis of the state and its institutions, and, on the other, the emergence of new forms of grassroots social and political organization. At the same time, numerous African countries have experienced significant economic growth, while new global powers, primarily China but also other emerging players, have progressively strengthened their presence on the continent.

The course analyzes the evolution of the state, inequalities, armed conflicts, and the processes of globalization in contemporary Africa. Through the examination of case studies such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Liberia, Sudan, and other crisis contexts, the historical and political causes of conflicts will be reconstructed and their social and cultural consequences analyzed. Particular attention will be paid to the relationship between politics, war, and youth, forms of mobilization (including armed mobilization), the imaginaries generated by violence, and everyday survival strategies. The course will also explore the specificities of globalization in Africa, the local impact of relations with emerging powers, and the role of humanitarian aid and international cooperation in redefining relations between the global North and South, with particular reference to their effects on political dynamics and local conflicts.

Readings/Bibliography

For students with little general knowledge of sub-Saharan Africa, we recommend reading one of the following texts:

Jourdan L., Pallaver K., Parlare d’Africa. 50 parole chiave, Carocci, Roma 2021.

Dinucci M., Geostoria dell’Africa, Zanichelli, Bologna 2000.

N.B. This is recommended reading and is therefore not included in the exam book count.

 

The exam is oral, and students will be required to study four texts from the list below. There are no differences in the syllabus for attending and non-attending students:

BayartJ.-F., Ellis S., Hibou B., The Criminalization of the State in Africa, Oxford, James Currey for the International African Institute 1998.

Beherend H., Alice Lakwena & the Holy Spirits: War in Northern Uganda 1986-97, Oxford, James Currey 1999.

Chabal P., Daloz J.-P., Africa Works. Disorder as Political Instrument, Oxford, James Currey for the International African Institute 1998.

Ciabarri L., Dopo lo stato. Storia e antropologia della ricomposizione sociale in Somalia settentrionale, Milano, Franco Angeli 2010.

De Lauri A., Afghansitan. Ricostruzione, ingiustizia, diritti umani, Milano, Mondadori, 2012

Duffield M., Guerre Postmoderne. L'aiuto umanitario come tecnica politica di controllo, Bologna, Il Ponte 2004.

Ellis, S., The Mask of Anarchy: The Destruction of Liberia and the Religious Dimensions of an African Civil War, New York, New York University Press 1999.

Jourdan, L., Generazione Kalashnikov. Un antropologo dentro la guerra in Congo, Bari-Roma, Laterza 2010.

Jourdan, L. (a cura di), Il Rwanda a vent'anni dal genocido, numero monografico di «Afriche e Orienti», 2014, 3.

Jourdan, L. (a cura di), Etnografie della guerra e del post-guerra, numero monografico di «Antropologia», 2015, 1. (http://www.ledijournals.com/ojs/index.php/antropologia/index).

Lan, D., Guns and Rain: Guerrillas and Spirit Mediums in Zimbabwe, Oxford, James Currey 1985.

Richards, P., Fighting for the Rain Forest: War, Youth and Resources in Sierra Leone, Oxford, James Currey 1996.

Trefon, T. (a cura di), Ordre et désordre à Kinshasa. Réponses populaires à la faillite de l'Etat, «Cahiers Africains», n. 61-62, 2004.

Uvin, P, Aiding Violence. The development enterprise in Rwanda, West Hartford, Kumarian Press, 1998.

Teaching methods

Lectures will be frontal, and audiovisual materials will occasionally be used to further illustrate the topics covered. Students will be encouraged to form working groups on topics of their choice related to the course.

Assessment methods

Students who attend at least 75% of the classes are considered to be attending.


Students will pass an oral exam, with questions designed to test their knowledge of the topics covered in the syllabus. They will be required to demonstrate their ability to contextualize the books and reconstruct the theoretical and methodological frameworks that inform them. Furthermore, they will be required to demonstrate their knowledge of the general historical context of the selected ethnographies.

Teaching tools

Audiovisual materials will be used.

Students who, due to disabilities or specific learning disabilities (SLD), require compensatory or dispensatory tools must first contact the appropriate office: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it/per-studenti .

Office hours

See the website of Luca Jourdan