210059 LK BAK8: Internationale Politik (2024S)

The reading course complements the main lecture "International Politics", which discusses the historical, conceptual, and theoretical basics of international politics and also examines links, narratives, and practices embedded within the broader context of the Imperial Mode of Living. In particular, we will concentrate on current international political issues such as dimensions of inequality between the so-called global north and south, the role of social movements and collective actors in the international context, and the socio-ecological crisis. It is strongly advised to keep track of the latest international news (via main newspapers, newsletters, podcasts, etc.) as they will be recurrent material for reflection and analysis. Critical perspectives will be applied to these contemporary debates in order to broaden our understanding of the unequal global north-south relations. An analysis of socio-environmental struggles reveals the assumption of unlimited access to resources, which is secured through hegemonic patterns of the world economy and a contested role of the state. Among the topics and categories to be discussed are postcolonial approaches, intersectionality, global political ecology, and a Latin American regional focus; these will be used to explore the complexity of the dynamics between the geopolitical north and south.