Universität Wien
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240032 VO BM7 Introduction to political anthropology (2025S)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 24 - Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie
Tu 04.03. 13:15-14:45 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß

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Details

Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Tuesday 11.03. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
  • Tuesday 18.03. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
  • Tuesday 25.03. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
  • Tuesday 01.04. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
  • Tuesday 08.04. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
  • Tuesday 29.04. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
  • Tuesday 06.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
  • Tuesday 13.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
  • Tuesday 20.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
  • Tuesday 27.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
  • Tuesday 03.06. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
  • Tuesday 10.06. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
  • Tuesday 17.06. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß
  • Tuesday 24.06. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal III NIG Erdgeschoß

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

How has anthropology approached the study of power and politics? How can political institutions, forms of governance, and moments of resistance be constituted as objects of anthropological study? And in what ways have political and social developments shaped the production of anthropological knowledge? In this course, students will explore the dynamic relationship between power, politics, anthropological theory, and ethnographic research. We will begin by examining different theories of power that have shaped the field of political anthropology. From there, we will engage with key topics and themes that political anthropologists have studied, such as the state and bureaucracies; colonialism and capitalism; ‘race’, migration and borders; humanitarianism and ‘development,’ gender and sexuality; resistance and social movements. We will also consider how anthropologists have understood anthropology and its methods as inherently political shaped by and evolving alongside the very processes they study. Students will be encouraged to think critically about how concepts in political anthropology transform and travel across contexts, and how these ideas can illuminate contemporary social issues. The course is organized around interactive lectures, with the instructor delivering presentations alongside student engagement activities such as discussions, reflections and pair-work.

By the end of the course, students should be able to:
Identify, contextualize and compare major trends in political anthropology.
Critically analyze foundational concepts and theoretical frameworks in political anthropology.
Apply key concepts to real-world phenomena, such as political events, social movements, and governance practices.
Construct well-supported arguments about the intersection of anthropology with broader political processes.

The course will be conducted in English. The course will include an accompanying tutorial. The tutorial will be led by Ariane Sasaba.

Assessment and permitted materials

The course carries 5 ECTS credits. There will be a final exam for this class worth 100% of the final grade. The final exam will include questions on lecture content and select readings from the literature, which will be specified at the end of the course. A grade bonus will be available for students who participate in tutorials. Please note that no aids will be permitted during the exam.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Grading scale
A = 1 (Very Good): 87 - 100% / B = 2 (Good): 75 - 86,99% / C = 3 (Satisfactory): 63 - 74,99% /
D = 4 (Enough): 50 - 62,99% / F = 5 (Not Enough): 00 - 49,99%

Examination topics

Reading list

Literature (tentative)
The final reading list will be distributed during our first meeting.
Abu-Lughod, L. (1990) ‘The Romance of Resistance: Tracing Transformations of Power Through Bedouin Women’, American Ethnologist, 17(1), pp. 4155.
Benton, A. (2016) ‘Risky Business: Race, Nonequivalence, and the Humanitarian Politics of Life’, Visual Anthropology, 29(2), pp. 187202.
Bonilla, Y. and Rosa, J. (2015) ‘#Ferguson: Digital Protest, Hashtag Ethnography, and the Racial Politics of Social Media in the United States’, American Ethnologist, 42(1), pp. 417.
De Genova, N. (2005) Working the Boundaries: Race, Space, and "Illegality" in Mexican Chicago. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Fassin, D. (2011) ‘Policing Borders, Producing Boundaries: The Governmentality of Immigration in Dark Times’, Annual Review of Anthropology, 40, pp. 213226.
Gupta, A. (1995) ‘Blurred Boundaries: The Discourse of Corruption, the Culture of Politics, and the Imagined State’, American Ethnologist, 22(2), pp. 375402.
Ortner, S.B. (2016) ‘Dark Anthropology and Its Others: Theory Since the Eighties’, Hau: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 6(1), pp. 4773.
Stoler, A.L. (1991) ‘Making Empire Respectable: The Politics of Race and Sexual Morality in 20th-Century Colonial Cultures’, American Ethnologist, 16(4), pp. 634660.
Tuck, E. and Yang, K.W. (2014) ‘R-Words: Refusing Research’, in Paris, D. and Winn, M.T. (eds.) Humanizing Research: Decolonizing Qualitative Inquiry with Youth and Communities. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, pp. 223248.
Tsing, A.L. (2015) The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Tu 28.01.2025 11:26