| CODE | IRL2014 | |||||||||
| TITLE | An Introduction to Politics in Sub-Saharan Africa | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | International Relations | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit offers interested students a gateway into understanding African Politics. All across the world, internal conflicts dramatically increased after the end of colonization and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. These conflicts marked a growing trend away from international conflict, replaced instead by internal wars based on identity, secession and institutional access. The situation has been especially dire in Africa. By the start of the twenty-first century, more people were being killed in Africa’s wars than in the rest of the world combined. Distinctly marked by their protracted nature, civilian component and marked brutality, massacres like the hundred day genocide in Rwanda, and the civil wars in Sudan and the DRC exposed an enormous knowledge gap as pertains to political developments in Africa. The issues plaguing Rwanda did not begin with the genocide, nor did Kenya's brutal election massacres in 07/08 originate that year. This course will get to the heart of politics in Sub-Saharan Africa and identify the essential features and challenges of African politics. This course will tackle the diverse political systems and their congruent dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa thematically, including the systemic, ideological, institutional, liberal-economic and coercive. This course will consequently unpack, explore and answer key questions, such as: How does the colonial legacy still impact modern African Politics? Study-Unit Aims: The objective of this study-unit is to provide students with a broad overview and understanding of contemporary issues in Sub-Saharan African Politics. By identifying and understanding key reoccurring themes, students will gain a comparative understanding of how politics in Africa face similarities or differences to the rest of the world. Studying African politics is vital to understanding the growth trajectories and the global challenges of the world today, ranging from migration to resource security. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Identify and discuss the key structures and institutions impacting African Politics today; - Identify and understand the economic, social and institutional legacy of colonialism on modern day Africa and state-civil society relations; - Identify and examine when and how identity becomes political, including issues surrounding nationalism, political-tribalism and nativism, and how such identities relate to who owns the state and access to the resources of the state; - Discuss why an abundance of resources has not translated into political stability or welfare; - Identify the pitfalls of neo-patrimonial administrations, and how rent-seeking, predation and crony-capitalist state capture impacts political and economic growth in Africa; - Identify and discuss how economic and democratic liberalization in an unripe context can lead to structural inequality, reversals in liberalization, a growing democratic deficit. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: -Discuss long term trends and patterns in African politics; -Analyse and discuss the immense impact that Africa has on international political developments; -Discuss the effects of Political challenges in Africa in a regional and international context, including on issues of mass mobilization and migration. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Alex Thomson, An Introduction to African Politics (London; New York: Routledge, 2010), http://site.ebrary.com/id/10394377. - Paul Williams, War & Conflict in Africa (Cambridge, UK; Malden, MA: Polity Press, 2011). Supplementary Readings: - Michael Bratton and Nicolas Van de Walle, Democratic Experiments in Africa: Regime Transitions in Comparative Perspective (Cambridge: Cambridge university press, 1998). - Mahmood Mamdani, When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in Rwanda (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2001). - Robert H Bates, When Things Fell Apart: State Failure in Late-Century Africa (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008). - Dorina Akosua Oduraa Bekoe, Voting in Fear: Electoral Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa (Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace, 2012). - Andreas Wimmer, “Who Owns the State? Understanding Ethnic Conflict in Post-Colonial Societies,” Nations and Nationalism, no. 3 (1997): 631–65. - Michael Ross, “The Political Economy of the Resource Curse,” World Politics 51 (January 1, 1999): 297–322, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043887100008200. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | |||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Alexandra Schaerrer Cumming |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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