Decolonize Everything! Anthropology and Empire in the Global South and Global North (SCT4152.01)

David Bond

These days it seems there is a call to decolonize at every turn. What does this mean in the present? How does this call to decolonize everything connect to the armed struggles of the 20th century that dismantled European empires and secured the independence of nations across the Global South? After the postcolonial moment, where and how does the presence of empire remain? These questions have been central to anthropology since its inception, with some calling anthropology a colonial science and others seeing anthropology as a pedagogy of the oppressed. Juxtaposing the voices of revolutionaries and scholars, the fight for independence and identity, and the contestation of empire on the streets and in academia, this course stays close to the multiple presences animating the decolonizing imperative, in history and in our time. Moreover, this course examines the ways in which these discourses and struggles have differentially played out across the global divide between North and South with an aim to spark new conversations across those very divides.

This class will be held in conjunction and collaboration with a class under the same promissory note at the American University of Cairo. This is a reading intensive class, with substantial reading assignments outside of our weekly meeting time.


Learning Outcomes:
This seminar will foster the capacity to inquire, research, and advance critiques in a historically attuned and theoretically sophisticated manner.


Delivery Method: Remotely accessible
Prerequisites: Permission of instructor.
Course Level: 4000-level
Credits: 4
Th 10:00AM - 12:30PM (Full-term)
Maximum Enrollment: 12
Course Frequency: One time only

Categories: All courses , Remotely Accessible , SCT
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