This module explores the distinctive theories of racism, empire, and capitalism that emerged from European colonial projects in the Americas, Asia, and Africa and which continue to shape racial hierarchies in many postcolonial societies. In particular, we will explore the tensions between modern political ideas about freedom, equality, democracy, property, justice, and revolution and the realities of exclusionary citizenship, racialized domination, colonial modes of government, and dispossessive capitalism through the rise and fall of European empires. Students will read canonical texts in modern political thought as well as contemporary contributions from political theory’s “turn to empire,” postcolonial studies, critical political economy, sociology and history. The course will cover topics such as racism and the idea of human hierarchy; property, slavery, and colonial capitalism; liberal imperialism and the waging of war; civilizational narratives and gendered population management; and anticolonial theory and the struggles for liberation.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students should be able to:
Situate theories of race, racism, and capitalism within broader historical and political contexts of European imperialism and its aftermath;
Understand the key anticolonial and antiracist critiques of Euromodern political thought;
Apply this critical understanding of racial formations and imperial rule to contemporary debates over racism, the state, capitalism, and resistance.
Assessment
Assessment Methods & Exceptions
Assessment: One written assignment x 1,000 words (30 percent) One written assignment x 2,500 words (70 percent)
