Anthropology

Living Geopolitics: Re-Thinking the World (Dis) Order

Module code: L6301A
Level 6
30 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Seminar
Assessment modes: Essay

On this module, you’ll examine debates in the anthropology of geopolitics.

You’ll develop an understanding of different forms of geopolitical projects across space and time, focusing on:

  • their spatial, cultural, political and social characteristics
  • lived experiences of people in affected world regions
  • forms of ‘informal’ diplomacy that enable communities to navigate world (dis)order.

Topics of analysis include:

  • ongoing implications of colonialism
  • the Cold War
  • China’s ‘Belt and Road’
  • the geopolitics of humanitarianism and international development
  • the diplomatic agency of migrants.

You’ll develop skills for careers in international development, journalism, national and local government and migrant and refugee policy.

Module learning outcomes

  • demonstrate knowledge/understanding of anthropological approaches to geopolitics
  • analyse/evaluate/assess critically main theoretical debates in the fields of the anthropology of geo-politics and diplomacy, and to have an awareness of the history of these debates and how specific theoretical trends have developed over time.
  • relate theory to specific ethnographic contexts in the analysis of geopolitical processes, conflicts and projects
  • evaluate/compare strengths and weaknesses of anthropological theories developed and deployed to understand urban spaces and urban lives.