International relations

Violence, militarism & (anti)colonialism: Transnational feminist and queer perspectives

Module code: L7091SID
Level 6
30 credits in spring semester
Teaching method: Seminar
Assessment modes: Not yet finalised

This module produces a critical, interdisciplinary take on violence, war and militarism in the “colonial present” from feminist and queer perspectives that foreground the “intersectionality” of different power relations. How are different forms and sites of violence connected? How do technologies of race, gender, sex, and disability shape understandings of certain practices of violence as political, lawful, legitimate and/or necessary? What are the ethics of researching and reproducing violence and suffering of ‘Others’? What are the prospects and limits of (International) law for peace and justice? Concepts and themes we explore include: body/flesh; militarisation/martial politics; biopolitics/necropolitics; erotics of colonial conquest & slavery; military masculinities; drones & ‘posthuman warfare’; ‘humanitarian’ warfare; sexual/ized violence and torture; women & queers as agents of violence.

Module learning outcomes

• Identify and summarise core academic debates about gender, sex, race and violence in international politics.
• Critically assess and apply core concepts for the study of violence in global politics from intersectional feminist and queer perspectives.
• Appraise the methods and ethics for studying the multiple connections between gender, sexuality, race and violence.
• Critically interpret and communicate for wider publics recent empirical and theoretical controversies related to global patterns of gender, sexuality, race and violence.