International relations

Palestine and the International

Module code: 019IRA
Level 6
30 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Seminar
Assessment modes: Essay, Coursework

The question of Palestine sits at the intersection of two main axes of international politics:

• the colonial foundations of the world order
• the global histories of solidarity between peoples and movements that have also shaped the present.

Combining interdisciplinary perspectives with decolonial approaches in international relations, this module:

• examines the way anticolonial thinkers and scholars locate Palestine within histories of colonial settlement that extend back to the Americas
• reconceptualises systems of global power and violence across these geographies.

Centering the anticolonial within the international, the module explores past and present theories and practices of internationalism(s), global solidarity and their ongoing attempts to fashion an alternative international order.

Module learning outcomes

• Understand decolonial approaches within IR and varied theoretical frameworks that allow them to study global politics from different vantage points
• Demonstrate an overview of contemporary perspectives and key debates about global systems of power and violence and the colonial formations of the international order
• Be cognizant of the role of non-state actors and movements in global politics and their attempts to transform the global order and the colonial formations that structure relations between the Global North and Global South
• Demonstrate a knowledge of the questions and challenges that have been raised by internationalisms and global solidarity movements to the liberal world order