LPINT5237 Decolonising International Relations Course Descriptor

Course Overview

This course is a study of the impact of global imperial history on the current international order. The course exposes students to the diverse perspectives and understandings of International Relations through an in-depth analysis of postcolonial and decolonial theories, which are engaged both in their theoretical framings and through the application to contemporary international institutions and practices. The course offers a critical and comparative understanding of international history, changing conceptions of statehood, and patterns of sociocultural development from past to present and across local and global contexts. By so doing, the course enables students to think critically about the continuing legacies of colonialism and imperialism for contemporary international relations, about the ways in which difference and diversity amongst societies, regions, and peoples have been articulated and addressed historically and in the present, and about how imperial and colonial history continues to affect international, societal, and policy discourses today.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

Subject Specific Skills

Transferable and Employability Skills

Teaching and Learning

This course has a dedicated Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) page with a syllabus and range of additional resources (e.g. readings, question prompts, tasks, assignment briefs, discussion boards) to orientate and engage you in your studies.

The scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course are:

Lectures and/or seminars

40 scheduled hours – typically including induction, consolidation or revision, and assessment activity hours.

• Version 1:all sessions in the same sized group

OR

• Version 2: most of the sessions in larger groups; some of the sessions in smaller groups

Faculty hold regular ‘office hours’, which are opportunities for students to drop in or sign up to explore ideas, raise questions, or seek targeted guidance or feedback, individually or in small groups. 

Students are to attend and participate in all the scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course and to manage their directed learning and independent study. Indicative total learning hours for this course: 150 hours

Assessment

Both formative and summative assessments are used as part of this course, with purely formative opportunities typically embedded within interactive teaching sessions, office hours, and/or the VLE.

Summative Assessments

The assessment will require students to apply key theoretical and policy debates in the history and evolution of empires, and their impact on nationalism, identity and the configuration of the international order, while practising both presentation/communication and analytical/research skills.

Further information about the assessments can be found in the Course Syllabus.

Feedback

Students will receive formative and summative feedback in a variety of ways, written (e.g. marked up on assignments, through email or the VLE) and/or oral (e.g. as part of interactive teaching sessions or in office hours).

Indicative Reading

Note: Comprehensive and current reading lists are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative reading list provided below is for a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

• Anievas, A., Manchanda, N. and Shilliam, R. (eds.). (2015), Race and Racism in International Relations: Confronting the Global Colour Line, London: Routledge.
• Burbank, J., & Cooper, F. (2010). Empires in World History: Power and the Politics of Difference. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Chakrabarty, D. (2008), Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Young, R. J. (2015). Empire, Colony, Postcolony. Oxford: John Wiley & Sons.

Indicative Topics

Note: Comprehensive and current topics for courses are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students. The indicative topics provided below are used as a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

• Postcolonial theories of International Relations
• Theoretical and conceptual debates around empire and imperialism
• Decolonisation discourse in 20th century
• Imperialism in the new millennium: informal, cultural, financial, digital