Not available in 2020/21
AN475 Half Unit
The Anthropology of Revolution
This information is for the 2020/21 session.
Teacher responsible
Dr Alpa Shah OLD 6.17A
Availability
This course is available on the MSc in Anthropology and Development, MSc in Anthropology and Development Management and MSc in Social Anthropology. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.
Optional for MSc students in Anthropology. Also available to students on other degree programmes as an outside option.
Course content
This course will focus on the study of revolution from an anthropological perspective. It will concentrate on three different types of revolutionary struggle, in three different continents, through three different types of ethnographies: the Zapatista indigenous movement in Mexico, the Zimbabwean anti-colonial struggle, and the Maoist movement in South Asia. In each case, students will be encouraged to critically consider the varying degrees of involvement of the anthropologist in the movements concerned, the theoretical premises of the anthropologists and how these affect the politics and ethics of writing. In this process, students will deepen their understandings of the theoretical debates around production and reproduction, social transformation, religion and secularism, activism and anthropology, and violence and ethics in radical social change. The course will demonstrate that although anthropologists were once criticised for ‘missing the revolution’ on their doorstep, in fact their long term engagement with communities who come to be affected by revolutionary struggles has much to offer to the theoretical and practical work of radical social transformation.
Teaching
6 hours of lectures, 6 hours of seminars and 8 hours of workshops in the LT.
This course has a reading week in Week 6 of LT.
Formative coursework
Students will be expected to produce 1 essay in the LT.
Indicative reading
This course will be based on the close reading of the following three ethnographic monographs:
Earle, Duncan, & Simonelli, Jeanne. (2005). Uprising of Hope: Sharing the Zapatista Journey to Alternative Development. Walnut Creek: Altamira Press.
Lan, David. (1985). Guns and Rain: guerrillas and spirit mediums in Zimbabwe. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Shah, Alpa (2018) Nightmarch: Among India's Revolutionary Guerrillas. London: Hurst Publishers
Assessment
Take-home assessment (100%) in the LT.
The take home exam will be held the week following the end of the LT.
Important information in response to COVID-19
Please note that during 2020/21 academic year some variation to teaching and learning activities may be required to respond to changes in public health advice and/or to account for the situation of students in attendance on campus and those studying online during the early part of the academic year. For assessment, this may involve changes to mode of delivery and/or the format or weighting of assessments. Changes will only be made if required and students will be notified about any changes to teaching or assessment plans at the earliest opportunity.
Key facts
Department: Anthropology
Total students 2019/20: Unavailable
Average class size 2019/20: Unavailable
Controlled access 2019/20: No
Value: Half Unit
Personal development skills
- Team working
- Problem solving
- Communication
- Specialist skills
