Recent political developments all around the world urge us to thoroughly re-think our understanding of ‘democracy’ and ‘democratisation’. This seminar draws especially upon anthropological research and conceptualisation in order to uncover how both terms are understood and moulded by ‘people on the ground’ in their every-day life. The first aim is to understand meanings and practices embraced by those who are governed. These are usually neglected in mainstream research that continues to be oriented on classic institutions such as governments, political parties and general elections. How do people make sense of the idea of democracy, especially when they are dwelling in undemocratic constellations or in young democracies just taking off the ground?
The second aim is to trace the possibilities of political engagement that may or may not result in activism and movements on a larger scale. How do actors shape their political action while putting their ideas of democratic norms and democratic procedures forward? Some sessions will discuss the rationales and modalities of individual and collective action performed by various types of activists, scholars-cum-activists, and artists, and assess to what extent and how every-day politics and actions are forms of ‘lived democracy’. Today, more and more actors highlight the importance of performative cum egalitarian dimensions of the political and stress the importance of diverse social media enabling participation. As in previous times, the shape of politics is undergoing continuous change, with actors deploying new forms of expression, dissemination, and organisation. New types of political arguments – including figures of political emotions - acquire legitimacy.
The third aim of the seminar is to reflect upon the problematic dimensions of democracy. Critical positionings abound in the public sphere as well as in academic literature – as can be observed in the growing literature carrying the idea of ‘post/democracy’ forward. Neo-liberal politics, especially paired with elitism and increasing entanglements between public and private sector as well as the fragmentation of the social call for more participatory forms and instigate resistance. Relating to this, notions of citizenship and of civicness acquire more and more importance. Some sessions address the complex relationship between democracy and violence; both are significantly more interwoven than the formal approaches admit.
As politics is becoming more and more de-nationalised and trans-nationalised, it will also be discussed how struggles are increasingly buttressed by exchange, support, and inspiration generated across national borders. The texts discussed in this seminar provide insights from different parts of the world, with a focus on civic-political constellations in Asia. As most of them are authored by social anthropologists, this seminar introduces some of the key-topics of political anthropology.
The seminar is open for master students. The seminar requires good English reading competences and is planned to be held in English. Students must be prepared to read all the texts listed in the seminar plan and to actively engage in plenary and group discussions. Written requirements (five text summaries to be submitted before the relevant session) will be explicated in the introductory session of the seminar.
Ashforth, A. (2005): Witchcraft, Violence and Democracy in South Africa. University of Chicago.
Banerjee, Mukulika (2008): Democracy, Sacred and Everyday: An Ethnographic Case from India. In: Paley, Julia (Hg.): Democracy. Anthropological approaches. School for Advanced Research Press: Santa Fe; S. 63-95.
Colin Crouch (2004) Post Democracy. London: Politiy Press.
Eriksen, Thomas Hylland; Bal, Ellen; Salemink, Oscar (Hg.) (2010): A World of Insecurity: Anthropological Perspectives On Human Security. Pluto Press: London.
Gellner, David N.; Hachhethu, Krishna (2008): Introduction. In: Gellner, David N.; Hachhethu, Krishna (Hg.): Local democracy in South Asia. Microprocesses of democratization in Nepal and its neighbours. New Delhi ; Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, S. 13-22.
Gerharz, Eva and Joanna Pfaff-Czarnecka (2017). Spaces of Violence in South Asian Democracies. Citizenship, Nationalist Exclusion, and the (Il)legitimate Use of Force. Asian Journal of Social Science. 45: Issue 6: 613–638. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685314-04506002
Juris, Jeffrey. 2012. “Reflections on #Occupy Everywhere: Social Media, Public Space, and Emerging Logics of Aggregation.” American Ethnologist 39 (2):259-279.
Tania Murray Li (2019) Politics, Interrupted. Anthropological Theory, Vol. 19(1): 29-53.
Michelutti, Lucia (2007): The vernacularization of democracy. Political participation and popular politics in North India. In: The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 13 (3), S. 639–656.
Ortner, Sherry B. (2016) Dark anthropology and its
Others. Theory since the eighties. Hau: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 6 (1): 47–73. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14318/hau6.1.004
Paley, Julia 2002. Toward an Anthropology of Democracy. Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 31 (2002), pp. 469-496.
Rhythmus | Tag | Uhrzeit | Format / Ort | Zeitraum |
---|
Modul | Veranstaltung | Leistungen | |
---|---|---|---|
30-M-IAS12 Politics of Global Citizenship / Políticas de ciudadanía global | Seminar "empirisch oder "anwendungsorientiert" | Studienleistung
|
Studieninformation |
Seminar "theoretisch" | Studienleistung
|
Studieninformation | |
- | benotete Prüfungsleistung | Studieninformation | |
30-M-Soz-M8a Soziologie der globalen Welt a | Seminar 1 | Studienleistung
|
Studieninformation |
Seminar 2 | Studienleistung
|
Studieninformation | |
- | benotete Prüfungsleistung | Studieninformation | |
30-M-Soz-M8b Soziologie der globalen Welt b | Seminar 1 | Studienleistung
|
Studieninformation |
Seminar 2 | Studienleistung
|
Studieninformation | |
- | benotete Prüfungsleistung | Studieninformation | |
30-M-Soz-M8c Soziologie der globalen Welt c | Seminar 1 | Studienleistung
|
Studieninformation |
Seminar 2 | Studienleistung
|
Studieninformation | |
- | benotete Prüfungsleistung | Studieninformation |
Die verbindlichen Modulbeschreibungen enthalten weitere Informationen, auch zu den "Leistungen" und ihren Anforderungen. Sind mehrere "Leistungsformen" möglich, entscheiden die jeweiligen Lehrenden darüber.
Zu dieser Veranstaltung existiert ein Lernraum im E-Learning System. Lehrende können dort Materialien zu dieser Lehrveranstaltung bereitstellen: