Module Identifier IPM1330  
Module Title POSTCOLONIAL POL 1: POWER, COLONIALISM, IDENTITY (S)  
Academic Year 2007/2008  
Co-ordinator Dr Rita Abrahamsen  
Semester Semester 1  
Mutually Exclusive IPM1320 , IPM1730 , IPM1720  
Course delivery Seminars / Tutorials   22 Hours. (1 x 2 hour seminars per week)  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Assessment 1 x 3,000 - 3,500 word essay  40%
Semester Assessment 1 x 4,000 - 4,500 word essay  60%
Supplementary Exam Students may, subject to Faculty approval, have the opportunity to resit this module, normally during the supplementary examination period. For further clarification please contact the Teaching Programme Administrator in the Department of International Politics. 

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module students will be able to:

- discuss the notion of the postcolonial or postcoloniality
- analyse in detail power relations and discursive practices in particular postcolonial contexts
- discuss critically and in depth questions of power, colonialism or identity in a postcolonial setting

Brief description

This module provides the first part of an introduction to postcolonial politics.

Aims

The module introduces students to Foucauldian concepts of power and discourse and examines the use of these concepts in the study of colonialism and identity in a postcolonial context.

Content

The first seminar examines the meanings of the term postcolonialism. The next three seminars introduce Foucauldian concepts of power and discourse. These are followed then by three seminars on colonialism and three on identity. In each case we examine traditional approaches and challenges to those from a discursive or Foucauldian framework. Each block of three seminars includes a specific case study.

Transferable skills

The module will require and develop transferable skills such as teamwork (through the use of student-led seminars), individual writing and analytic skills and time management (thorough the preparation of essays); critical reading and analysis (through the preparation for weekly seminars); debating and facilitating skills and the ability to express themselves on complex topics in an understandable way (through the seminar discussions).

15 ECTS credits

Reading Lists

Books
** Essential Reading
Foucault, M (1980) Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews & Other Writings 1972-1977 (ed by C Gordon) Harvester Press
Loomba, A (1998) Colonialism/Postcolonialism Routledge
Williams, P and Chrisman, L eds (1994) Colonial Discourse and Postcolonial Theory: A Reader Harvester Wheatsheaf

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 7