IR475 Half Unit
Gender/ed/ing International Politics
This information is for the 2020/21 session.
Teacher responsible
Dr Katharine Millar CBG.8.13
Availability
This course is available on the MSc in International Relations, MSc in International Relations (Research) and MSc in International Relations Theory. This course is not available as an outside option.
All students are required to obtain permission of the Teacher Responsible by completing the online application linked to LSE for You. Admission to the course is not guaranteed.
Course content
This course foregrounds gender - as noun, verb and structure - in understanding the practices/events studies as global politics and the discipline/study of international relations. The course is grounded in feminist theory and provides students with an introduction to feminist epistemologies and methods. It proceeds in two sections, moving from theoretical foundations to an examination of gender and the macro, transnational and historical processes of global politics. Each 'macro' examination of the gendering of international politics is followed by a corresponding examination of several substantive areas of international politics, including security, development, NGOs and transnational social movements and international law/organisations. These overarching topics are balanced with issue-specific case studies (eg sexual/sexualised violence in conflict; gendering of the informal economy), derived from current events, to b discussed in seminars. Particular thematic attention will be paid to the on-going construction (and transmission) of global/transnational hierarchies that are gendered and gendering.
Teaching
This course is delivered through a combination of lectures and seminars totalling a minimum of 20 hours across Lent Term. This year, some or all of this teaching will be delivered through a combination of in-person classes/classes delivered online. Students on this course will have a reading week in Week 6, in line with departmental policy.
Formative coursework
Students must submit formative essay questions and outlines in LT in order to support success in the summative.
Indicative reading
B Ackerly, J True and M Stern (eds), Feminist Methodologies for International Relations (CUP: 2006)
C Enloe, Bananas, beaches and bases: making feminist sense of international relations, rev'd 2nd ed (University of California Press: 2014)
C Mohanty, Feminism without Borders: Decolonising Theory; Practicsing Solidarity (Duke Unversity Press: 2003)
L Sjobeg, Gender, War and Conflict (Polity: 2014)
C Weber, Queer International Relations: sovereignty, sexuality and the will to knowledge (OUP:2016)
Assessment
Essay (65%, 4000 words) in the ST.
Coursework (35%) in the LT.
The coursework entails three components.
One (500 word max) blog posts, to a Moodle forum on a week assigned by the instructor (marked with grade, 20%).
Two (250 word max) response to colleagues’ blog posts and two (for two different weeks) questions posed for discussion in seminar (completion/participation grade, 15%).
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: International Relations
Total students 2019/20: 15
Average class size 2019/20: 7
Controlled access 2019/20: Yes
Value: Half Unit
Personal development skills
- Leadership
- Self-management
- Problem solving
- Application of information skills
- Communication
