EU475      Half Unit
Racial Diversity and Conflict in Europe: Identities, Religion, and Culture

This information is for the 2021/22 session.

Teacher responsible

Dr Eray Cayli

Availability

This course is available on the MSc in Comparative Politics, MSc in Culture and Conflict in a Global Europe, MSc in Culture and Conflict in a Global Europe (LSE & Sciences Po), MSc in Empires, Colonialism and Globalisation, MSc in European and International Public Policy, MSc in European and International Public Policy (LSE and Bocconi), MSc in European and International Public Policy (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in History of International Relations, MSc in International Migration and Public Policy, MSc in International Migration and Public Policy (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in Social Anthropology (Religion in the Contemporary World) and MSc in Theory and History of International Relations. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

Course content

The question of racialisation figures prominently in contemporary notions and experiences of diversity and conflict in Europe. What might it mean to consider racialisation as a force that bears upon the very conceptual categories employed in imagining and practising diversity and conflict rather than only as a problem addressed through them? In this course, we will explore this question in relation to a series of key concepts including religiosity/secularism, minority/majority, native/migrant, nature/culture, and sex/gender (among others), which frame debates on identarian, religious, and cultural diversity and conflict in Europe today. Through weekly readings discussed collectively in class, we will unpack how such conceptual categories significant to diversity and conflict have been shaped by histories of racialisation through (and at the interface of) colonialism, imperialism, nationalism, and nation-state formation. We will read journal articles and/or book chapters (a minimum of two per week) by scholars operating across and between the fields of anthropology, cultural studies, geography, political science, and history, and occasionally will also draw on filmic works. Each weekly reading/viewing will be briefly introduced by a student to facilitate discussion.

Teaching

This course is delivered through a combination of lectures and seminars totalling a minimum of 25 hours across Lent Term. The teaching will be delivered this year through a combination of online and on-campus formats (or if required, online only). This course includes a reading week in Week 6 of Lent Term.

Formative coursework

There are two pieces of formative coursework designed to help students prepare for their summative essays:

1. Research question & long (500-word) abstract; submitted in reading week

2. Revised research question & essay draft (c. 1000 words long); presented orally in the final week of term

Indicative reading

  • Balibar, Etienne and Immanuel Wallerstein. 1992. Race, Nation, Class
  • Brown, Wendy. 2008. Regulating Aversion
  • Chidester, David. 2014. Empire of Religion
  • Hage, Ghassan. 2017. Is Racism an Environmental Threat?
  • Hall, Stuart. 2018. Essential Essays, Volume 2: Identity and Diaspora
  • Hurd, Elizabeth Shakman. 2017. Beyond Religious Freedom
  • Mamdani, Mahmoud. 2020. Neither Settler Nor Native
  • Mignolo, Walter. 2011. The Darker Side of Western Modernity
  • Sanchez, Melissa. 2019. Queer Faith
  • Sharma, Nandita. 2020. Home Rule
  • Stoler, Ann Laura. 2002. Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power
  • Wade, Peter. 2002.  Race, Nature and Culture 

Assessment

Essay (100%, 5000 words) in the ST.

Students will write a 5000-word essay based on a research question they will formulate in consultation with the instructor.

Course selection videos

Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.

Important information in response to COVID-19

Please note that during 2021/22 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 differing needs of students in attendance on campus and those who might be studying online. For example, this may involve changes to the mode of teaching 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: European Institute

Total students 2020/21: Unavailable

Average class size 2020/21: Unavailable

Controlled access 2020/21: No

Value: Half Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Personal development skills

  • Leadership
  • Self-management
  • Team working
  • Problem solving
  • Application of information skills
  • Communication