IR475      Half Unit
Race and Gender in International Relations

This information is for the 2024/25 session.

Teacher responsible

Dr Jasmine Gani CBG (Room TBC)

Availability

This course is available on the MSc in International Relations, MSc in International Relations (LSE and Sciences Po) and MSc in International Relations (Research). This course is not available as an outside option.

All students are required to obtain permission from the Teacher Responsible by completing the online application form linked to course selection on LSE for You.

This course has a limited number of places (it is controlled access). In previous years we have been able to provide places for most students that apply, but that may not continue to be the case.

Course content

The course examines race and gender as ordering principles in world politics, which shape (and are shaped by) historical and contemporary colonial practices in international relations. In the first half of the course, students will excavate the often-unacknowledged roles of race and gender in political and International Relations theories. They will also engage with the ideas, epistemologies, and methods of anti-colonial thinkers and movements, such as Frantz Fanon, Edward Said, Angela Davis, Silvia Rivera Cusicanqu, Ali Shariati, and Steve Biko, to understand the structures, agents, mechanisms, and impact of imperialism, settler colonialism, apartheid, and epistemic injustice. In the second half of the course, students will reflect on the inextricable connections between international politics, race, and gender through the following substantive themes: sovereignty and nationalism; militarism, war, and policing; political economy, environment, and development; migration; civil rights and global solidarity movements. Grounded in postcolonial, decolonial, and feminist political thought, the course will enable students to develop their skills in applying political theory to the most pressing issues in contemporary world politics.

Teaching

15 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars in the WT.

Students on this course will have a reading week in Week 6, in line with departmental policy.

Formative coursework

Mock Exam in the WT

Indicative reading

  • Frantz Fanon, “The Wretched of the Earth”
  • Edward Said, “Orientalism”
  • Angela Davis et al., “Abolition. Feminism. Now”
  • Gloria Anzaldúa, “Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza”
  • Kimberlé Crenshaw, “On Intersectionality: Essential Writings”
  • Charles W. Mills, “The Racial Contract”
  • Errol Henderson, “Hidden in Plain Sight: Racism in International Relations Theory.”

Assessment

Exam (75%, duration: 2 hours) in the spring exam period.
Class participation (10%) and other (15%) in the WT.

The exam will be an on campus 'e-Exam'.

Reading Reflection (700 words) to be submitted in the WT

Student performance results

(2020/21 - 2022/23 combined)

Classification % of students
Distinction 63.9
Merit 34.7
Pass 1.4
Fail 0

Key facts

Department: International Relations

Total students 2023/24: 30

Average class size 2023/24: 15

Controlled access 2023/24: Yes

Value: Half Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

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.

Personal development skills

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