Anthropology of Power

Faculteit—

NiveauBachelor

Studiejaar2026-2027

Beschrijving

Course goals

After completing this course students are able to:

1. demonstrate knowledge of main anthropological theories of power and politics;

2. demonstrate ability to read anthropological writing in terms of its disciplinary context and history;

3. problematize the complexities of culture and politics on the global and local levels and analyse the relations between global processes and local responses;

4. appreciate the empirical foundation of anthropological argument;

5. demonstrate ability to read critically, understand argument, and pose questions;

6. conceptualize a research question that can be investigated within the constraints of a 5000-word essay;

7. demonstrate academic writing skills.

Relationship between assessment and learning goals:

Student evaluations will be based on the:

final exam (30%) <corresponding with Learning Objectives 1 - 7>;
QAQC assignments (20%) <corresponding with Learning Objectives 2, 5, 7>;
research paper (35%) <corresponding with Learning Objectives 1 - 7>;
and one moderation session (15%) <corresponding with Learning Objectives 1, 2, 3, 5>.

An F received for any particular component cannot be compensated but will be weighed fully in determining the final grade.

Content

The course gives an insight into the globally and locally constructed relations of power in the world today, and into their causes and consequences. Throughout, we see culture as a historical and processual emergent, a way of life, a dynamic process, an outcome of contestation and negotiation, to the understanding of which power relations are critical. Our inquiry concerns mainly complex societies, with post-modernity as their intellectual matrix, and cultural effects as time- and space-dependent outcomes of complex power games. Part I focuses on the situated and conjunctural nature of power in the context of the multilayered globalized world. In Part II, we examine the processes of resistance to the dominant power relations and alternative constructions of world order advanced by marginal groups.

Format
There will be two hours of lectures per week (supplemented by documentaries), and two hours of group discussion. Students will be required to complete two writing exercises and prepare one discussion session in teamwork with colleagues.

One weekly meeting is run by two or three students. The instructor will provide weekly themes related to lectures and readings, but for the rest the chairpersons are at liberty to organize the two hours in the ways they see fit as long as they engage with the literature and current anthropological issues. For example, they may hold oral presentations, show audiovisual material, raise discussion questions, simulate a trial or press conference, perform a role play with the class, hold a debate or a quiz, etc. The instructor will grade the performance.

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