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CS92PROD
Critical Perspectives on the State

ANTH 302
Spring 2014
Section: 01  
Crosslisting: FGSS 302
Certificates: Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory

This course builds on Marxist, post-strucuturalist, feminist, anarchist and cultural analyses to take a critical approach to the state--what it is and what it does. We will examine how "the state" is imagined by those who write about it and struggle against it. Where does the state begin? How do states act, and what are the consequences of these acts? How is rule consolidated and how are individuals and communities annexed to the project of rule? How do people engage with state acts and ideologies? We will read texts drawn from a variety of disciplines, including anthropology, feminist theory, political theory, philosophy, sociology, and geography, which examine the nature, everyday workings, and effects of state power. Drawing upon ethnographic examples from around the world we will analyze how states are cultural artifacts, which produce and regulate people's identities and bodies, reproduce social inequalities, and engender resistances of all sorts. Some of the topics we will discuss include citizenship, democracy, bureaucracy, governmentality, law and justice, anti-state movements, militarism, the "man" in the state, welfare, and neoliberal good governance.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS FGSS
Course Format: SeminarGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (ANTH)(CSCT)(FGSS)(STS)
Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available

Last Updated on MAR-28-2024
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