Please note: you are viewing unit and programme information
for a past academic year. Please see the current academic year for up to date information.
| Unit name |
Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict in South Asia |
| Unit code |
POLI20009 |
| Credit points |
20 |
| Level of study |
I/5
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
|
| Unit director |
Dr. Wyatt |
| Open unit status |
Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None
|
| Co-requisites |
None
|
| School/department |
School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Description including Unit Aims
This unit will introduce students to the politics of modern South Asia. The unit will focus on the politics of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The unit will provide a broad overview of politics in this region beginning with a survey of the colonial period of state formation, early nation building and the uneven consolidation of political institutions. The unit will examine a number of conflicts that have complicated the process of national building. These include the 1947 partition of India, the divide between West and East Pakistan, the confilict over Kashmir and the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.
Aims:
- To introduce students to the political history of South Asia
- To introduce students to key texts on South Asian politics
- To demonstrate the challenge of post-colonial state formation
- To develop a critical and comparative understanding of contemporary South Asian politics.
Intended Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this unit students will:
- demonstrate familiarity with the political development of the states of South Asia
- be familiar with the broad sweep of literature on the politics of South Asia
- be able to integrate empirical evidence into persuasive arguments and articulate these in seminars and oral presentations
- be able to integrate empirical evidence into comparative arguments sustained in a substantial piece of written work
- be able to critically assess the place of nationalism in the politics of the region
- be able to explain the success and failure of ethnic conflict management among the states of South Asia
Teaching Information
The unit will be taught through blended learning methods, including a mix of synchronous and asynchronous teaching activities
Assessment Information
2,000 word essay 1 (25%)
2,000 word essay 2 (75%)
Both assessments test all learning outcomes listed.
Reading and References
C. Bates (2007), Subalterns and Raj, Abingdon: Routledge.
- N. DeVotta (2004), Blowback: linguistic nationalism, institutional decay, and ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, Stanford: Stanford University Press.
- Y. Malik, C.H. Kennedy, R.C. Oberst, A. Kapur, M. Lawoti, & S. Rahman (2008), Government and Politics in South Asia, Boulder: Westview, 6th Edition.
- I. Talbot (2009), Pakistan: A Modern History, London: Hurst
