Political Science 391SA - S- Politics & Gov't/South Asia

The course begins with an introduction of South Asia as a geographically defined region of the world, including an overview of the independence movements and colonial legacies which have defined the politics and culture of these countries. It then analyzes the experiences these countries have had with state formation and nation building, democracy, authoritarianism, and conflict, and socioeconomic development, paying close attention to the divergence and convergence of their respective postcolonial trajectories. The second half of the course then addresses contemporary political life in South Asia. It asks how politics in South Asia is mediated by social categories like class, ethnicity, and gender, and brings these categories into conversation with the broader themes of inequality, party politics, and urbanization. This half of the course pairs macro-level studies with case studies that offer a close to the ground perspective of everyday life in contemporary South Asia.