Social Thought & Polic. Econ 492H - STPEC Focus Seminar II

STPEC students only STPEC 391H Title: Decolonial Resistance: Colonization, and strategies of liberation; now and in history
Description: This course is focused on resistance and strategies of liberation against colonialism, now and in history. It explores how to effectively decolonialize through three parallel approaches: (1) a 500-year overview of the world history of colonialism, imperialism and waves of anti-colonial liberation struggles, (2) an analysis of contemporary colonialism (overseas as well as ?internal?), resistance and ?decolonization?, and (3) comparative case-studies of strategies of liberation. Students will choose their own focus on particular liberation strategies (e.g., everyday struggles, cultural resistance, guerilla struggles, mass civil disobedience, etc.), thematic issues (e.g., the role of women in anti-colonial liberation struggles, or the recreation of colonial patterns within postcolonial states), within historical or contemporary cases. The course is based on active participation through text seminars, movies, student presentations and the writing of course papers. Besides UMass students, the course will also in a unique way, via online communications, include some overseas students from colonized contexts, students with first-hand experiences from decolonization struggles. In this way, the course is a laboratory where we learn from mixing our experiences and different positions in relation to colonialism and decolonization, in theory and practice.