Political Science 20
Fall 2009
        RETHINKING POST-COLONIAL NATIONALISM

Professor Amrita Basu
102B Converse Hall; phone x2942
Office Hours: Mondays, 3:30-5:30 p.m.
Email: abasu@amherst.edu

	
General Information:

 	The materials for the course are available in one of several places, E-Reserve, the Frost Library reserve desk or a multilith packet which should be purchased from the Political Science Department office at Clark House. All students should purchase the multilith. 

	*Indicates film to be discussed in the class under which it is listed. Most of the films will be streamed for the course. 

Course Requirements:
	
--regular class attendance, please send me an email if you miss class, explaining the reason for your absence.
--reading all the material in advance of the class for which it is assigned.
	--informed class participation 
	--discuss readings on the blackboard at least once a week
--three papers which are due on October 2, November 7, Dec. 19.th Paper topics will be distributed about a week in advance of the due dates.

					COURSE OUTLINE

September 8: Introduction

Colonialism and Its Antithesis

September 9 

	Stephen Howe, Empire, pp. 104-114 (M)
	Hobsbawm, “The Age of Empire,”   (M)
	Marx, “British Rule in India,”   E-Reserve

September 14

	*Edward Said on Orientalism 

	Said, Orientalism, pp. 1-9, 201-225, 284-328 (M)
	Selby, “Truth, Justice and Nationalism”   E-Reserve

September 16

*The Home and the World 

Ashis Nandy, The Intimate Enemy, pp 1-48 (M) 
	George Orwell, “Shooting An Elephant” (M)   
	Chatterjee, “The Nationalist Resolution of the Women’s Question” in Recasting Women  (M)

September 21

	Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, pp. 35-62 E-Reserves
	Ato Seki-Otu, “Fanon and the Possibility of Post Colonial Critical Imagination” (M)
	Said, Culture and Imperialism, pp, 262-281 (M) 
Theories of Nationalism

September 23
	
	Eric Hobsbawm, The Invention of Tradition, pp. 1-14 (M) 
Clifford Geertz, “The Integrative Revolution: Primordial Sentiments and Civil Politics in the New
	States” pp, 105-119 (M) 
	Walker Connor, “A Nation is a Nation...” in Nationalism, pp. 36-46 (M)
	Anthony Giddens, The Nation State and Violence, pp. 116-121 (M) 
	Hutchinson, “Ethnicity and Modern Nations” E-Reserve

September 28

	Anderson, Imagined Communities pp. 1-7, 113-154 (M)
	Chatterjee, The Nation and Its Fragments, pp. 3-13 (M)  
 	Marx, “Nation State and Exclusions” 24   E-Reserve

THE PRECEDENTS
India 
September 30

	* Gandhi 

		Bose and Jalal, Modern South Asia, 11, 13, 15 and 16   E-Reserve
M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, pp. 25-74 (M)  
Dennis Dalton, Mahatma Gandhi: Nonviolent Power in Action, Intro and chapter 1 (M) 
 
	October 5
	
	Ashis Nandy, "The Final Encounter: The Politics of the Assassination of Gandhi" (M) 
Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India, pp. 40-51, 358-368, 526-535 (M)  
Sudipta Kaviraj, “Crisis of the Nation State in India”   E-Reserve

	Algeria
	October 7 

	*The Battle of Algiers 

	John Ruedy, Modern Algeria, Chapters 5 & 6 ,  On Reserve
	
	October 14 
	
Frantz Fanon, "Algeria Unveiled" in A Dying Colonialism (M)  
Asia Djebar, "Women of Algiers in Their Apartment" (M)  
	Marnia Lazreg, Torture and the Twilight of Empire, Introduction,  E-Reserve 

	South Africa
	October 19

	*Cry Freedom 

	Steven Biko, I Write What I Like, Chapter 11, pp. 61-72 (M) 
Anthony Marx, The Lessons of Struggle, Chapter 1 pp. 3-28, pp. 32-72, 
		Chapter 3, page 86, Chapter 4, sections 106-107 and 130-146 (M)
  
	Guest Speaker: Tony Marx

	October 21

Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Chapters 11-14, pp. 83-122, Chapter 15, pp. 125-128, Chapter 17, pp. 133-139, Chapter 20, pp. 142-153 (M)  
	Desmond Tutu, “Freedom Fighters or Terrorists?” in Theology And Violence   (M)
	Seidman, “Guerillas in their Midst” in Mobilization   E-Reserve
	Jeff Goodwin, “The Struggle Made me a Non Racialist” in Mobilization, Vol. 12, no. 2, 2007	E-
		Reserve

	October 26: Nationalism and Feminism

	Ranjoo S Herr, “The Possibility of Nationalist Feminism”, Hypatia   E-Reserve
	Shireen Hassim, “Nationalism, Feminism and Autonomy”   E-Reserve

THE ANTECEDENTS

	October 28: Post Colonialism

	Membe, “What Is Post Colonial Thinking?”   E-Reserve
	Shohat, “Notes on the Post colonial”  E-Reserve 
	Lazarus, “Post Colonial Studies after the invasion of Iraq”   E-Reserve
	Dirlik, “Rethinking Colonialism”  E-Reserve

	Why Ethnic Conflict Becomes Violent

	November 2
	
	Mamdani, “Making Sense of Political Violence in Post Colonial Africa”   E-Reserve
Jason Stearns, “In Congo’s Conflict, A Surprising Twist” E-Reserve

	Guest Speaker Jason Stearns

	November 4

	Small group discussions
	
Snyder, From Voting to Violence, pp. 265-311 (M)  
Michael Mann, The Dark-Side of Democracy:  Explaining Ethnic Cleansing  (M)

	November 9: 

		 	Selected readings on Pakistan E-Reserve
			Atul Kohli, “Can Democracies Accommodate Ethnic Nationalism?” (M)  
Thomas, “The Nationalities Question in South Asia” (M)  

	India	
  	November 11 

	Srirupa Roy, Beyond Belief, Intro and chapter 2 	 Book on Reserve

	Guest Speaker: Srirupa Roy

	November 16	

	*Final Solution 

	Sarkar, “Inclusive Democracy and its Enemies”   E-Reserve
	Basu, “The Long March from Ayodhya: Democracy and Violence in India” new E-Reserve
	Bacchetta, “All Our Goddesses are Armed” (M)
	Datta, “Historic Trauma and Politics of the Present in India”   E-Reserve
	
	South Africa
	November 18: 

	Duncan Brown, “National Belonging and Cultural Difference” E-Reserve
	Moodley, “Race and Nation in Post Apartheid South Africa” E-Reserve
	Ndlovu-Gatseini, “Africa for Africans or Africa for Natives Only?”  E-Reserve

	November 30 
	Algeria

	Laremont, Islam And The Politics of Resistance In Algeria, ch. 7 (M)  
Hugh Roberts, “Algeria’s Ruinous Impasse and the Honorable Way Out”   E-Reserve
	Addi Lahouari, “Algeria’s Tragic Contradictions”   E-Reserve

	December 2 
	*Long Night’s Journey into Day 

	Small Group Discussions
	
	Mahmood Mamdani, “Reconciliation Without Justice”, South African Review of Books, 1996 E-Reserve
Alex Boraine, “Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa: the Third Way” and Martha Minow, “The Hope for Healing: What Can Truth Commissions Do?” in Truth V. Justice:  The Morality of Truth Commissions (M)

	December 7: The New Imperialism?

	Niall Fergusson, Colossus: The Price of America’s Empire,   ch. 5 (M)  
	Michael Mann, Incoherent Empire, chapter 4 (M)  
	
	December 9: “Terrorism”

	Osama Bin Laden, “Jihad against Jews and Crusaders”  E-Reserve
	Michael Mann, Incoherent Empire, chapter 6 (M) 
	Hassan Mneimneh, “Manual for a Raid” (M)  
Parikh, “Bin Laden Meets Gandhi” (M)  
Ahmad, “Terrorism Theirs and Ours” (M) 

	December 14:  Exiles and Diasporas 

	Benedict Anderson, “Long Distance Nationalism” in The Specter of Comparison (M)  
	Arvind Rajagopal, “Hindu Nationalism in the US” E-Reserve
	Arjun Appadurai, Fear of Small Numbers, pp. 115-137 (M)  
	Edward Said, Reflections on Exile, pp. 173-186 (M)