Mar 28, 2024  
Catalogue 2019-2020 
    
Catalogue 2019-2020 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

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POLI 361 - Struggles over Jurisdiction in Global Politics

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)


In this class, we examine struggles over legal authority in global politics, focusing on relations between the “Global North” and “Global South.”  We begin by examining how, during early periods of colonial expansion, European legal authority (or “jurisdiction”) came to be grounded in notions of race, discovery and conquest. However, we focus on how such groundings have been, and continue to be, contested, particularly in anti-colonial struggles. We pay particular attention to relationships between legal authority and violence, including by examining claims and attributions of legal authority that attempt to avoid or modify such relationships. We also reflect on how we understand the relationships between concepts like “law”, “sovereignty” and “the state.” 

Possible moments/sites/campaigns through which we think through these questions include the Third World movement for Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources, “people’s tribunals” on U.S. war crimes (for example, in Vietnam and Iraq), and the #NoDAPL movement. These moments/sites/campaigns are not always thought of as (international) struggles over jurisdiction: we consider what might be gained or lost by approaching them in this way.  Freya Irani.

One 2-hour period.

Course Format: CLS



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