Fall 2022

En(Gendering) Dev.

Listed in: Political Science, as POSC-259  |  Sexuality, Women's and Gender Studies, as SWAG-259

Faculty

Suruchi Thapar-Bjorkert (Section 01)

Description

(Offered as ANTH 259, POSC 259, SOCI 259, and SWAG 259) We will explore the centrality of gender in the processes, problematics and politics of development through feminist postcolonial and decolonial conceptualizations, with a particular focus on gendered livelihoods and gendered vulnerabilities. Focusing primarily on the global south, the course will draw on empirical examples from Africa, the Middle East, South and South East Asia and Latin America. We will cover the following development areas: a) orientalism and the global "war on terror"; how gendered/sexualized orientalist discourses are deployed to heal wounded national identities and justify military interventions and territorial encroachments; b) anti-colonial nationalism and the rise of femonationalism; how discourses of gender, nation and sexuality are (re)framed for contemporary political agendas; c) structural adjustment programs and femicides; how trade liberalization and feminization of labor generates economies of sexualized violence in border industries; d) politics of population control and reproductive tourism; how bodies of underprivileged women, formerly seen as "waste," and whose reproduction should be "controlled," are transformed into sites of profit generation for the reproductive industry in the global north.

The course will draw on the relevant academic literature as well as a range of other sources including news media, documentaries, feature films, and policy reports.

Fall semester. STINT Fellow Thapar-Björkert.

How to handle overenrollment: null

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Written Work, Independent Research, Oral Presentations, Group work, analysis of media material

SWAG 259 - LEC

Section 01
W 12:30 PM - 1:50 PM MORG 110
F 12:30 PM - 1:50 PM MORG 110

ISBN Title Publisher Author(s) Comment Book Store Price
The Shock Doctrine Klein Amherst Books TBD

These books are available locally at Amherst Books.

Offerings

2023-24: Not offered
Other years: Offered in Fall 2022