SANb1008 Anthropology of Politics and Economy

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2024
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Kateřina Čanigová (lecturer)
PhDr. Patrick Laviolette, PhD. (lecturer)
Ing. Soňa Enenkelová (assistant)
Ing. Zuzana Talašová (assistant)
Guaranteed by
PhDr. Patrick Laviolette, PhD.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Mgr. Kateřina Čanigová
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Tue 20. 2. 10:00–11:40 U35, Tue 27. 2. 10:00–11:40 U35, Tue 5. 3. 10:00–11:40 U35, Tue 12. 3. 10:00–11:40 U35, Tue 19. 3. 10:00–11:40 U35, Tue 26. 3. 10:00–11:40 U35, Tue 2. 4. 10:00–11:40 U35, Tue 9. 4. 10:00–11:40 U35, Tue 16. 4. 10:00–11:40 U35, Tue 23. 4. 10:00–11:40 U35, Tue 30. 4. 10:00–11:40 U35, Tue 7. 5. 10:00–11:40 U35, Tue 14. 5. 10:00–11:40 U35
Prerequisites
! SAN106 Anthropology of Politics and Economy && !NOW( SAN106 Anthropology of Politics and Economy )
Ability to read academic texts in English
The course is taught in Czech, only the last three lessons are taught in English.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to introduce students to key themes and debates in economic and political anthropology. The course is designed in two blocks. Firts part cofuses on political anthropology and explains anthropological approach to power and politics. The first part of the course tackles topics lik power and politics in traditional and current societies, colonialism and postcolonialism, ideology, governmentality, symbolic power and biopolitics. The second block focuses on economic anthropology and introduces students to various conceptualisations of economic practices in social anthropology.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course students shuold be able to understand and explain different patterns of power and of economic behaviour. They should acquire and anthropological approach to economic and political behaviour and organizations ant to their mutual relationships. They should get a knowledge of ethnographic works in these subdisciplines.
Syllabus
  • 20.2. 1, Introduction to the course, distribution of readings to individual lessons
  • 27.2. 2, Power and Legitimacy; Power and Social Stratification
  • 5.3. 3, The genesis of the modern state; the emergence and spread of capitalism
  • 12.3. 4, Colonialism, postcolonialism and decolonization
  • 19.3. 5, Nationalism, imperialism and the limits of the state, orientalism and the other
  • 26.3. 6, Bureaucracy, governmentality and the welfare state
  • 2.4. 7, Reading Week - submission of a continuous essay by 5.4.
  • 16.4. 9, Cultural interpretations of economic action and the basic dilemmas of economic anthropology (online)
  • 23.4. 10, Money, markets, financialization, debt and the role of debt (online)
  • 30.4. Moral economies of Labour, Globalization
  • 7.5 Neoliberalism and austerity politics, Rethinking the Economy
  • 14.5 Gifts, Reciprocity, Commodities and Spheres of Exchange
  • The final version of the syllabus will be published before the start of the semester in the organizational guidelines in IS
Literature
    required literature
  • HANN, C. M. and Keith HART. Economic anthropology : history, ethnography, critique. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2011, x, 206. ISBN 9780745644837. info
  • BALANDIER, Georges. Politická antropologie : Anthropologie politigue (Orig.). Praha: Dauphin, 2000, 285 s. ISBN 80-86019-90-X. info
    recommended literature
  • A handbook of economic anthropology. Edited by James G. Carrier. Northhampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2005, xvi, 584. ISBN 1845429524. info
  • WILK, Richard R. Economies and cultures : foundations of economic anthropology. Boulder, Colo.: WestviewPress, 1996, xvii, 189. ISBN 0813320585. info
    not specified
  • LEWELLEN, Ted C. Political anthropology : an introduction. 3rd ed. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2003, xii, 262. ISBN 0897898915. info
  • KURTZ, Donald V. Political anthropology : power and paradigms. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 2001, viii, 251. ISBN 0813338042. info
  • Political anthropology. Edited by Marc J. Swartz - Victor Witter Turner - Arthur Tuden. 1st pub. Chicago: Aldine publishing company, 1966, viii, 309. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, class discussion, critical readings, participatin in a discussing forum
Assessment methods
essay
written exam or book review
leading and moderating a discussion
activity in the course discussion forum
attendance in case of absence max. 2 unexcused hours
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
General note: Předmět je vyučován částečně v anglickém jazyce (poslední tři přednášky).
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2024/SANb1008