Module Code and Title:        ATH202 Political Anthropology

Programme:                          BA in Anthropology

Credit:                                    12

Module Tutor:                       Richard Kamei (Coordinator), Jelle Wouters 

General Objective: This module examines politics, political organization and questions of power through anthropological perspectives and in a wide range of societies, both past and present. It explores the origins and scope of political anthropology and discusses how anthropologists analyse power and political life. The module also discusses how political organization of societies evolved throughout human history and discusses the use of anthropological knowledge and methods to engage modern political themes such as civil society, citizenship, nationalism, and democracy.

Learning outcomes – On completion of this module, students will be able to:

1. Outline the origins, scope, and growth of political anthropology as a sub-discipline of Anthropology.
2. Define the field of political anthropology within the broader field of cultural anthropology
3. Critically evaluate anthropological perspectives on contemporary politics
4. Examine major anthropological perspectives on state and stateless forms of political organization.
5. Evaluate key theories and ethnographic works in political anthropology.
6. Interpret and critically analyse contemporary political life.
7. Categorize past and present theoretical paradigms used in the field of political anthropology.
8. Analyse the workings of power as a critical point of investigation in theorizing in Anthropology
9. Assess political anthropology within Bhutan’s context.

Learning and Teaching Approach:

Assessment Approach:

1. Essay Based on Prompt: 15%

Students will be given a question that will ask them to individually engage with one of the core issues of the module, for example one of the key debates. Students will be given a week’s time to write a response. They are expected to answer the questions by referring not only to class notes but also to relevant academic texts and articles. A successful essay would approach the question from a number of theoretical perspectives and include relevant ethnographic examples. The essay will be 1000-1250 words in length. The essay will be marked based on the following criteria:

9          Quality of response (relevance to question asked, thoughtfulness and accuracy of response)

2          Language

2          Organization

2          References

2. Descriptive Essay: 15%

Students will be asked to select a salient theme in political anthropology (e.g., power, authority, legitimacy, nationalism, citizenship, civil society) and individually write an essay that traces, first, how anthropological approaches and understandings of this theme have changed in the discipline’s theoretical history, and, secondly, critically apply the concept to Bhutanese society. The essay will be 1000-1250 words in length. This essay will be marked on the following criteria:

3          Proposal outlining the selected topic and proposed argument

5          Quality of content and argument (includes well stated and original analysis, uses relevant and adequate support for all claims made, ties analysis to relevant module concepts)

4          Quality of application to the Bhutanese context 

1          Language

1          Organization

1          References

3. Reading Quizzes: 10%

Students will be given two quizzes on assigned reading material at individual level. The quizzes will be used to both check for comprehension as well as to encourage students to build connections between the readings and class work/ lectures. Each quiz will take between 15 and 20 minutes of class time to complete. 

4. Class participation and preparedness: 5%

Students will be expected to participate substantially in class discussions, with contributions reflecting adequate preparation for topics under discussion. 2.5% of class participation and preparedness will be assessed before midterm, and the remaining 2.5% post midterm.

5. Midterm Examination: 15%

Students will take a written exam of 1.5 hr duration covering topics up to the mid-point of the semester.

6. Semester-end Examination: 40%

Students will take a written exam of 2.5 hr duration encompassing all the subject matter covered in the semester. The assessment is comprehensive and summative in nature, and will comprise structured questions from all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Overview of assessment approaches and weighting

Pre-requisites: 

Subject Matter:

1. Unit I: Introduction to Political Anthropology
   1. Introduction to the origins, growth and scope of political anthropology
   2. Precursors of political anthropology
   3. The position of political anthropology vis-à-vis other sub-disciplines in Anthropology
2. Unit II: Political Organization and Social Control: State and Stateless societies
   1. The establishment of political and social order in stateless societies 
   2. The role of kinship in political organization 
   3. Impact of colonization on local political systems 
   4. Political forms: bands, tribes, chieftainships, and states, empires
   5. Bhutan and political anthropology
3. Unit III: The Question of Power
   1. Basics of Foucault – key terms such as panopticism, bio-power, normativity, subjectivity, governmentality
   2. The idea and functioning of bureaucracy
   3. Defining legitimacy and authority 
   4. Debates about hegemony, ideology, and sub-alterity 
   5. Definitions and examples of violence and resistance
4. Unit IV: The State and Modern Political Processes
   1. Basic overview of the anthropology of the modern state: key terms and examples
   2. Anthropological approaches to democracy
   3. Understanding the concepts and workings of civil-society and public space
   4. Theories and debates about citizenship
   5. Imagined communities and nationalism 

Reading List

Essential Reading

Kurtz, D.V. (2001). Political anthropology: Paradigms and power. Westview Press.

Leach, E.R. (1954). Political systems of highland Burma: A study of Kachin social structure. Athlone.

Additional Reading

Anderson, B. (2006). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. Verso. (Original work published 1983).

Clastres, P. (1977). Society against the state: The leader as servant and the humane uses of power among the Indians of the Americas. Basil Blackwell.

Corbridge, S., William, G., Srivastava, M., & Veron, R. (2005). Seeing the state: Governance and governmentality in India. Cambridge University Press.

Evans-Pritchard, E.E. (1940). The Nuer: A description of the modes of livelihood and political institutions of a Nilotic people. Oxford University Press.

Fortes, M., & Evans-Pritchard, E.E. (1940). African political systems. Oxford University Press for the International African Institute.

Foucault, M. (1980). Power/Knowledge: Selected interviews and other writings 1972-1977. Pantheon Books.

Foucault, M. (1991). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. Penguin Books. (Original work published 1977)

Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from the prison notebooks of Antonio Gramsci. Q. Hoare & G. Nowell-Smith (Trans. and Eds.). Lawrence and Wishart.

Hansen, T.B., & Stepputat, F. (Eds.) (2005). Sovereign bodies: Citizens, migrants, and states in the postcolonial world. Princeton University Press.

Kinga, S (2019) Democratic Transition in Bhutan: Political Contests as Moral Battles Routledge 

Schatz, E. (Ed.) (2009). Political ethnography: what immersion contributes to the study of power. University of Chicago Press.

Scott, J.C. (1985). Weapons of the weak: Everyday forms of peasant resistance. Yale University Press.

Scott, J.C. (1990). Domination and the arts of resistance: Hidden transcripts. Yale University Press.

Scott, J.C. (1998). Seeing like a state: How certain schemes to improve the human condition have failed. Yale University Press.

Scott, J.C. (2009). The art of not being governed: An anarchist history of upland Southeast Asia. Yale University Press.

Spencer, J. (2007). Anthropology, politics, and the state: Democracy and violence in South Asia. Cambridge University Press.

Wolf, E.R. (1982). Europe and the people without history. University of California Press.

Date: March 2023