Topics in Globalisation and Postcolonialism

Alessandro Monsutti

ANSO017 | Autumn | 6ECTS
 

Rarely used twenty years ago, the term "globalisation" has proliferated recently in both popular and scholarly arenas to describe the increasing flows of capital and commodities, migrants and ideas across national borders, while "transnationalism" broadly refers to the multiple ties and interactions linking people or institutions scattered between distant places. The objective of this reading intensive seminar is to familiarise the students with some classical works that have contributed to define the field (F. Braudel, I. Wallerstein, E. Wolf), as well as recent research that has expanded the debate to contemporary issues such as development, humanitarian aid, conflicts, environment or terrorism (J. Ferguson, M. Duffield, T. Asad, M. Mamdani, T. M. Li). Some authors (E. Said, J. Scott, P. Chatterjee), who have criticised the dominant narrative of world history to give space to the voices of marginalised and subaltern people, will also be discussed in the class.