Eurocentrism and (Anti)Racism

Recommended Prerequisites

- Fluency in written and oral English

- Knowledge of techniques and styles of academic writing 

Teaching Methods

- Analysis of a key topic by the lecturer: theoretical exposition and empirical illustration;

- Presentation of two compulsory readings by two students;

- A wider debate, aided by documentaries and other materials, promoting conceptual and analytical skills.

The evaluation considers: attendance, presentation of readings, participation in the debate and an essay (up to 50.000 char.) on the syllabus’ themes and bibliography. Theoretical and analytical insight and additional literature are valued.

Learning Outcomes

Acquisition of interdisciplinary and critical theoretical and analytical tools on Eurocentrism and (anti-)racism that engage with the historicity of both concepts, political struggles and knowledge production. Specific objectives: a) historical understanding of race/racism as political categories and phenomena intrinsic to the project and discourse of modernity and, therefore, colonialism and the formation of nation-states; b) critical analysis of the current configurations and dominant understandings of racism, considering wider political and socio-economic structures, c) reflection on the role of academia and public policies for integration/inclusion in setting the terms of the debate, with consequences for the perpetuation of structures of privilege. Students who successfully complete this seminar should know and critically analyze core academic texts and political debates in this area and their relationship to notions such as democracy, nation and inclusion.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

 The seminar explores the interrelationships between racism and citizenship along two axes: a) racism, colonialism and the myth of modernity; b) public policy, political struggles and the production of knowledge.

- Eurocentrism, Race and the Discourse of Modernity

- (Anti-)Colonialism and the Historical Understanding of Race/Racism

- Dominant Understandings of Racism Post-Holocaust

- (Anti-)Racism, Nation-State and Citizenship in Europe

- Academia, Public Policy and the ‘Immigrant Imaginary'

- Contemporary Debates: History and the Memorialization of Slavery

- Contemporary Debates: Islamophobia and Secularism

- Contemporary Debates: Institutional Racism in Education

- Contemporary Debates: Media and the Discourse on Minorities/Immigrants

- Power and the (Re)Production of Knowledge: Challenges to Racism and Eurocentrism

Head Lecturer(s)

Marta Maria de Oliveira Pacheco de Araújo

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Periodic or by final exam as given in the course information: 100.0%

Bibliography

Araujo M., Maeso S. (2015, eds), Eurocentrism, Racism and Knowledge: Debates on History and Power in Europe and the Americas, Palgrave

 

Arendt, A. (1958), The Origins of Totalitarianism, Meridian

Essed P., Nimako K. (2006), “Cultures of Scholarship and Public Policy on Immigrants/Minorities in the Netherlands”, Int. Journal of Comparative Sociology, 08/2006;47

 

Fanon F. (1986 [1952]), Black Skin, White Masks, Pluto Press

 

Goldberg D.T. (2002), The Racial State, Blackwell

 

Hall S. (1992), “The West and the Rest: Discourse and Power”, in Formations of Modernity, Polity Press

 

Lentin A.; Titley G. (2011), The Crises of Multiculturalism: Racism in a Neoliberal Age, Zed Books

 

Quijano A. (2000), Coloniality of Power, Eurocentrism and Latin America, Nepantla

 

Santos B. (2007), “Beyond Abyssal Thinking: From Global Lines to Ecologies of Knowledges”, Eurozine, 29/06

 

Sayyid S. et alii (2006), A Postcolonial People, Hurst

 

Trouillot M.R.(1995), Silencing the past: Power and the Production of History, Beacon Press