Modernity, colonialism and racial violence

Recommended Prerequisites

Basic skills in the field of Social Sciences are recommended. Considering that the seminars are lectured in English, it is a fundamental prerequisite that the students have a knowledge of the English language that allows them an adequate comprehension and oral expression, as well as reading and interpreting academic texts. With regards to writing, students must have the appropriate skills to write in English or Portuguese or Spanish.

Teaching Methods

The seminars of this curricular unit will switch between moments of oral presentations by professors or students (presentation of texts or topics related to the programme) and moments of collective reflection and debate. These will include active teaching activities, such as group work and simulations. In order for the model to fully work, students must read the recommended readings before each class.

Learning Outcomes

General objective:

To develop a critical reflection on how power relations have historically configured racism and anti-racism in the production of knowledge, public policies and collective struggles.

Specific Objectives:

1. To acquire advanced knowledge on the literature produced regarding decolonial thinking and critical theories of race and racism developed within the academia and social movements.

2. To develop theoretical and analytical frameworks to identify and reflect upon the current situation of anti-racism and the reproduction of racist violence, namely: segregation and police violence, affirmative action policies and anti-discrimination legislation.  

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1) Race/Modernity

1.1. Eurocentrism and the myth of modernity

1.2. Race and the forming of Europe/West as an idea and political project

1.3. Gender coloniality

2) Racial state and the modern colonial project

2.1. Racialisation/dehumanisation

2.2. The myth of modern law: imperialism and sovereignty

2.3. Racial State and bio-/necro-politics

3) Challenges of political anti-racism

3.1. Police violence, territory and genocide

3.2. Anti-racism, law and justice: beyond anti-discrimination

3.3. Institutional racism and affirmative action policies.

Head Lecturer(s)

Silvia Rodriguez Maeso

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Assessment will be dynamic and bipartite: written work in English, Portuguese or Spanish (70%) and oral participation in class (30%): 100.0%

Bibliography

Alves, Jaime Amparo (2018), The Anti-Black City. Police Terror and Black Urban Life in Brazil, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Fitzpatrick, Peter (1992) The Mythology of Modern Law, London: Routledge.

Goldberg, David T. (2002), The Racial State, Oxford: Blackwel.

Quijano, Aníbal (2000), ‘Coloniality of Power, Eurocentrism and Latin America’, Nepantla: Views from South, 1(3), pp. 533-580.

Wynter, Sylvia (2003) ‘Unsettling the Coloniality of Being/Power/Truth/Freedom Towards the Human, After Man, Its Overrepresentation—An Argument’, CR: The New Centennial Review, Volume 3, Number 3, Fall, pp. 257-337.