GV4K2 Half Unit
Postcolonial and Comparative Political Theory
This information is for the 2025/26 session.
Course Convenor
Prof Leigh Jenco
Availability
This course is available on the MSc in Gender (Rights and Human Rights), MSc in Political Science (Global Politics) and MSc in Political Theory. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process.
How to apply: to apply for a place on this course, please write a short statement of 200 words (max) outlining the specific reasons for applying and how the course will benefit your academic/career goals. Priority will be given to MSc in Political Theory students, and then students on the other programmes listed in the 'availability' section of the course guide. You should check that you meet any pre-requisites in the course guide before applying (where applicable). Places on capped courses cannot be guaranteed.
Deadline for application: The deadline for applications is 12:00 noon on Friday 26 September 2025. You can expect to be informed of the outcome of your application by 12:00 noon on Monday 29 September 2025. Any places remaining after this date will be allocated based on priority and written statement - up until course selection closes.
For queries contact: gov.msc@lse.ac.uk
This course is capped at two groups. In previous years we have been able to provide places for all students that apply but that may not continue to be the case. Priority will be given to students enrolled on the MSc in Political Theory programme.
Course content
This course will examine the consequences of, and responses to, the historic domination of Euro-American forms of knowledge in the field of political theory. Situating political theory as one of many disciplines that reinforce the cultural imperialism of colonial orders, the course will consider how postcolonial theorists have diagnosed this form of epistemic imperialism. We will go on to discuss how recent attempts at forging a “comparative political theory” might (or might not) productively engage more diverse forms of thinking for the purpose of making our conversations about political life more truly global, rather than parochially “Western.” The course will provide students with the vocabulary and conceptual tools to navigate this difficult theoretical terrain, through a focus on a close reading of key texts. We focus in particular on how historical narratives and uses of the past complicate the attempt to overcome Eurocentrism. This course will be of interest to students of political theory, intellectual history, and the history of political and social thought.
Teaching
20 hours of seminars in the Winter Term.
This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Winter Term.
Formative assessment
Essay (1500 words)
Students will be expected to produce 1 essay (1,500 words maximum excluding footnotes and bibliography) in the WT.
Indicative reading
- Chakrabarty, Dipesh. 2000. Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Idris, Murad, Leigh K Jenco, and Megan C. Thomas, eds. 2019. The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Political Theory. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Euben, Roxanne L. 2006. Journeys to the Other Shore. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Chen, Kuan-Hsing. 2010. Asia as Method: Toward Deimperialization. Durham [NC]: Duke University Press.
- Jenco, Leigh. 2015. Changing Referents: Learning Across Space and Time in China and the West. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Hokari, Minoru. 2011. Gurindji Journey: A Japanese Historian in the Outback. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Assessment
Course participation (25%)
Essay (75%, 3000 words) in Spring Term Week 1
Course participation will be assessed in the WT.
Key facts
Department: Government
Course Study Period: Winter Term
Unit value: Half unit
FHEQ Level: Level 7
CEFR Level: Null
Total students 2024/25: Unavailable
Average class size 2024/25: Unavailable
Controlled access 2024/25: NoCourse selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.
Personal development skills
- Self-management
- Communication