IR323      Half Unit
Race, Resistance and Decolonisation in International Relations

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Dr Jasmine Gani

Availability

This course is available on the BSc in International Relations, BSc in International Relations and Chinese, BSc in International Relations and History, BSc in Politics and International Relations, Erasmus Reciprocal Programme of Study and Exchange Programme for Students from University of California, Berkeley. This course is not available as an outside option to students on other programmes. This course is available with permission to General Course students.

This course has a limited number of places (it is capped).

Requisites

Additional requisites:

Prior completion of IR200 International Political Theory is strongly recommended for students wishing to enrol in this course.

Course content

From the rise of far-right parties in Europe, to the racially-motivated policies of US administration; from settler-colonialism in Palestine to ultra nationalism in India: we are witnessing a resurgence of fascism and the normalisation of colonialism on a global level. In turn, grass-roots movements, legal institutions, and universities have become key sites of resistance against state repression.  Against the backdrop of these pressing global developments, this course examines race and coloniality as ordering principles in world politics that shape (and are shaped by) historical and contemporary colonial practices in international relations. The course challenges a state-centric approach and the separation between internal and external politics to explore the everydayness and transnationalism of both violence and liberation beyond just the context of war. Students will engage with the ideas, epistemologies, and methods of anti-colonial thinkers and movements, and learn why and how international politics is inextricable from race and coloniality through the following substantive themes: sovereignty and nationalism; militarism, war, and policing; political economy, environment, and development; migration and borders; and global solidarity movements. Grounded in postcolonial, decolonial, and anti-racist political thought, the course will enable students to develop their skills in applying political theory to the most urgent issues in contemporary world politics.

Indicative topics to be covered:

Part 1: Political theory and history of ideas 

  1. Excavating race and gender in International Relations 

  2. The imperial university: political theory and knowledge production 

  3. Epistemic disobedience: postcolonial theories 

  4. Intersectionality: gender and Black/Indigenous feminist thought 

  5. Decolonisation, the pluriverse, and liberation theology

Part 2: Issues and case studies in world politics 

  1. Retelling the story of the state: sovereignty and nationalism 

  1. Political economy, environment, and development. 

  2. Militarism, War, and Security 

  3. Racial borders, Citizenship and migration 

  4.  Resisting empire: world-making through global solidarity movements

Teaching

15 hours of lectures and 15 hours of classes in the Winter Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Winter Term.

Formative assessment

Mock Exam in the WT. The mock e-Exam provides students with an opportunity to write a paper in class under simulated exam conditions and receive feedback to support their preparation for the summative e-Exam. 

 

Indicative reading

Frantz Fanon, “The Wretched of the Earth”

Edward Said, “Orientalism”

Angela Davis et al., “Abolition. Feminism. Now”

Gloria Anzaldúa, “Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza”

Charles W. Mills, “The Racial Contract”

Errol Henderson, “Hidden in Plain Sight: Racism in International Relations Theory.”

Assessment

Exam (75%), duration: 120 Minutes in the Spring exam period

Course participation (10%)

Source analysis (15%, 700 words) in Winter Term Week 7

The exam is an e-Exam. The source analysis is a reading reflection of 700 words. The course participation includes seminar attendance and contributions to the discussion.


Key facts

Department: International Relations

Course Study Period: Winter Term

Unit value: Half unit

FHEQ Level: Level 6

CEFR Level: Null

Total students 2024/25: 23

Average class size 2024/25: 12

Capped 2024/25: No
Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Course 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

  • Leadership
  • Self-management
  • Team working
  • Problem solving
  • Communication
  • Specialist skills