The Politics of Statelessness
| Module title | The Politics of Statelessness |
|---|---|
| Module code | POC3107 |
| Academic year | 2019/0 |
| Credits | 15 |
| Module staff | Dr Andrew Schaap (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 12 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 30 |
|---|
Module description
Hannah Arendt (1906-1976), a German-born Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany, was one of the most important political thinkers of the twentieth century. As a stateless person herself, she wrote movingly of the plight of irregular migrants: that they had become superfluous human beings. As Arendt put it, ‘Their plight is not that they are not equal before the law, but that no law exists for them; not that they are oppressed but that nobody wants even to oppress them.’ Consequently, it was precisely in the situation that they had been deprived of their citizenship and had nothing else to appeal to but their human rights, that these rights turned out to be illusory. In this module we take Arendt’s influential discussion of the ‘right to have rights’ as a starting point for reflection on the politics of statelessness today. We will examine how Arendt’s ideas have been taken up, for instance, in debates about border security, the refugee crisis, citizenship, political activism by irregular migrants, detention of asylum seekers, state violence and civil disobedience. We will focus, especially, on how two contemporary theorists (Giorgio Agamben and Jacques Rancière) have criticised and developed Arendt’s ideas in two different ways. On the one hand, Agamben draws on the notion of biopolitics to build on Arendt’s diagnosis of how stateless people are turned into disposable lives. On the other hand, Rancière develops the notion of dissensus to develop a constructive account of how marginalized people contest their situation by enacting their rights. You will be encouraged to bring your own research interests into the seminar and to pursue independent research on a human rights issue, drawing on concepts encountered in the module to develop novel lines of inquiry.
Module aims - intentions of the module
The module will:
1) familiarise you with critical perspectives on the politics of human rights within contemporary political theory;
2) examine the fruitfulness of the concept of the political for understanding the politics of statelessness
3) reflect on the nature of politics and its thematization within different traditions of political thought.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Critically evaluate what is political (and, potentially, apolitical, unpolitical or anti-political) about human rights;
- 2. Interpret in depth a human rights issue (broadly understood) in terms of one of the key concepts (e.g. biopolitics or dissensus) discussed on this module
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 3. Employ complex political concepts in order to (re)describe and evaluate political phenomena;
- 4. Critically evaluate the relative insightfulness of competing theoretical interpretations of political phenomena;
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 5. Independently design and undertake advanced research;
- 6. Communicate professionally in speech and writing;
Syllabus plan
While the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:
Statelessness and the right to have rights (Arendt)
Biopolitics and the state of exception (Foucault and Schmitt)
Abandonment and bare life (Agamben)
Dissensus and the enactment of human rights (Rancière)
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | 126 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | 24 | 12 x 2 hour seminars |
| Guided Independent Study | 26 | Reading and preparation for seminars |
| Guided Independent Study | 35 | Research and writing first essay |
| Guided independent study | 65 | Research and writing formative proposal and second essay |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Formative research proposal | 500 words | 1-6 | Written and or verbal feedback |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Textual analysis | 35 | 1,500 words | 1-6 | Written Feedback |
| Essay | 65 | 2,500 words | 1-6 | Written Feedback |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Textual analysis | Textual analysis (1,500 words) | 1-6 | Next reassessment period |
| Essay | Essay (2,500 words) | 1-6 | Next reassessment period |
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Hannah Arendt (1948) The Origins of Totalitarianism. Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich.
Giorgio Agamben (1998) Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life. Stanford University Press.
Jacques Rancière (1998) Disagreement: Politics and Philosophy. University of Minnesota Press.
Michel Foucault (2005) Society Must Be Defended. Penguin
ELE - vle.exeter.ac.uk
| Credit value | 15 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 7.5 |
| Module pre-requisites | None |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 7 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 24/10/17 |
| Last revision date | 30/10/2017 |
