International Politics of the Body

Module title	International Politics of the Body
Module code	POLM307
Academic year	2024/5
Credits	30
Module staff	Dr Kate Goldie Townsend (Convenor)

Duration: Term	1	2	3
Duration: Weeks		11

Number students taking module (anticipated)	10

Module description

This module will equip you with conceptual and analytical tools to think critically about diverse global bodily practices and norms. You will examine feminist and multicultural approaches to understanding challenges to human rights internationally and consider what should be prioritised in different contexts: local norms or individual rights.

You will take a critical approach to norms and expectations about people’s bodies, you will research and discuss challenges real-world bodily practices, such as, early marriage, wartime rape, and female genital cutting/mutilation.

You will explore questions and themes around contentious expectations about human bodies, such as, the politicisation of religious dress codes in different international contexts, the treatment of intersex people’s bodies internationally, international reproductive rights, disability and marginalisation.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The aim is to enable you to think critically about the norms and practices impacting on people’s bodies in the international context.

You will be engaging with arguments in favour of human rights and those defending cultural/group practices which will help to give you a broader capacity for understanding how people and their bodies are affected by policies, norms, and practices internationally.

You will be challenged to do research into real-world bodily practices, and to apply theoretical literature to the practices.

The written assessments will help develop crucial analytical skills that can be transferred to employment requiring research into real-world events impacting on human rights.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

1. Interpret and apply theoretical approaches to contentious bodily practices
2. To develop critically engaged moral arguments about real-world bodily practices and norms

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

3. In depth analysis of international political approaches to human bodies
4. Critical analysis of international policies, norms, and institutions

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

5. Independent research into international bodily practices and related norms and policies
6. Critical analytical writing skills

Syllabus plan

Part 1.

Theoretical approaches to understanding bodies in context. In this part of the module you will engage with debates addressing tensions between individual rights and cultural norms, including but not limited to, multiculturalism and liberalism, feminist approaches to international political issues, transnational and multicultural challenges to western feminist discourse

Part 2.

The second part of the module will get deeper into discussing different bodily norms and practices that challenge human rights commitments. The topics will include practices such as wartime sexual violence, child marriage, intersex genital mutilation/modification, FGC/M, sex trafficking.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
22	278	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching	22	11 x 2-hour seminars
Guided Independent Study	44	Weekly reading and preparation for seminars
Guided Independent Study	234	Written coursework consisting of formative plan, and 2 x summative essays

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Essay plan	500 words	1-5	Written

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
Reading review	35	2,000 words	1, 3, 5, 6	Written
Essay	65	4,000 words	1-6	Written

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
Reading review	Reading review	1, 3, 5, 6	Summer assessment period
Essay (4,000 words)	Essay (4,000 words)	1-6	Summer assessment period

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Claudia Card, “Rape as a Weapon of War”, Hypatia (1996)
Karisa Cloward, When Norms Collide; Local responses to activism against female genital mutilation and early marriage (2015)
Serene Khader, Decolonizing Universalism; A transnational feminist ethic (2019)
Serene Khader, Adaptive Preferences and Women’s empowerment (2011)
Paul Kirby, “The body weaponized; War, sexual violence and the uncanny”, Security Dialogue (2020)
Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Feminism without borders; decolonizing theory, practicing solidarity (2003)
Jaya Sagade, Child Marriage in India; socio-legal and human rights dimensions (2012)
Jaya Sagade and Christine Forster, Women’s Human Rights in India (2019)
Celeste E. Orr, Cripping Intersex; disability culture and politics (2022)

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

ELE – Faculty to provide hyperlink to appropriate pages
Bharti Chhibber, “Women’s Rights are Human Rights”, World Affairs; The Journal of International Issues (2018) https://www.jstor.org/stable/48520052
TW: sexual violence as a weapon on war: https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/devastating-use-sexual-violence-weapon-war

Key words search

Bodily practices, Human Rights, Feminist thought, International Norms, Violence Against Women and Girls

Credit value	30
Module ECTS	15
Module pre-requisites	A student cannot take this module if they have already taken POL3307
Module co-requisites	None
NQF level (module)	7
Available as distance learning?	No
Origin date	23/02/2024
Last revision date	23/02/2024