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210076 SE BAK12: Gender, Power and Resistance (2026S)

8.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 21 - Politikwissenschaft
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Tuesday 10.03. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Tuesday 17.03. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Tuesday 24.03. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Tuesday 14.04. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Tuesday 21.04. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Tuesday 28.04. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Tuesday 05.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Tuesday 12.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Tuesday 19.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Tuesday 26.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Tuesday 02.06. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Tuesday 09.06. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Tuesday 16.06. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Tuesday 23.06. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock
  • Tuesday 30.06. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 (H2), NIG 2.Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Bridging across the fields of political science, anthropology and gender studies, this course unpacks the key concepts of power and resistance with a transversal focus on gender and sexuality. It aims to review and contrast different approaches, including Marxist, Foucauldian, Queer, Feminist and Intersectional approaches. We will unpack different notions related to power (sovereign, disciplinary, biopolitics, patriarchy, domination, oppression, empowerment...) in connection to several empirical cases, between organized public resistance and everyday hidden forms of resistance and agency of women, feminist, and queer subjects.

The course is structured in two parts: in the first part, we will review and compare key theoretical contributions to the study of power and resistance, though class and group discussions with active participation from students, followed by a review from the instructor in the following session.

In the second part, we will read and discuss empirical analysis of a diverse set of cases of gendered resistance across different political contexts, such as migrant domestic workers in Lebanon, queer subjects in post-soviet contexts, women resisting violence in Colombia and Brazil, Lesbians under the Spanish dictatorship.

In the last weeks of the course, students will work on their final essay in class under the supervision of the instructor and with peer support exercises. The final essay consists of the analysis of a case gendered resistance based on the collection of secondary empirical data and the application of at least two theoretical approaches studied in class.

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

Explain and contrast distinctive theoretical approaches to the notions of power and resistance

Identify different forms of political resistance in determined socio-political contexts

Interpret the gendered aspects of power and resistance in specific empirical cases

The course is offered as part of the specialization module in gender and politics for students of the bachelor program in political science but is relevant to all bachelor students interested in ethnographic approaches to politics, power, and resistance at the crossroads between political science, anthropology and gender studies.

Assessment and permitted materials

Participation in group discussion in Part I (20%): Submit notes and synthesis of group discussion at the end of the class

Two Reaction Papers in Part II (30%) (500 words) by the Sunday evening before the class: Unpack and discuss the theoretical framework used in the assigned empirical reading. One Reaction Paper can be written about a Gender & Politics Event instead.

Case Proposal (600 words) & Writing in Class (20%)

Seminar Paper (30%): apply two different theoretical perspectives to your chosen case (2,500 words)

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

All partial performances must be submitted on time to complete the course successfully. All assessments are expected to be completed in English. Attendance is compulsory. Two times unexcused absence is permitted.

Examination topics

Throughout the seminar, students will work on the following questions: How to trace empirically and analyze theoretically power relations and different forms of resistance? How do Marxist, Gramscian, Foucauldian, Queer, Feminist and Intersectional theories of power shape empirical analyses of resistance? What are the implications of studies of resistance for theories of power? How does gender operate as a mechanism of power? How is it connected to other forms of power and resistance?

Reading list

Abu-Lughod, Lila. 1990. “The Romance of Resistance: Tracing Transformations of Power through Bedouin Women.” American Ethnologist 17 (1): 41–55.

Butler J (1999) “Critically Queer”. In: Wolfreys J (ed.) Literary Theories: A Reader and Guide. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 570–586.

Cohen, Cathy. 1997. “Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer Politics?” GLQ 3: 437–465.

Eschle, Catherine, and Bice Maiguashca. 2018. “Theorising Feminist Organising in and against Neoliberalism: Beyond Co-Optation and Resistance?” European Journal of Politics and Gender 1 (1–2): 223–39

Hill Collins, Patricia. 2000. “Toward a Politics of Empowerment”. In: Black Feminist Thought. Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment: Routledge, pp. 273-290.

Nuamah S, Ouellet L. Claiming Citizenship: The Political Labor of Black Women’s Resistance. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race. 2025;22(2):321-341.

Pande, Amrita. 2012. From “Balcony Talk” and “Practical Prayers” to Illegal Activities: Migrant Domestic Workers and Meso-Level Resistances in Lebanon. Gender & Society, 26 (3): 382-405.

Schippers, Mimi. 2007. “Recovering the Feminine Other: Masculinity, Femininity, and Gender Hegemony.” Theory and Society, 36(1): 85 – 102

Scott, James. 1990. “The Infrapolitics of Subordinate Groups”, in Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, pp. 183-201.

Stella, Francesca. 2012. “The Politics of In/Visibility: Carving Out Queer Space in Ulyanovsk” Europe-Asia Studies 64(10): 1822–1846.

Sutton, Barbara. 2007. “Poner El Cuerpo: Women’s Embodiment and Political Resistance in Argentina.” Latin American Politics and Society 49 (3): 129–62.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Mo 27.07.2026 09:27