Universität Wien

210146 SE M8: Gender and Politics (2023W)

Epistemic violence. Feminist-postcolonial theorizations of knowledge and domination

9.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 21 - Politikwissenschaft
Continuous assessment of course work
ON-SITE

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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. 50 participants
Language: German

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

We meet five times for block appointments in presence, each time on a Friday afternoon. An extraordinary date takes place online, on a Thursday and at a different time. The conclusion is again at the usual time on a Friday, but also digitally (and shorter).

Regulation for block appointments at the IPW: Those who do not appear in the first unit will be deregistered.

Friday 06.10. 15:00 - 19:00 Hörsaal 3 (H3), NIG 2. Stock
Friday 20.10. 15:00 - 19:00 Hörsaal 3 (H3), NIG 2. Stock
Friday 03.11. 15:00 - 19:00 Hörsaal 3 (H3), NIG 2. Stock
Friday 17.11. 15:00 - 19:00 Hörsaal 3 (H3), NIG 2. Stock
Thursday 23.11. 17:30 - 19:00 Digital
Friday 01.12. 15:00 - 19:00 Hörsaal 3 (H3), NIG 2. Stock
Friday 15.12. 15:00 - 17:00 Digital

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The students deepen their understanding of central concepts of political science (violence, power, domination) against the background of feminist, post- and decolonial theory of science and society. At the same time, they learn the multi- and interdisciplinary handling of German- and English-language specialist literature, especially post- and decolonial theoretical debates on so-called colonial modernity. These debates are to be made connectable for their own political science questions to be developed in the seminar. The much-discussed (im)possibilities of a 'decolonisation' of science and society will thereby be experienced both along a theoretical and in the context of an examination of one's own research attitude in connection with the concept of epistemic violence.

At the centre of the reading-focused seminar is the examination of broad concepts of violence that have been shaped for decades, especially by feminist, post- and decolonial as well as (post-)Marxist theorists from various disciplines. A central concept of political science, violence, is thus placed in relation to perspectives on power and domination in a way that has not yet been taken for granted in the discipline. Starting with Gayatrik Spivak's first 'definition' of epistemic violence, Johan Galtung's theory of structural and cultural violence, Pierre Bourdieu's concept of symbolic violence and Judith Butler's approach to normative violence are also subjected to a feminist-post-decolonial re-reading. This spectrum is complemented by more recent concepts such as Robert Nixon's slow violence, which in turn are confronted with older feminist theorisations of the relationship to nature against the background of the connection between colonialism, capitalism, patriarchy and militarism (Maria Mies, Carolyn Merchant, Silvia Federici). Connecting all approaches to the connection between knowledge (science) and domination are multidisciplinary (and especially feminist) contributions to the theory of colonial modernity. Findings based on this theory are made accessible to political science in order to generate new questions for the discipline.

Assessment and permitted materials

Continuous attendance and active participation in the seminar is expected.

At each appointment, the given texts are to be read well and smaller work assignments are to be prepared. This does not serve to control your performance, but to improve the quality of discussion in the seminar - and thus the satisfaction of all of us.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

In this reading seminar, the students read selected German and/or English texts before each meeting and answer specific questions in advance in writing (available on Moodle) to deepen their knowledge. In this preparation, they also learn how to deal with different types of texts (abstract, commentary, summary, excerpt, etc.). The monograph Epistemic Violence. Wissen und Herrschaft in der kolonialen Moderne (Brunner 2020), which is available in open access at transcript.

For each course unit, central primary and secondary texts on epistemic, structural, symbolic and normative violence are read, which (as well as a detailed semester plan) are made available on Moodle and then discussed together in the course. In addition, audio and video material is used in the course, various forms of discussion and text editing take place in individual work and small groups, and students practise professional discussion, argumentation, moderation, commentary, feedback and other forms of 'doing academia'. In addition, the students' own understanding of science is also addressed against the background of the (im)possibilities of a 'decolonisation of science and the university'.

Materials, semester plan, working methods and modalities for the course conclusion will be announced before the first date.

Examination topics

A copy of the working papers (exception: first course) must be brought along to the respective date or submitted at the latest at the following date. Please also bring printed copies of the basic texts to the course, because we will continue to work with them.

On 3 November, you will take on a presentation of text excerpts from the books by Mies, Merchant and Federici (see above) together with your colleagues. You will read the texts well alone, discuss them together in advance and prepare a presentation of about 15-20 minutes on the central statements of the text.

At the last deadline, you are to prepare a well-founded short synopsis for a seminar paper that fits in with your studies and the MA 8 module. Correct scientific working methods, spelling, grammar and stylistic confidence are required. You can write the paper in English or German. You will be responsible for the appropriate editing/proofreading.

The seminar paper of 15 pages (plus cover page, table of contents, bibliography, etc.) must be submitted by the end of February as a PDF file to claudia.brunner@aau.at. The paper will be graded as soon as possible. It will be graded as soon as possible, including written feedback.

The assessment of your overall performance is made up as follows: 50% seminar paper, 30% discussion participation based on your preparation, 20% working papers. The prerequisite for a positive degree is the fulfilment of all partial performances, i.e. submission of all working papers, active participation, presentation, seminar paper. The quality of their form and content then determines the overall grade. On the basis of the working papers, individual and collective as well as peer-to-peer feedback on your written performance is already given during the seminar, which you can thus improve up to the seminar paper.

Reading list

Brunner, Claudia 2020: Epistemische Gewalt. Wissen und Herrschaft in der kolonialen Moderne. Bielefeld: transcript. OPEN ACCESS

All further basic literature can be found in the semester plan, which is sent to all participants before the start of the course, and on the moodle platform.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Fr 08.09.2023 13:27