Universität Wien
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240059 VO+UE VM5 / VM4 - North South Conflict (2026S)

4.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 24 - Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie
Continuous assessment of course work

For a positive assessment of the course, the successful completion of all partial performances is required.
As part of the assessment, plagiarism detection software (Turnitin in Moodle) may be used.
The use of AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT) for text production is only permitted if explicitly allowed or required by the course instructor (e.g., for specific assignments). To ensure good academic practice, the course instructor may require an oral reflection ('grade-relevant discussion') of the submitted work, which must be successfully completed.
If a partial performance has been obtained dishonestly, e.g., by cheating on an exam or test, plagiarizing in a written assignment, or falsifying signatures on attendance lists, the entire course will be graded as 'not assessed' and recorded accordingly.
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

  • Thursday 05.03. 12:00 - 15:00 Seminarraum SG1 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 26.03. 12:00 - 15:00 Seminarraum SG1 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 23.04. 12:00 - 15:00 Seminarraum SG1 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 07.05. 12:00 - 15:00 Seminarraum SG1 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 28.05. 12:00 - 15:00 Seminarraum SG1 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 18.06. 12:00 - 15:00 Seminarraum SG1 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Recently, historians have begun to explore how, starting in the 1960s, “North” and “South” became ciphers for discussing global relations (Dinkel et.al). Some scholars suggest that a “North-South conflict” emerged during this time, which pitted self-described “developing countries” against wealthy “Western” states in an attempt to overcome global inequalities. They argue that this conflict was and, in fact, still is a defining issue of international relations (Iriye). Others have suggested that, in reality, there was no such conflict, because of widely diverging interests within the “Global South”, merely the expectation of one (Graf). In this seminar, we will explore the pre-history, development, and legacies of the North-South confrontation, which – it will be argued – reached its peak in the 1970s, with the United Nations (UN) General Assembly Declaration on the New International Economic Order in 1974.
We will examine crucial themes (anti-colonialism, anti-racism, development), events (the Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung in 1955, the “Oil Shock” in 1973/4), organizations (the League against Imperialism, the Non-Aligned Movement, the UN Conference on Trade and Development), groups (the Afro-Asian caucus at the UN, the “Group of 77”), individuals (e.g. Raúl Prebisch, Houari Boumedienne), as well as their concerns and arguments.
The overall aim of the seminar is to familiarize students with the historiography of the North-South conflict and the methodological foundations of historical studies.
In addition to reading and discussing scholarly literature on the topic, we will also (learn how to) analyze historical primary sources.
Students will formulate response papers to prepare for the bi-weekly in-class discussions. They will also prepare a presentation on a topic/primary source of their choice, in consultation with the instructor.

Assessment and permitted materials

Biweekly:
- thorough reading of research literature in preparation for the individual sessions; taking notes on given questions (for upload)
- active participation in individual course sessions

2x per semester:
- BEFORE sessions, compose a response paper on research literature that answers the standard questions in an essay format; submit by the evening before the session

1x per semester:
- one short, in-depth presentation on a topic/historical source in consultation with the instructor

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Regular attendance is required. Please refer to the above description for other specific requirements.
Response papers and presentations will be graded on a scale of 1 to 5 [1 = excellent, 2 = good, 3 = satisfactory, 4 = sufficient, 5 = insufficient (failing performance)]. Other participation will be graded on a scale of A (above average), B (good), or C (below average).
The final grade is composed equally of the grades for the response papers (50%) and presentation (50%). Those who are between two grades can have their final grade positively or negatively influenced by their participation grade.
Plagiarism will automatically lead to exclusion from the seminar and an entry of "not evaluated" on the transcript instead of a grade.

Examination topics

Historiography of North-South divide in international relations (information on assigned readings will be available on Moodle).

Reading list

The required reading for each session will be announced and available on Moodle.

Introductory readings include:

Chamedes, Giuliana. “Unpaid Debts: Socialist Internationalism and Jamaica’s Bid for a New International Economic Order.” The American Historical Review 130, no. 3 (2025): 1039–1069.

Connelly, Matthew. “Taking Off the Cold War Lens: Visions of North-South Conflict during the Algerian War for Independence.” The American Historical Review 105, no. 3 (2000): 739-769.

Dinkel, Jürgen; Fiebrig, Steffen; Reichherzer, Frank. Nord/Süd – Perspektiven auf eine globale Konstellation. De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2020.

Fajardo, Margarita. The World That Latin America Created: The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America in the Development Era. Harvard University Press, 2022. https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674270039.

Franczak, Michael. Global Inequality and American Foreign Policy in the 1970s. Cornell University Press, 2022.

Garavini, Giuliano. After Empires: European Integration, Decolonization, and the Challenge from the Global South 1957-1986. Oxford University Press, 2012.

Graf, Rüdiger. “Der Konflikt, der nicht stattfand: Ressourcen, Interdependenz, Sicherheit und die Erwartung des Nord-Süd-Konflikts in den 1970er Jahren.” In Nord/Süd, edited by J. Dinkel, S. Fiebrig, F. Reichherzer. De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2020.

Kreienbaum, Jonas. Das Öl und der Kampf Um eine Neue Weltwirtschaftsordnung: Die Bedeutung der Ölkrisen der 1970er Jahre für die Nord-Süd-Beziehungen. De Gruyter, 2022.

Lee, Christopher J., ed. Making a World after Empire: The Bandung Moment and Its Political Afterlives. Ohio University Press, 2019.

Louro, Michele L., Carolien Stolte, Heather Streets-Salter, and Sana Tannoury-Karam, eds. The League Against Imperialism: Lives and Afterlives. Global Connections: Routes and Roots. Leiden: Leiden University Press, 2020.

Prakash, Gyan, and Jeremy Adelman, eds. Inventing the Third World: In Search of Freedom for the Postwar Global South. Bloomsbury Academic, 2022.

Prashad, Vijay. The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South. Verso Book, 2012.

Association in the course directory

VM5 / VM2

Last modified: Mo 27.07.2026 09:27