Anthropology

Politics and Power

Module code: L6071
Level 5
15 credits in spring semester
Teaching method: Lecture, Seminar
Assessment modes: Essay

On this module, you'll use political anthropology and social theory to explore forms of power, a central concept in anthropology.

While 'politics' in Western societies often refers to formal institutions like parties, government, and the state, you’ll examine the 'political' in a broader sense, linking it to the operations of power in a wide range of relationships, from local to global.

You'll investigate how the analysis of power has expanded over the past fifty years, exploring connections with economic and cultural processes covered in other modules.

Module learning outcomes

• Demonstrate critical understanding of key themes in analyses of power
• Show knowledge of how concepts such as hegemony, ideology, resistance, discourse and governance have been used by anthropologists
• Ability to apply key concepts to new ethnographic cases