Peace Studies - MPCT 305

Synopsis
The course will discuss politics, identity and religion as aspects of conflict processes. Today most of the ongoing conflicts in the world are intra-national; conflicts inside nations, and not between nations. Questions of ethnic and religious identity are often themes in these conflicts. In this course we will focus on the relationship between political strategies and identity, related to some relevant examples. Was ethnic conflict the main reason for the war in Yugoslavia, or was the use of ethnic conflict a political strategy that led to the war? We will also focus on cultural issues related to a recent history of military interventions in intra-national conflicts from the part of the international society. Topics such as modernity, ethnic boundaries, religion, ritual and ecology, all related to the main focus on identity and conflict, will also be discussed.

Literature:

Argyrou, Vassos 1997: “Keep Cyprus Clean: Littering, Pollution and Otherness”. Cultural Anthropology 12 (2) p 159-178. (19).

Barth, Fredrik 1969: “Introduction”. In F. Barth (ed.) Ethnic Groups and Boundaries, Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. (29)

Bohannan, Paul 1959: “The Impact of Money on an African Subsistence Economy”. In Journal of Economic History nr. 19, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. (12)

Bringa, Tone 1995: Being Muslim the Bosnian Way: Identity and Community in a Central Bosnian Village. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. Introduction and Chapter 1. Page 3-36. (33).

Drukalic, S. 1993: “Mass Rape in Bosnia: Women hide Behind the Wall of Silence”. Nation 256 (8): 253-259. (6).

Duffey, Tamara. 2 000. “Cultural Issues in Contemporary Peace Keeping”. I.T. Woodhous & O. Ramsbotham (eds.): Peacekeeping and Conflict Resolution. London: Frank Cass Publishers, p. 142-168 (26).

Duijzings, Ger. 2000. Religion and the Politics of Identity in Kosovo. London: Hurst&Company. (210)
Elron, Erat, Boas Shamir&Eyal Ben-Ari. 1999: “Why Don’t They Fight Each Other? Cultural Diversity in Multinational Forces”. Armed Forces & Society 26 (1), p.73-99 (27).

Geertz, Clifford 1972: “The Wet and the Dry: Traditional Irrigation in Bali and Morocco”. In Human Ecology 1972.

Geertz, Clifford 1966: “Religion as a Cultural System”, in: The Interpretation of Cultures, p. 87-125, New York: Basic Books, Inc.

Giddens, Anthony 1991: Modernity and Self-Identity. Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Introduction and Chapter 1. p.1-34 (34).

Gluckman, Max 1960: “The Logic in Whichcraft”. In M. Gluckman: Custom and Conflict in Africa, Blasil Blackwell, Oxford. (15)

Nadel, Sigfried F. (1952) “Whichcraft in Four African Societies: An Essay in Comparison”. American Anthropologist 1952 p.18-29 (12).

Rappaport, Roy A 1967: “Ritual Regulation of Environmental Relations Among a New Guinea People”. In Ecology, Meaning, and Religion. P.27-41. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books. (15).

Turner, Victor 1970: “Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites de Passage”. In E.A. Hammel & W.S. Simmons (eds.): Man Make Sense, Boston, Little, Brown & Co. (14)

507 pages in total