51³ÉÈËÁÔÆæ

Course Description

Summary

Particularly since the treaty of Westphalia the state has been the dominant feature of the international system. In almost every case its sovereignty is assumed. Yet from unauthorized US drone strikes in Pakistan to the European Union, there are examples of ways in which the power of the state as an organizing concept is beginning to erode. This course will look at anthropological studies of politics and power outside of and at the margins of the state system. It will then consider theoretical approaches for understanding the state and will finally ask if it is possible for us to begin thinking beyond the state. Examples will include Somalia, Pakistan's Northwest Frontier, the European Union, the IMF, sovereign human-made islands and the zombie apocalypse.