ASB 417/591 Political Anthropology
M& W 3:15-4:30 p.m. COWDN 124; Line #59451/84518
Instructor: Dr. Nora Haenn
Office Phone: 480- 965-4730
Email: nora.haenn@asu.edu
Office Locale: Anthro 202
Office Hours: Mon & Wed 11 a.m.-noon
Course Purpose: This course aims to introduce you to the breadth of today’s political anthropology. In
addition, the class offers skills which CLAS asserts are necessary for you to acquire in your college
career. One skill not on this list is the speed with which a person absorbs information, understands that
information, and is able analyze that information. Speed, in addition to the following skills next to
which I placed a check mark, will be emphasized in this course.
U oral communication
U written communication
U analytical and critical thinking
U multi-cultural and diversity awareness
knowledge of a second language
U organization skills
research skills
U flexibility and adaptability
ability to meet multiple goals on deadline
knowledge of statistics
computer literacy
U interpersonal skills
U global perspective
Course Description: We will utilize intensive reading, writing, and discussion to examine a series of
political anthropology’s best recent ethnographies. Graduate students are responsible for all readings.
Undergraduate students will be assigned to group ‘A’ or ‘B’ and be responsible for the books in that
series. Undergraduates are expected to attend all classes and are encouraged to participate in discussion
on books not within their series by asking analytical questions and reading books reviews (often
available on line through Web of Science). Attendance will be taken and final grades will be marked
down one full letter grade for every 3 absences a student incurs.
The course depends on your classroom participation. I will respond to questions, provide
background information where you tell me it is needed, guide discussion, push you farther into the
readings, referee debates, and make sure everyone gets a chance to speak. You will prepare daily written
summaries of readings which will help you contribute to class discussion. Class discussion aims to build
your skills in thinking on your feet and quickly converting your thoughts into articulate, confident
speech. Additionally, you will write one, 4-5 page analytical paper for each book you read. General
directions for paper writing attached to the end of this syllabus. For grad students, these papers aim to
teach you to write the kind of book reviews found in disciplinary journal. Your final grade will break
down as follows:
Daily summaries
Contribution to Class Discussion
Analytical reviews
12.5%
12.5%
75%
Daily summaries–Readings are specified by date. Each class (except when papers are due), hand in a
typed summary of that day’s reading. Summaries should be no shorter than 100 words and no longer
than one, single-spaced page, 12-pt font, 1 inch margins. You may include in your summary questions,
comments, and analysis. Think of the summaries as a jumping off point for engaging in class discussion
and for preparing your analytical reviews. For undergrads, daily summaries are not required of books to
which you are not assigned, but you should deliver summaries of class discussions. Undergrads are thus
excused from handing in a summary on the first day we discuss a book that is not part of their assigned
series. By my count, grad students will be writing 20 summaries and undergrads will write 18. For
purposes of my accounting, ALWAYS date your summary according to the day scheduled for its
submission.
Contributions to Class Discussion–I will maintain a class roster and take note each day of who
participates in our conversations. Class discussion is likely to be awkward at first, but as the semester
goes on, the amount, content, and quality of your contributions should improve. My questions and
comments in class will provide a guide in this improvement. In grading your contributions to class
discussion at the end of the semester, I will ask myself whether you demonstrated a command of the
details in any single assigned reading, showed an ability to connect a reading with other assignments,
and displayed a critical awareness of a reading’s flaws and merits.
Analytical reviews–see attached directions. Papers are due on the days noted “Paper Discussion.”
Papers will be marked down one full letter grade for each 24 hours they are late. Undergraduates may
rewrite their papers. Rewrites will only be accepted during the two or so weeks following the paper’s
original due date and before the beginning of the student’s next book assignment.
Grades: Your daily summaries, classroom participation, and papers A, A-. B+, B, B-, C+, C, D, F/E.
The general meanings of A, B, C, D, F/E grades are described below. For computation of final grades, I
translate letter grades into the following standardized numerical system:
A+ = 4.33
A = 4.0
A- = 3.67
B+ = 3.33
B = 3.0
B- = 2.67
C+ = 2.33
C = 2.0
D = 1.0
F/E = 0
A: Outstanding. Excellent.
Indicates a student who demonstrates thorough knowledge of concepts and frameworks and exceptional skill in
the application and articulation of those concepts and frameworks in satisfying course requirements.
Demonstrates the ability to analyze and synthesize materials from both inside and outside the classroom.
Participates thoughtfully and extensively in class discussions and group exercises. Is not late for or absent from
class.
B: Good. Competent.
Indicates a student who has good, above average, level of knowledge of concepts and frameworks together with
considerable skill in using them to satisfy course requirements. Participates regularly in class discussions and
group exercises. Is rarely late for or absent from class.
C: Average. Fairly Competent.
Indicates a student who has a basic, acceptable level of knowledge of concepts and frameworks together with
some skill in using them to satisfy course requirements. Follows assignment directions and meets deadlines.
Participates in class discussions and groups exercises.
D: Below Expectations. Passing.
Indicates a student who has minimal knowledge of concepts and frameworks and below average ability to use
them to satisfy course requirements. Communication skills below what is expected of advanced college student.
Fails to attend regularly and to participate appropriately in class discussions and groups exercises.
F/E: Well Below Expectations. Failure.
Indicates a student who has little or no understanding of concepts and frameworks and is unable to relate
materials from inside and outside the classroom. Student fails to seek out assistance from appropriate resources
for improvement; is consistently late in meeting course requirements; and is habitually late for or absent from
class. Fails to participate appropriately in classroom discussion and group exercises.
I take the assigned readings as the departure point for grading. How well do you understand and
articulate the reading material? How well can you connect the reading material to the broader body of
knowledge presented in class? Another way of conceptualizing the difference between grades is to think
of these as reflecting different levels of knowledge:
D=comprehends material when text is at hand
C=comprehends material and is able to communicate that understanding without the aid of original text,
i.e. has memorized and can verbalize the content of assignments
B= has memorized and can verbalize the content of assignments and connects the material at hand with
other aspects of the class
A= achieves all the above and is able to say something new about how this material connects to other
material
Required Reading with a Rough Topical Guide (Books for sale at the book store.)
The State and its Consequences
Scott, James Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts; 1990
Comaroff, Jean and John L. Comaroff, editors Modernity and Its Malcontents: Ritual and Power in
Postcolonial Africa. 1993
Ferguson, James; The Anti-Politics Machine: “Development,” Depoliticization, and Bureaucratic
Power in Lesotho; 1994
Identity, Indigenousness, and Social Movements
Warren, Kay B. Indigenous Movements and Their Critics: Pan-Maya Activism in Guatemala , 1998
Weismantel, Mary Cholas and Pishtacos: Stories of Race and Sex in the Andes. 2001
Globalization
Malkki, Liisa H. Purity and Exile: Violence, Memory, and National Cosmology among Hutu Refugees in
Tanzania. 1995
Ong, Aihwa Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality; 1999
Fortun, Kim Advocacy after Bhopal: Environmentalism, Disaster, New Global Orders. 2001
Violence
Feldman, Allen Formations of Violence: The Narrative of the Body and Political Terror in Northern
Ireland. 1991
Daniel, E. Valentine; Charred Lullabies: Chapters in an Anthropography of Violence; 1996
Some unifying questions for us to consider:
How does the author define power?
How does the author define the state?
What counts as violence and how is violence perpetrated?
How does power undergird the construction of social categories?
What is the connection between power and wealth distribution?
What is the interaction between the state and identity? The state and the excercise of power?
How do authors conceptualize a connection between power and geography? Is power a local, regional,
global phenomenon, or something that undermines geographical boundaries altogether?
How do people react to or resist power structures?
What sites of creativity and imaginative cultural production does the author identify? How do these sites
work to create/combat/change power flows?
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
22
23
Thursday
24
A: Chs 1, 2, 3
Domination and...
B: no summary
First day of Classes
29
30
A: Chs 4 thru’ 8
Domination and...
B: hand in first summary
Friday
26
25
31
Sept. 1
2
A: Paper Discussion
B: Hand in summary
5
6
7
B: Preface, Intro, and Part 1
Modernity and....
A: no summary
Labor Day
12
13
14
9
15
16
22
23
B: Paper Discussion
Modernity and....
A: hand in summary
B: Part II, Modernity and..
A: hand in summary.
19
A: Intro, Parts I, II, III The
Anti-Politics Machine
B: no summary
20
21
A: Parts IV, V, and Epilogue
The Anti-Politics Machine
B: hand in summary
26
27
28
B: Intro, Chs. 1, 2, 3
Indigenous Movements...
A: no summary
A: Paper Discussion
The Anti-Politics Machine
B: hand in summary
8
29
30
OCTOBER
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
3
B: Ch 5 through Conclusion
Indigenous Movements
A: hand in summary
10
4
11
12
A: Parts II, III, Afterword
Cholas and....
B: hand in summary
18
A: Paper Discussion
Cholas and....
B: hand in summary
24
B: Chs 4 thru’ postscript
Purity and Exile
A: hand in summary
5
Friday
6
7
B: Paper Discussion
Indigenous Movements
A: hand in summary
A: Forward, Intro, Part I
Cholas and .....
B: no summary
17
Thursday
13
14
19
20
21
26
27
28
B: Intro, Chs 1, 2, 3
Purity and Exile
A: no summary
25
B: Paper Discussion
Purity and Exile
A hand in summary
NOVEMBER
Monday
Tuesday
Oct 31
Wednesday
Nov 1
Friday
2
3
4
9
10
11
A: Pt III and IV
Flexible Citizenship
B: hand in summary
A: Intro, Pt 1 and Pt II
Flexible Citizenship
B: no summary
8
7
Veterans Day
B: Intro thru Ch 6
Advocacy after Bhopal
A: no summary
A: Paper Discussion
Flexible Citizenship
B: hand in summary
14
15
B: Chs 7 thru 11
Advocacy after Bhopal
A: hand in summary
17
16
18
B: Paper Discussion
A: hand in summary
21
22
A: Chs 1, 2, 3
Formations of Violence
B: no summary
23
No class
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER
Monday
28
Tuesday
29
25
Thursday
Nov. 30
7
8
Final Papers due
Friday
Dec 1
2
AAA Meetings
B: Chs. 1, 2, 3
Charred Lullabies
A: no summary
6
24
Thanksgiving
Wednesday
A: Paper Discussion
Formations of Violence
B: hand in summary
B: Chs. 4, 5, 6, 7
Charred Lullabies
A: hand in summary
Thursday
9
10