Fall 2005
Spring 2005
| Instructor: |
Mark Schroeder, M.A. |
| Class Times: |
Tuesday and Thursday 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm |
| Location: |
DH 135 (Dickey Hall building) |
| Office: |
#1602 Patterson Office Tower |
| Telephone: |
859-257-4436 |
| E-mail: |
maschr2@uky.edu |
| Web: |
http://www.uky.edu/~maschr2 |
| Office Hours: |
Tues. 3:30 pm—5:30 pm, Thurs. 12:30 pm—2:00
pm and by appointment |
Required Texts:
Herbst, Jeffrey, States and Power in Africa:
Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control. Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 2000.
Schraeder, Peter J., African Politics and Society:
A Mosaic in Transformation, Second Edition. Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson
Publishing, 2004.
Kuperman, Alan J., The Limits of Humanitarian
Intervention: Genocide in Rwanda. Washington: Brookings Institution
Press, 2001.
Fanon, Franz, The Wretched of the Earth.
New York: Grove Press, 1963.
Guest, Robert, The Shackled Continent. Washington:
Smithsonian Press, 2004.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o, A Grain of Wheat.
Portsmouth: Heinemann, 1967 (or later reprint).
Course Overview:
This course is intended that students achieve a greater understanding
of Sub-Saharan African politics. Africa has held a past frequently
scarred by conflict, confusion and calamity; whether it is in
terms of genocide, blood diamonds, or HIV/AIDS, Africa has captured
the world’s attention largely in stark terms. A fleeting
glimpse of Africa may indeed suggest recurring crisis and dreadful
tragedy. As a continent graced by some fifty-four countries, however,
African politics face divisions that defy a perception of homogeneity.
Our goal, therefore, is to examine with depth and patience the
politics of the 48 countries that comprise Sub-Saharan Africa:
to appreciate both the challenges confronting Africa and the political
space that has been emerging in response.
Throughout the course you will be expected to contribute with
news from Sub-Saharan Africa by reading the print or on-line versions
of the Wall
Street Journal, The
Economist, the New
York Times, the South African
Mail & Guardian, and other similar newspapers. Following
the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa by reading these daily journals
will give you considerable information on the interactions and
international relations with and within Africa.
| Course Assignments
and Grading: |
|
25% Research Paper
25% Midterm Exam
25% Crisis Event Presentation
25% Final Exam
Extra credit via quizzes, attendance, other short written assignments
Late assignments, quizzes, research papers, projects, etc. will
not be accepted later than seven calendar days following their
due date. A penalty of one third of a letter grade per calendar
day will be applied towards any late assignment. Plagiarism will
not be tolerated and if found, for example, by “googling”
your research paper, will result in a minimum of a failed grade
for that assignment; please refer to official University of Kentucky
regulations regarding plagiarism.
I will distribute a list of the 48 countries
that comprise Sub-Saharan Africa. You are assigned to complete
one research paper; for you to select from the list one country
on a first-come, first-served basis and examine its experience
with political governance. Whether your country is deemed more,
less, or not at all democratic, you are to explain the political,
cultural, economic and historical values that have contributed
to its contemporary practice of political governance. More specifically:
you are building a case to explain why your selected country behaves
as it does on political governance. You are not just categorizing
its system of governance (whether it is a free and fair democracy,
an autocratic monarchy, a one-, or indeed, no-party republic).
Effective planning will strengthen your paper; perhaps outline
your arguments before writing. I suggest that you consider at
least several academic sources before writing. Be careful with
your sources: Wikipedia, newspaper stories and country websites,
don’t provide the substantive analytical content that your
paper requires.
The paper must be 12 pages long, 12-point font, typewritten and
double-spaced, and must include citations to all references used.
E-mailed copies will not be accepted.
| Crisis event
presentation: |
|
Self-selecting groups of five students each,
you are assigned to identify and present a crisis event that has
occurred in African politics. Note that a crisis event may have
occurred over a period of time rather than a single date and that
actors responding to the event may have been engaged for a similarly
extended period of time. Give consideration so as not to necessarily
settle on the obvious examples; the HIV/AIDS pandemic across multiple
countries, genocide in Rwanda, civil war in Sudan or Somalia.
Other crisis events command attention: wars of secession (Biafra,
Eritrea), wars of liberation from colonialism or apartheid, conflict
over land ownership (Zimbabwe), conflict over political inclusion
(Côte d’Ivoire), conflict over control of natural
resources.
Highlighting the domestic and international actors
that responded to the crisis event, you are to assess the strengths
and weaknesses of the response(s). Examine the responder’s
original objectives: a cessation of conflict, to effect a “regime
change,” to insist on regime behavior-modification? What
resources (domestic and international time, talent, and treasure)
were mobilized to achieve the responder’s objectives? What
results have been observed? Were the objectives achieved? Lastly,
articulate recommendations that can be applied from your study
towards resolving possible future similar conflicts.
You are to make a 15-minute presentation describing
your crisis event. Your presentation is worth 50% of the assignment
grade. My evaluation of your presentation will include the presenter’s
command of speech and delivery, the presenter’s knowledge
of the topic, and the presenter’s convincing analysis and
recommendations. Following your presentation you are to submit
to me a ten page, type-written and double-spaced paper outlining
your crisis event. Your paper is worth 50% of the assignment grade.
You are responsible for dividing project tasks; all group members
will receive the same grade unless you or I determine otherwise.
Attached on a separate page to your group paper, include a letter
grade recommendation according to each member’s participation.
| Week 1 (August 25): |
Introduction to African Politics |
 |
|
| Week 2 (August 30 and September 1): |
Tradition: Influences from Africa’s Past |
Readings:
|
Schraeder, Ch. 1, 2
Herbst, Ch. 2 |
|
|
| Week 3 (September 6-8): |
Colonialism and the Colonial Legacy |
Readings:
|
Schraeder, Ch. 3
Herbst, Ch. 3 |
|
|
| Week 4: (September 13-15): |
The Rise of Nationalism and Pan-Africanism |
Readings:
|
Schraeder, Ch. 4
Herbst, Ch. 4 |
|
|
| Week 5 (September 20-22): |
Post-colonialism: early independent state formation |
Readings:
|
Herbst, Ch. 1, 5
Fanon |
|
|
| Week 6 (September 27-29): |
Political conflict: ethnicity, class, race, gender |
Readings:
|
Schraeder, Ch. 5 Movie:
“Eritrea: Three Generations of Women” |
|
|
Research Paper: due at beginning
of class on Tuesday October 4 |
|
|
| Week 7 (October 4-6): |
Political conflict: economic resources, economic development
|
Readings:
|
Schraeder, Ch. 6 Movie: “Uganda: A Different Drummer”
Herbst Ch. 7
Guest |
|
|
| Week 8 (October 11-13): |
Political process: democratization, managing political conflict
|
Readings:
|
Schraeder, Ch. 8, 10 |
|
|
Midterm Exam: Thursday October 13 |
|
|
Midterm of 2005 Fall Semester: Monday
October 17 |
|
|
| Week 9 (October 18-20): |
The African novel confronting politics |
Readings:
|
Schraeder, Ch. 7
Ngugi |
|
|
| Week 10 (October 25-27): |
Foreign relations among independent African states |
Readings:
|
Schraeder, Ch. 11 |
|
|
| Week 11 (November 1-3): |
Confronting apartheid |
Readings:
|
Movie: “Amandla” |
|
|
| Week 12 (November 8-10): |
Military governance |
Readings:
|
Schraeder, Ch. 9 |
Crisis Event Presentations
|
|
|
| Week 13 (November 15-17): |
Land ownership, citizenship |
Readings:
|
Herbst Ch. 6, 8 Movie:
“Moving On” |
Crisis Event Presentations
|
|
|
| Week 14 (November 22): |
The Humanitarian Intervention |
| |
Kuperman Movie: Rwandan genocide |
Crisis Event Presentations
|
|
|
Thanksgiving break: November 24-26 |
|
|
| Week 15 (November 29 – December 1): |
Africa in World Politics |
Readings:
|
Schraeder, Ch. 12
Herbst, Ch. 9 |
Crisis Event Presentations
|
|
|
| Week 16 (December 6-8): |
|
Crisis Event Presentations
|
|
|
Final Exam: Wednesday December 14
from 8:00 am to 10:30 am in DH 135 |
