Fall/Winter Timetable

POL486H1F L0101

Topics in International Politics I

Peacebuilding

Themes

This course offers students the opportunity to rethink Western-oriented methods of inquiry and theories, which in turn allows them to rethink dominant conceptions of knowledge and normativity in peacemaking and peacebuilding as a form of intervention. The course critically analyzes and interrogates various conflict zones and cases, and the different actors and strategies which links negotiations and peacebuilding in Africa in the broader context of the political economy of peace. It is organized in roughly four sections: Part I critically interrogates the production of “knowledge” and deconstructs the Euro-American-Centric definitions of peace and war. Part II introduces you to the global economic structures of power. Part III focuses on the main theoretical issues and debates on liberal peacemaking and peacebuilding. Using two case studies, part IV examines the effectiveness of peacemaking and peacebuilding in identifying and resolving the root causes of major post-colonial conflicts in Africa.

Prerequisites

POL208Y1 or POL208Y5 or (POLB80H3 and POLB81H3)