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ANT2028 An Ethnography of Political Violence in Ireland

Level 2
Semester: 1
Module Co-ordinator: Professor Hastings Donnan

Lecture Time: Wednesdays 11 am to 1.00 pm in PFC/03/006a

(First meeting at 11 am on Wednesday 29 September)

Course Content

This module will explore the context, understandings and political outworkings of political violence in Ireland today and in the past utilising anthropological and ethnographic perspectives. It will review the definitions of violence, the notion of political violence and the use of the term 'terrorism', taking account of issues of legitimacy and the threat of violence from state and non-state actors. It will consider how violence is depicted through symbols and rituals and examine the threat of violence and the demarcation of territory. It will also explore the consequences of political violence, debates over the nature of victimhood, processes of remembering and commemoration, and the range of practices that ‘societies in transition’ undertake as levels of violence reduce, such as museum exhibitions and truth commissions.

Teaching

Two hours per week consisting of a one-hour lecture and a one-hour tutorial/workshop.

Methods of Assessment

Two questions to be attempted in a two-hour written exam (65%) and one assessed course essay (25%) of 3,000 words including footnotes and references (25%). Ten percent (10%) of the overall grade will be based on attendance at and regular, informed participation in tutorials/workshops.