IR5055
Agency and Strategy in Non-Western Political Thought
2018-2019
30
15
SCQF level 11
2
Academic year(s): 2018-2019
SCOTCAT credits : 30
ECTS credits : 15
Level : SCQF level 11
Semester: 2
Planned timetable:
Eastern political strategies and thought, while often resting on different assumptions to their Western counterparts, have in a context of globalization spread into very different contexts than those from which they originated. Sun Tzu is included in the canon of realist thought and often informs contemporary corporate strategy; Gandhi's satyagraha has provided impetus to nonviolent movements across the globe; Thich Quang Duc's self-immolation in Vietnam (1963) has been imitated in a number of contexts since. Jihad has become a global phenomenon. These are strategies with origins in ancient Eastern thought that have been put to use in contemporary political struggles. The question of agency is important in so far as non-Western societies have for the last several hundred years been in a structurally weak position vis a vis the expansion of Western power across the globe. Non-western philosophies have informed strategies of resistance or independence but may, in very different ways, become significant as India and China become global players. There has been a lively debate within International Relations theory about the potential importance of alternative modes of thought, more indigenous to these cultures, in the evolution of the future strategies of these emerging powers. The purpose of this module is to explore a range of 'classic' and secondary texts that express different elements of non-Western thought, both ancient and contemporary, to understand the underlying assumptions about the body, political community and the world, the objectives and workings of various strategies, both violent and nonviolent, the relationship between strategic choice and, on the one-hand, the contextual, social and/or political location of the agents, and, on the other hand, the relevance of these strategies for understanding contemporary global politics, ethics and science.
Weekly contact: 2-hour lectures and 2 office hours.
As used by St Andrews: Coursework = 100%
Re-assessment: re-sit and/or re-submission