Ethnic Problems and Conflicts
Preliminary requirements:
Student should have background knowledge in the area of contemporary international relations and contemporary political doctrines (ethnic wars in the world, ideology of nationalism)
Course Description:
- Introduction to ethnic problems and conflicts – main terms such as: nation, nationalism, national identity, national biased, ethnic minority, ethnic policy, ethnicity) and theoretical approaches to ethnic problems and conflicts.
- Causes, types and consequences of ethnic conflicts.
- Ethnic conflict management.
- Case studies: Ethnic policy in the selected European countries.
- Case studies: analysis of the selected ethnic conflicts in the Europe and in the world.
- National state in the era of globalisation.
Aims of the course:
Student distinguishes key relations between actors of international relations
Student has basic knowledge in the area of culture-related problems of the contemporary world
Student can perceive politics as a social phenomenon, identifying essential social phenomena at the source of specific political processes
Student presents objective and non-emotional reflection while assessing historical and contemporary events
Teaching methods:
Seminar, text analysis, discussion, case studies, work in groups, presentation, report, paper, multimedia materials.
Evaluation & Completion:
- Active participation in the discussion,
- Oral test consisting of 2 questions,
- Preparation of 20-30 minutes presentation focused on ethnic policy of the selected countries or presentation related to ethnic conflict.
- Attendance is mandatory.
Basic Literature:
B. Anderson, (2002), Imagined Communities, London,
E. Gellner, (1997) Nationalism, Phoenix, London, 1997,
Ethnic Policy in Contemporary East Central European Countries (2015), eds. H. Chałupczak, R. Zenderowski, W. Baluk, Lublin,
K. Cordell, S. Wolff (2010), Ethnic Conflict. Causes-Consequences-Responses, Cambridge,
Routledge Handbook of Ethnic Conflict (2013), eds. K. Cordell, S. Wolff, Routledge,
U. Ozkirimli (2010), Theories of Nationalism. A Critical Introduction, Palgrave Macmilan,
Additional Literature:
Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism – selected volumes
Nations and Nationalism - selected volumes.
Ethnic Conflict Information Centre - http://www.notholt.co.uk/fields_of_fire/
