Infrastructures, Conflict and Struggle

The module offers Masters students in the Department of Politics an opportunity to engage with the a range of debates surrounding the politics of infrastructures in a variety of manifestations prevalent in Africa and Asia. 

The module themes include the role of class differentiation and race in the making of infrastructures, the specific histories of conflict and struggle surrounding access to basic infrastructures such as electricity, water, and sewage, and the ways in which transport infrastructures have been crucial in remaking societies and politics in Asia and Africa.

This is a special year for the module in which it will be complemented by a public seminar on "Environment and Infrastructure in the Middle East and beyond" that will bring several authors of books studied through the module to SOAS for public seminars featuring their books.

Objectives and learning outcomes

In addition to encouraging general skills in communications and research, the module will advance general knowledge in International Relations, Middle East Politics and other areas where the politics of access to basic social and political goods are considered necessary

Workload

• 2-hour seminar per week

Method of assessment

• Assignment 1: 30%
• Assignment 2: 60%
• Seminar Participation: 10% 

Suggested reading

• Hannah Appel, Arthur Mason, Michael Watts, eds., Subterranean Estates: Life Worlds of Oil and Gas
• Rob Nixon, Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor
• Wolfgang Schivelbusch, The Railway Journey: The Industrialization of Time and Space in the Nineteenth Century
• Deborah Cowen, The Deadly Life of Logistics
• Nicole Starosielski, The Undersea Network

Disclaimer

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules.