POL4267: Imperialism and Modern Political Thought

How has political theory been shaped by imperialism? We will investigate this question through a study of such key thinkers as Kant, Mill, Marx, Lenin, Césaire, Fanon, and Gandhi, reading them through the lens of empire. Our goal is to analyze how such thinkers reflected upon, problematized and, at times, justified forms of Western imperialism. We will look at their explicit reflections on empire, as well as more tangential or ostensibly separate themes that may have only been shaped by the imperial context in indirect ways. Finally, we will reflect upon our contemporary location as readers and agents situated in the wake of these political and intellectual developments, analyzed through the question of what it means to engage in anti-colonial, decolonial, and/or postcolonial critique. This course will combine lectures by the professor with student-led seminar discussion.

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