Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POC1022: Violence in World Politics

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.

Module Aims

The aim of this module is to:

  1. Introduce you to a range of contemporary forms of violence in world politics, and provide you with the conceptual and analytical tools to critically assess their origins, nature and impact.
  2. Enable you to critically analyse and evaluate violence through the lens of different theories in International Relations.
  3. Develop research skills and the ability to find, understand and critically evaluate contemporary political practices. 

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. demonstrate an empirical familiarity with a range of contemporary political problems and the debates that they have generated;
2. evaluate and compare different framings and responses;
3. demonstrate an awareness and some capacity think critically about the causes of, and responses to, different forms of violence in world politics.
Discipline-Specific Skills4. identify, discuss major political concepts and theories, and apply them to actual events and outcomes;
5. list, describe, and evaluate different interpretations and reasoned criticisms of scholarship;
6. construct well-structured, sympathetic and rigorous arguments based on logical deduction.
Personal and Key Skills7. interact effectively within a group to develop argument and analysis, and communicate this effectively to others via oral and written forms;
8. work independently and manage time efficiently in preparing for scheduled learning activities, exercises and assessments;
9. efficiently identify, retrieve and evaluate a range of library-based and electronic research resources, with some guidance.

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Arendt, Hannah, 1906-1975. Eichmann In Jerusalem: a Report on the Banality of Evil. New York, N.Y., U.S.A.:Penguin Books, 1994

Baaz, Maria Eriksson, and Maria Stern. "Why do soldiers rape? Masculinity, violence, and sexuality in the armed forces in the Congo (DRC)." International Studies Quarterly 53.2 (2009): 495-518.

Barkawi, Tarak, and Mark Laffey. "The imperial peace: democracy, force and globalization." European Journal of International Relations 5.4 (1999): 403-434.

Davis, Angela Y. Are prisons obsolete?. Seven Stories Press, 2011.

Devji, Faisal. "The paradox of nonviolence." Public Culture 23, no. 2 (2011): 269-274.

Fanon, Frantz, 1925-1961. The Wretched of the Earth. New York :Grove Press, 1968.

Galtung, Johan, and Tord Höivik. "Structural and direct violence: A note on operationalization." Journal of Peace Research 8.1 (1971): 73-76.

Galtung, Johan. "Cultural violence." Journal of peace research 27.3 (1990): 291-305.

Howard, Michael. War and the liberal conscience: The George Macaulay Trevelyan lectures in the University of Cambridge, 1977. Anaya-Spain, 1986.

Guru, Gopal. Humiliation: Claims and Context. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2009

Nandy, Ashis. "The invisible holocaust and the journey as an exodus: the poisoned village and the stranger city." Postcolonial Studies: Culture, Politics, Economy 2, no. 3 (1999): 305-329.

Shepherd, Laura J. Gender, violence and security: Discourse as practice. Zed Books, 2008.