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AT4559: THE POLITICAL ANTHROPOLOGY OF INDIGENOUS RIGHTS (2024-2025)

Last modified: 17 Dec 2024 11:16


Course Overview

Indigeneity is one of the more controversial relations created by globalisation. Widely criticised for being ‘essentialist’ and ‘anti-liberal’, it is one of the more quickly growing identities recognized by the United Nations and defended in the constitutions of many nation-states. Using anthropological insight, this course survey the history of the term, study its expansion from the ‘salt-water colonies’ and ‘settler states’ to the heartland of Europe, and explore some of the challenges and advantages of the term. The seminar will explore how the term has come to be used in different post-colonial situations from the classic “heartlands” of indigeneity in North America, Latin America, and Northern Fennoscandia, to new contexts in China, India, Africa. The course will also explore how the politics of aboriginal rights has become closely linked to struggles for recognition, environmentalism, and collective struggles against neo-liberalism. The course is run in a seminar format with students encouraged to weigh and evaluate the results of their reading.

Course Details

Study Type Undergraduate Level 4
Term Second Term Credit Points 30 credits (15 ECTS credits)
Campus Aberdeen Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Professor David G. Anderson

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

  • One of Anthropology (AT) or International Relations (IR) or Politics (PI) or Sociology (SO)
  • Either Programme Level 4 or Programme Level 5
  • Any Undergraduate Programme

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

Are there a limited number of places available?

Yes

One or more of these courses have a limited number of places. Priority access will be given to students for whom this course is compulsory. Please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions for more details on this process.


Course Description

Indigeneity is one of the more controversial relations created by globalisation. Widely criticised for being ‘essentialist’ and ‘anti-liberal’, it is one of the more quickly growing identities recognized by the United Nations and defended in the constitutions of many nation-states. Using anthropological insight, this course survey the history of the term, study its expansion from the ‘salt-water colonies’ and ‘settler states’ to the heartland of Europe, and explore some of the challenges and advantages of the term. The seminar will explore how the term has come to be used in different post-colonial situations from the classic “heartlands” of indigeneity in North America, Latin America, and Northern Fennoscandia, to new contexts in China, India, Africa. The course will also explore how the politics of aboriginal rights has become closely linked to struggles for recognition, environmentalism, and collective struggles against neo-liberalism. The course is run in a seminar format with students encouraged to weigh and evaluate the results of their reading.


Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 30 August 2024 for 1st term courses and 20 December 2024 for 2nd term courses.

Summative Assessments

Take-Home Exam

Assessment Type Summative Weighting 35
Assessment Weeks Feedback Weeks

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Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
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Essay

Assessment Type Summative Weighting 40
Assessment Weeks Feedback Weeks

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Feedback Word Count 3000
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
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Essay Topic Plan

Assessment Type Summative Weighting 10
Assessment Weeks Feedback Weeks

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Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
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Group work

Assessment Type Summative Weighting 15
Assessment Weeks Feedback Weeks

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Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
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Formative Assessment

There are no assessments for this course.

Resit Assessments

Resubmission of failed element

Assessment Type Summative Weighting
Assessment Weeks Feedback Weeks

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Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
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Course Learning Outcomes

Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
FactualApplyThe current assessment in the course encourages the complex use of library materials.
ProceduralApplyThe course teaches you to revise large amounts of material and be able to select from that body of knowledge what is relevant to a very specific question under the pressure of time constraints.
ProceduralAnalyseThe ability to think through problems and questions in the field of indigenous rights in relation to seminar discussions.
ConceptualCreateThe course shows the value of comparative analysis.
ConceptualUnderstandThis course encourages critical reflection on the history of colonisation.
ProceduralRememberThe course encourages you to present structured and reasoned points to a small group.
ReflectionEvaluateThis course will improve your ability to obtain and evaluate relevant information and to write concise and clear analytical essays that draw upon advanced anthropological sources.
FactualCreateThis course will improve your ability to obtain and evaluate relevant information and to write concise and clear analytical essays that draw upon advanced anthropological sources.
ReflectionEvaluateApply the concepts and approaches they learn about indigenous rights to real-world case studies as part of the project on the course. The course shows the value of comparative analysis.

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