International relations

Palestine and the International

Module code: 019IRA
Level 6
30 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Seminar
Assessment modes: Coursework, Essay

The question of Palestine sits at the intersection of two main axes of international politics: the colonial foundations of the world order and global histories of solidarity between peoples and movements that have also shaped the present. In this module we explore these histories and struggles through the lens of Palestine.

You will:

  • be introduced to the way that anticolonial thinkers and scholars locate Palestine within histories of colonial settlement that extend back to the Americas
  • reconceptualise systems of global power and violence across these geographies
  • learn about how anticolonialism is woven within international politics, past and present theories and practices of internationalism(s), global solidarity, and ongoing attempts to fashion an alternative international order

You will explore a range of theoretical perspectives including:

  • decolonial and postcolonial approaches
  • Indigenous studies
  • settler colonial studies
  • Palestine studies
  • necropolitics
  • the Black radical tradition
  • transnational feminism
  • Queer theory.

Module learning outcomes

  • Understand decolonial approaches within IR and varied theoretical frameworks that allow them to study global politics from different vantage points
  • Demonstrate an overview of contemporary perspectives and key debates about global systems of power and violence and the colonial formations of the international order
  • Be cognizant of the role of non-state actors and movements in global politics and their attempts to transform the global order and the colonial formations that structure relations between the Global North and Global South
  • Demonstrate a knowledge of the questions and challenges that have been raised by internationalisms and global solidarity movements to the liberal world order