Friday 7 February 2014

COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST: POLI 358 (CONFLICT AND SOCIETY IN AFRICA)


 DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

 UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

INSTRUCTOR:  BRAIMAH AWAISU IMURANA

POLI 358: CONFLICT AND SOCIETY IN AFRICA

CLASS TIMES: EVERY FRIDAY@7:30am – 9:30am.               OFFICE HOURS: Mon. 3:00pm -5:00pm.

VENUE: JQB Room 14                                                     OFFICE: ROOM 7, DEPT. OF POL. SC.

                                                      COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST

                                                           SECOND SEMESTER 2013/2014

Course Description: The African continent has experienced several lethal social conflicts that have affected both the socio-economic development and human resource based of the continent. The course focuses on the structure and effects of conflicts: refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other vulnerable groups such as women, children, the aged, food security and their like. The themes to explore will include basic concepts of conflict studies, overview of African conflicts, theoretical perspectives of conflict in African societies, conflict and its ramifications on the vulnerable in society, internal and external causes of instability across African continent and ways of addressing these problems to ensure sustainable development.

Course Requirement: It is mandatory for all students to read the assigned texts/materials before attending lectures. This is to enable students to contribute/participate effectively in class discussion. Lecture notes may be given where necessary.

NB: There are compulsory readings for all students who have signed for this course. These readings would be made available at the general office of the department of political science.

Mode of Examination: Students would be required to submit a project work/assignment or take a mid-semester examination with a corresponding value of 30% in the course of the semester. Students will also answer series of questions in the form of fill in blanks and an essay at the end of the semester for 70%.

Introduction: Basic concepts of conflict studies, what is conflict? Parties to a conflict, conflict analyses etc.

 Security in Sub-Sahara Africa:  An Overview.

Mazrui, Ali A. (2008). Conflict in Africa. An Overview in Nhema, A. and Paul Tiyambe Zeleza (eds). The Roots of African Conflicts: The Causes and Costs. Unisa Press, Pretoria.

Montville, J. V. (1991). Conflict and Peacemaking in Multiethnic Societies. Maxwell Macmillan

International. Chap. 1 pp 1-20.

Quincy Wright (1990). The Nature of Conflict in Burton, J. and Frank Dukes (eds). Conflict: Readings in Management and Resolution. Macmillan Press Ltd. Pp. 15-33

Zeleza, P. T. (2008). The Causes and Costs of War in Africa: From Liberation Struggles to the “War on Terror”. Unisa Press, Pretoria.

Theoretical Perspectives of Conflict and Society in Africa

Azar, E. (1990). The Management of Protracted Social Conflicts: Theory and Cases. Aldershot. Danmouth.

Gurr, T. R. (1991). Theories of Political Violence and Revolution in the Third World in Deng, Francis and William Zartman (eds). Conflict Resolution in Africa. The Brookings Institution, Washington D.C.

Ritzer, George (2000). Modern Sociological Theory. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Pp. 107-134.

Steiner, J. (1991). Theories of Power-Sharing and Conflict Management in Montville, Joseph V. Conflict and Peacemaking in Multiethnic Societies. Maxwell Macmillan International. Pp.107-114.

Tishkov, V. E. (1996). Ethnic Conflicts in the Context of Social Science Theories in Rupensingbe, K. and Valery A. Tishkov (eds). Ethnicity and Power in Contemporary World. United Nations University Press. Pp. 52-67.

Conflict and its impact on the vulnerable in Society (women, children, food security, refugees, internal displaced persons, human rights issues, the aged, the youth, poverty and food security policies etc).

Ball, N. (1190). The Effect of Conflict on the Economies of Third World Countries in Deng, Francis M. and William Zartman (eds). Conflict Resolution in Africa. Washington D.C.

Copson, R.W.(1994).  Africa’s Wars and Prospects for Peace, Armonk, New York. Ch. 1

Crisp, J. et’al (1997). The State of the World’s Refugees: A Humanitarian Agenda

Fondo, S. (2008). Conflicts and Implications: for poverty and food security policies in Africa in Nhema, A. and Paul Tiyambe Zeleza (eds). The Roots of African Conflicts: The Causes and Costs. Unisa Press. Pretoria.

Urdang, S. (1979). Fighting Two Colonialisms: Women in Guinea-Bissau. New York Monthly Review.

White, A. M.(2008). Fanon and the African Woman Combatant: Updating Fanon’s Psychological Perspectives on Anti-Colonial and Postcolonial Wars in Nhema Alfred and Paul Tiyambe Zeleza (eds), The Roots of African Conflicts: The Causes and Cost. Unisa Press, Pretoria.

Internal and External Factors of Instability in African Societies

Abbink, Jon and Ineke Van Kessel (eds) 2005. Vanguard or Vandals: Youth, Politics, and Conflict in Africa. Boston. MA: Brill.

Adebajo, Adekeye and Chandra L. S. (eds) 2001. Managing Armed Conflicts in the 21st Century. London. Frank Cass.

Al-Rodhan, Nayef R.E. and Sara Kuepfer (2007). Stability of States: The Nexus between Transnational Threats, Globalization and Internal Resilience. Slatkine, Geneve.

Azar, E. and C. I. Moon 1986. “Managing Protracted Social Conflicts in the Third World: Facilitation and Development Diplomacy”. Millennium Journal of International Studies.15 (3): 393-406.

Walzer, M (1977). Just and Unjust Wars.  Basic Books Inc., Publishers, New York.

Conflicts of Identity: The UN in the Horn of Africa           

Adam, H.M. “Somalia, Militarism, Warlordism or Democracy?” Review of African Political Economy 54 (1992): 18-26

Adebajo, A. (2011). UN Peacekeeping In Africa: From the Suez Crisis to the Sudan Conflicts Lynne Rienner Publishers, pp. 171 - 226

Rothchild, D. and Caroline Hartzel (1993). The Peace Process in the Sudan, 1971-1972 in Licklider, Roy (ed). Stopping the Killing: How Civil Wars End. New York University Press. Pp. 63-93.

O’Connel, J. (1993), The Ending of the Nigerian Civil War: Victory, Defeat, and the Changing of Coalitions in Licklider, R. (ed). Stopping the Killing: How Civil Wars End. New York University Press. Pp. 189-203.

Waterman, H. (1993). Political Order and the “Settlement” of Civil Wars in Licklider, R. (ed). Stopping the Killing: How Civil Wars End. New York University Press. Pp. 292-302

Armed conflict prevention, management and resolution in African societies - Role of the AU/ECOWAS.

Al-Rodhan, Nayef R.F. (2006). The Geopolitical and Geosecurity Implications of Globalization. Slatkine, Geneve.

Boafo-Arthur, K. (2004). The Quest for National Reconciliation in Ghana: Challenges and Prospects in Boafo-Arthur, K. (ed). Voting for Democracy in Ghana: the 2004 elections in perspective. Thematic Studies Vol. 1. Freedom Publications, Legon, Accra.

Burton, J. and Frank Dukes (1990). Conflict: Practices in Management, Settlement and Resolution. New York, St. Martin’s Press.

Burton, J. and Frank Dukes (1990). Conflict: Readings in Management and Resolution. The Macmillan Press Ltd.

Foltz, W. J. (1991). The Organization of African Unity and the Resolution of Africa’s Conflicts in Deng, F. M. and William Zartman (eds). Conflict Resolution in Africa. The Brookings Institution, Washington, D. C.

Rupensingbe, K. (1996). Governance and Conflict Resolution in Multiethnic Societies in Rupensingbe, K. and Valery A. Tishkov (eds). Ethnicity and Power in the Contemporary World. United Nations University Press. Pp. 10-22.

Tom Lodge, (1990). Perspectives on Conflict Resolution in South Africa in Deng, Francis M. and William Zartman (eds). Conflict Resolution in Africa. The Brookings Institution, Washington D.C

Course Review and Conclusions

 

 

 

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