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Malmö universitet
Course syllabus autumn 2020
Course syllabus autumn 2020
Title
Peace and Conflict studies I
Swedish title
Freds- och konfliktstudier I
Course code
FK111L
Credits
30 credits
Grading scale
UA / Excellent (A), Very Good (B), Good (C), Satisfactory (D), Pass (E) or Fail (U)
Language of instruction
English
Decision-making body
Faculty of Culture and Society
Syllabus approval date
2019-06-13
Syllabus valid from
2019-09-02
Entry requirements
General entry requirements + Civics 1b / 1a1 +1a2. Or: Civics A, English B.
Merit rating is calculated based on Swedish upper secondary grades achieved, according to specific entry requirement 6/A6.
Level
Basic level
Main field
Peace and Conflict Studies
Progression level
G1N
Progression level in relation to degree requirements
The course is part of the main field of study Peace and Conflict studies at the 1-30 credit level and meets the degree requirements for the degree of Bachelor, main field of study Peace and Conflict studies
Course objectives
The aim of the course is for the students to acquire a basic understanding of Peace and Conflict Studies and its scientific development as a discipline. In addition, students will gain insights into the key theories and concepts relating to historical and contemporary conflicts. Furthermore, students will obtain an understanding of the role of international law in international armed conflicts, how threats are represented, and organized violence is legitimated. Furthermore, students will obtain an understanding of how threats are represented and organized violence is legitimated.
Course contents
Contents
The course consists of four modules:
1. The history of conflicts and the idea of peace (7.5 hp)
This module gives an overview of the history of wars and conflicts as well as the history of ideas related to peace. The module also covers the rise of the contemporary global world order and its consequences.
2. The foundation of Peace and Conflict Studies (7.5 hp)
This module gives an introduction to the concepts and theories within peace and conflict studies as well as to the development of the discipline. Different experiences of organized violence are addressed.
3. United Nations in Conflict Management (7.5 hp)
This module gives an overview of the different functions, mechanisms, and conditions of public international law during and after international armed conflicts. The module gives an introduction to the United Nations’ role and challenges as the upholder of international peace and security in the contemporary international system.
4. Enemy Images (7.5 hp)
This module concerns enemy images and how they can be used to justify war. In addition, the module addresses how they arise and are reproduced. Lastly, the module discusses their consequences and how they can be counteracted.
Learning outcomes
Learning outcomes
The course consists of four modules with the following learning outcomes:
1. The history of conflicts and the idea of peace (7.5 hp)
After completing the module the student will
1. have basic knowledge about the history of ideas on the idea of peace
2. have basic knowledge about the history of warfare
3. have basic knowledge about economic history and its impact on warfare
4. have the ability to read and assimilate academic texts
2. The foundation of Peace and Conflict Studies (7.5 hp)
After completing the module the student will
1. have basic knowledge about the development of peace and conflict studies as a discipline
2. have knowledge about different forms of direct and structural violence
3. be able to explain the basic concepts of peace and conflict studies and be able to apply them
3. United Nations in Conflict Management
After completing the module the student will
  1. have basic knowledge about legal methods of peaceful settlements of international armed conflicts
  2. have basic knowledge about the legal framework regulating international armed conflict and its aftermath
  3. have knowledge about the United Nations and its role, functions and challenges as the upholder of international peace and security
  4. be able to explain the relationship between state practice and public international law in contemporary international armed conflicts
  5. be able to use basic academic formalities and academic language
4. Enemy Images (7.5 hp)
After completing the module the student will
  1. be able to independently identify and analyze enemy image constructs in different contexts
  2. have basic understanding of how enemy images and cultural violence can justify different forms of violence
  3. have basic understanding of how media and other actors create and reproduce enemy images
  4. have basic understanding of theories explaining the acceptance of enemy images as well as how enemy images can be counteracted
  5. be able to use academic formalities and academic language
Learning activities
Learning activities
The course is designed for full-time study. The teaching in each module is mainly in the form of lectures and seminars. The majority of the student’s workload consists of independent study.
Students are responsible for keeping up the reading and for coming prepared to each class. Students are expected to take their own initiatives to form reading groups.
The course is based on the students’ active participation in discussions.
Assessment
Assessments
1. The history of conflicts and the idea of peace (7.5 hp)
The students’ performance in the module is assessed by means of a formal exam (7.5 hp).
2. The foundation of Peace and Conflict Studies (7.5 hp)
Learning outcome 1, 2, and 3 are assessed by means of a formal exam (6.5 hp). Learning outcome 3 is also assessed by means of a written and oral group presentation (1 hp, pass is the only grade given).
3. United Nations in Conflict Management (7.5 hp)
The students’ performance in the module is assessed by means of an individual take home exam (7.5 hp).
4. Enemy Images (7.5 hp)
Learning outcome 1, 2 and 5 are assessed by means of a take home exam (5 hp).
Learning outcome 3 and 4 are assessed by means of an oral exam (2.5 hp).
Course literature and other study material
Module 1:
  • John Darwin, “Imperialism and the Victorians: The Dynamics of Imperial Expansion”, The English Historical Review (1997). (30 pages)
  • Johan Galtung, “Cultural Violence”, Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 27, No. 3 (1990). (15 pages)
  • John Morrow. History of Western Political Thought: A thematic introduction. Palgrave. (Book to buy)
  • Mary Louise Pratt, “Scratches on the Face of the Country; Or, What Mr. Barrow Saw in the Land of the Bushman”, Critical Inquiry (Autumn, 1985).
  • James C. Scott, “Nature and Space” and “Cities, Language, People”, excerpts from Seeing Like a State (1998). (Available as an e-book through the Malmö University Library; 70 pages)
  • Scott Strauss, “Wars do end! Changing Patterns of Political Violence in sub-Saharan Africa”, African Affairs, Vol. 111, No. 443 (2012). (22 pages)
  • Maynard Swanson, “The Sanitation Syndrome: Bubonic Plague and Urban Native Policy in the Cape Colony, 1900-1909”, Journal of African History (1977). (20 pages)
  • E. P. Thompson, “The Moral Economy of the English Crowd”, Past & Present (1970). (60 pages)
  • Charles Tilly, “War Making and State Making as Organized Crime”, in Bringing the State Back In, Theda Skocpol, Dietrich Rueschemeyer, and Peter B. Evans (eds.), (1985). (available as an e-book through the Malmö University Library; 20 pages)
  • Paul D. Williams (ed.) (latest edition). Security Studies: An Introduction. Routledge. (Book to buy)
  • Immanuel Wallerstein, “Rise and Future Demise of the World Capitalist System”, Comparative Studies in Society and History (1974). (28 pages)
  • Additional book chapters and journal articles. (approximately 250 pages)
Module 2:
  • Appadurai, Arjun (2000) Spectral Housing and Urban Cleansing: Notes on Millennial Mumbai. Public Culture 12(3): 627-651.
  • Aristophanes (411 BC) Lysistrata.
  • Davis, Mike (1990) Fortress LA. City of Quart, New York: Vintage Books.
  • Davis, Mike (2004) Planet of Slums. New Left Review (26): 5-34.
  • Galtung, Johan (1969) Violence, Peace and Peace Research. Journal of Peace Research 21(3): 167-191.
  • Gandy, Matthew (2006). Planning, Anti-Planning and the Infrastructure Crisis Facing Metropolitan Lagos. Urban Studies 43 (2): 371-396.
  • Herron, Jerry. (2007). Detroit: Disaster Deferred, Disaster in Progress. South Atlantic Quarterly 106(4): 663-682.
  • Kaldor, Mary (2012) New and Old Wars (third edition). Cambridge: Polity Press.
  • Leary, John Patrick. (2011). Detroitism. Guernica: A Magazine of Art and Politics 15 January.
  • Marr, Steve (forthcoming). Shrinking, Exploding: Lagos, Detroit and a Reconsideration of World Cities Theory. Antipode.
  • Norton, Richard J. (2003). Feral Cities. Naval War College Review (4): 97-106.
  • Packer, George (2006) Megacity: Decoding the Chaos of Lagos. The New Yorker 13 November.
  • Scheper-Hughes, Nancy and Philip Bourgois (2003) Violence in War and Peace: An Anthology, London: Blackwell Publishers.
  • Simone, Abdou Maliq (2001) On the Worlding of African Cities. African Studies Review 44(2): 15-41.
  • Williams, Paul D. (ed.) (2013) Security Studies, An Introduction, Abingdon: Routledge (selected parts).
Module 3:
  • Chesterman, Simon, Franck, Thomas M., & Malone, David M., 2016, Law and Practice of the United Nations, Oxford University Press
  • Henriksen, Anders, International Law, 2017, Oxford University Press
  • Weiss, Thomas G., Forthsythe, David P., Coate, Roger A & Pease, Kelly-Kate, The United Nations and Changing World Politics, 2017, 8th edition, Westview Press.
  • Williams, Paul D (ed.) (2013) Security Studies, An Introduction, Abingdon, Routledge (selected parts).
  • Legal instruments and documents, 200 pages.
Module 4:
  • Ahnaf, Muhammad I. (2006) Image of the Other as Enemy, Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books.
  • Brewer, Marilynn B. (1996) When Contact is not Enough: Social Identity and Intergroup Cooperation. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 20(3-4): 291-303.
  • Carruthers, Susan L. (2011) The Media at War: Communication and Conflict in the Twentieth Century. Basingstoke: Macmillan; New York: St. Martin’s Press.
  • Entman, Robert M. (1993) Framing: Toward Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm Journal of Communication 43(4): 51-58
  • Entman Robert M. (1994) Representation and Reality in the Portrayal of Blacks on Network Television News. Journalism Quarterly 71(3): 509-520.
  • Galtung, Johan (1990) Cultural Violence. Journal of Peace Research 27(3): 291–305.
  • Harle, Vilho (2000) The Enemy with a Thousand Faces. Westport: Praeger (selected parts).
  • Oppenheimer, Louis (2006). The Development of Enemy Images: A Theoretical Contribution. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 12(3) 269–292
  • Petersson, Bo (2009). ”Hot Conflict and Everyday Banality: Enemy images, scapegoats and stereotypes”. Development, 2009, 52(4), (460–465)
  • Pettigrew, Thomas F. (1998) Intergroup Contact Theory. Annual Review of Psychology 49:1: 65-85.
  • Pettigrew, Thomas F. et al. (2011). “Recent advances in intergroup contact theory”. International Journal of Intercultural Relations 35 (2011) 271–280
  • Post, Jerrold M (1999). “The Psychopolitics of Hatred: Commentary on Ervin Staub’s Article” in Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Journalism 5(4)
  • Ramasubramian, Srividya (2007). Media-Based Strategies to Reduce Racial Stereotypes Activated by News Stories. Journalism and Mass Communication Quaterly 84(2): 249-264.
  • Reyes, Antonio (2011) Strategies of legitimization in political discourse: From words to actions. Discourse & Society. 22(6) 781–807
  • The SAGE Handbook of Prejudice, Stereotyping and Discrimination (c2010). Ed. John Dovidio (London: SAGE) Chapter: 1, 4-15, 30-35
  • Silverstein, Brett (1989). Biases in the Perception and Cognition of the Actions of Enemies 45(2). 51-72
  • Silverstein, Brett (1989) Enemy Images,The Psychology of US. Attitudes and Cognitions Regarding the Soviet Union. American Psychologist, 44(6) 903-913 903-91
  • Snyder, Mark; Tanke, Elizabeth Decker; Berscheid, Ellen (1977) Social Perception and Interpersonal Behavior: On the Self-Fulfilling Nature of Social Stereotypes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 35(9): 656-666.
  • Sontag, Susan (2003) Regarding the Pain of Others, New York: Picador
  • Steiner, Kristian (2015) Images of Muslims and Islam in Swedish Christian and secular news discourse Media, War & Conflict, 28(1) 20–45
  • Steuter, Erin; Wills, Deborah (2009) Discourses of Dehumanization: Enemy Construction and Canadian Media Complicity in the Framing of the War on Terror. Global Media Journal, Canadian Edition, 2(2), pp. 7-24.
  • Steuter, Erin; Wills, Deborah (2008) At War with Metaphor: Media, Propaganda, and Racism in the War on Terror, Lanham: Lexington Books. Available as e-book through the Malmö University library.
  • Worchel, Stephen (1978) Facilitation of Social Interaction Through Deindividuation of the Target. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 36(5): 549-556.
Course evaluation
The University provides students who participate in or who have completed a course with the opportunity to make known their experiences and viewpoints with regards to the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarize the results of course evaluations as well as informing participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures initiated in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).
Interim rules
If a course ceases to be available or has undergone any major changes, the students are to be offered two opportunities to retake the examination during the year following the change for re-examination, based on the syllabus which applied at registration.