Paper 2: The Scope of Social Anthropology II: systems of power and knowledge

Religion

This course examines a number of key issues in the anthropology of religion:

  • relationships between the divine order and the social order;
  • the nature of ritual and different approaches to the understanding of ritual action;
  • classification, liminality and taboo;
  • religion as ideology, and the relationship between religion and the state;
  • spirit possession, shamanism and witchcraft;
  • new religious movements; and
  • world religions.

Politics

The anthropological study of the diverse practical and philosophical forms of political life has long had a foundational importance in generating new anthropological theories and methods. This course introduces students to these past and current developments in social anthropology through a number of themes, including:

  • ethnicity and nationalism;
  • globalisation;
  • citizenship;
  • colonialism;
  • biopolitics and governmentality;
  • the state and the non-state;
  • racism and the politics of exclusion;
  • ideology and hegemony;
  • social movements;
  • dispute settlements;
  • war, peace and feud;
  • domination and resistance; and
  • the ethnography of law and human rights.

Reading lists and syllabus outline for Paper 2:

Previous years’ reading lists are available here.

Exam Questions