CONF 735: GLOBAL CONTEXT OF CONFLICT
Professor Ho-Won Jeong
George Mason University
Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution
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The course expands students' knowledge base in a critical analysis of conflict
and creative problem solving. The root causes of conflict in a global context
are examined in terms of gender inequality, cultural differences, unequal North/South
relations, militarism, economic oppression, genocide, maldevelopment, religious
and ethnic struggle, and environmental scarcity. Students are expected to develop
their own conceptual tool boxes needed to analyze conflicts in different parts
of the world by the end of the semester.
This course will help students get familiar with some basic issues in international conflict. One of the main areas which we will examine is identity related communal conflict. Violence is inflicted on the marginalized in many parts of the world, often associated with unequal distribution of resources and ecological degradation. The course will focus on inter-communal and intra-communal conflict rather than inter-state war. The creation of new social and economic relations often accompanies the penetration of state structure and integration into the global economy. This class examines ways in which forces in globalization and international political economy transform communal life and create diverse forms of struggle.
Class Information
Notes and Discussions
E. F. Schumacher, Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered
Ethnic Boundaries and the Margins of the Margin
Social Movement in the Periphery
Student Papers
Al-Alaily, Jihan. 2001. September 11: A Case of Asymmetric Conflict.
Arai, Tatshushi. Mapping of Global Dimensions of Social Conflict.
Levén, Vivian. 2000. Globalization and the Farming Crisis
Troy, Vicky. 2005. Globalization, Indigenous People and Environmental Justice.
Resources and Links
The Guardian. "Murder that is a threat to survival: Biodiversity cannot be protected unless language genocide is halted, argues Tove Skutnabb-Kangas".