Politics 104-A: Special Topic in Politics - Introductory Level: Race and Racism in International Relations

This course responds to the long-standing critique of how the topics of race and racism have been downplayed in the study of international relations (IR). While scholars have long argued that the questions of race and racism have been central organizing principles in the theory, concepts, figures, and institutions giving shape to international relations, the field of IR has increasingly sought to make sense of the ongoing effects. This course considers how the lens of "race" clarifies aspects of global politics and the development of international relations as a field of academic knowledge. We begin by explaining what we mean by the socially constructed notion of race and survey different ideas about how it might be relevant to understanding the history of global politics and contemporary international relations. Drawing on a mix of historical and recent scholarship, we will explore how questions of race and racism are constitutive of questions of security, national security, migration, and global order. We conclude by considering proposals to reform, expand, and/or "decolonize" the field of international relations. May be applied toward the Global Politics requirement for the Politics-Environmental Studies major.