Keywords and concepts for the course: Political Sociology for Development
(RSO-21306):
Utopia: Key to guide political practices against oppression. It is an imagined
community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for
its citizens.
Epistemologies of the South (Santos): Diversity/plurality of collective struggles
that do not fit wester theories, confirms the domination of the Struggle.
Struggle (3 forms of domination):
- Capitalism: An economic system based on the private ownership of the
means of production and their operation for profit.
- Colonialism: Control by one power over a dependent area or people.
- Patriarchy: A social system in which men hold primary power and
predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege
and control of property.
Dualism: Prevalent in our language and thought. Is also what the division of tasks
between the administration and representatives of the people wants to indicate.
- Mind/body
- Utopia/dystopia
, - These dualisms need to be overcome, Santos pushes forward with a focus on
epistemologies of the South.
Abyssal Line (Santos): The line that separates the humans from the nonhumans,
very often along racial lines. The world of “us,” from the world of the sub-humans, the
world of “them”. It also promotes the idea of irrelevance of the ways of being, living,
knowing, and feeling of the populations on “the other side of the line”.
- Us/Them: The human mind has a tendency to categorize people into social
groups. And often these social groups can create an “Us vs. Them” mentality
toward people who may be different than us in some way, whether it’s race,
gender, age, nationality, culture, religion, or socioeconomic status. Also
competition over an important resource can create an Us/Them mentality.
- We/They:
- Acknowledge there is no rational solution to conflict
- Recognise the legitimacy of their opponent
- Mouffe: Not left/right but right/wrong - moral categories not political
categories
- “What democracy requires is drawing the we/they distinction in a
way which is compatible with the recognition of the pluralism
which is constitutive of modern democracy.”
Limitations to social struggle:
- Illusion of full humanity: Believing that we have overcome the abyssal line
(Us-v-Them)
- Fragmentation: Across social struggles
- Monoculturalism: Cultural suppression
6 humanitarian tropes (Richey & Brockington):
- Aid celebrities
- Global Mothers
- Strong men doing good
- Diplomats
- Entrepreneurs
- Afropolitans
(RSO-21306):
Utopia: Key to guide political practices against oppression. It is an imagined
community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for
its citizens.
Epistemologies of the South (Santos): Diversity/plurality of collective struggles
that do not fit wester theories, confirms the domination of the Struggle.
Struggle (3 forms of domination):
- Capitalism: An economic system based on the private ownership of the
means of production and their operation for profit.
- Colonialism: Control by one power over a dependent area or people.
- Patriarchy: A social system in which men hold primary power and
predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege
and control of property.
Dualism: Prevalent in our language and thought. Is also what the division of tasks
between the administration and representatives of the people wants to indicate.
- Mind/body
- Utopia/dystopia
, - These dualisms need to be overcome, Santos pushes forward with a focus on
epistemologies of the South.
Abyssal Line (Santos): The line that separates the humans from the nonhumans,
very often along racial lines. The world of “us,” from the world of the sub-humans, the
world of “them”. It also promotes the idea of irrelevance of the ways of being, living,
knowing, and feeling of the populations on “the other side of the line”.
- Us/Them: The human mind has a tendency to categorize people into social
groups. And often these social groups can create an “Us vs. Them” mentality
toward people who may be different than us in some way, whether it’s race,
gender, age, nationality, culture, religion, or socioeconomic status. Also
competition over an important resource can create an Us/Them mentality.
- We/They:
- Acknowledge there is no rational solution to conflict
- Recognise the legitimacy of their opponent
- Mouffe: Not left/right but right/wrong - moral categories not political
categories
- “What democracy requires is drawing the we/they distinction in a
way which is compatible with the recognition of the pluralism
which is constitutive of modern democracy.”
Limitations to social struggle:
- Illusion of full humanity: Believing that we have overcome the abyssal line
(Us-v-Them)
- Fragmentation: Across social struggles
- Monoculturalism: Cultural suppression
6 humanitarian tropes (Richey & Brockington):
- Aid celebrities
- Global Mothers
- Strong men doing good
- Diplomats
- Entrepreneurs
- Afropolitans
