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This class examines how geographers and others think about the state, nationalism, international politics, and economic development. The class emphasizes two theories of international politics and development: World-Systems Analysis and Critical Geopolitics. Both of these theoretical approaches challenge more familiar and dominant assumptions about how the world works. Critical theory challenges both the legitimacy and utility of positivist claims found in many areas of study including law, political science and international affairs. It is useful for asking questions like, how does a given reality come to be understood as natural or inevitable? How does power come to seem justified? How are arguments constructed and how do some become common sense? Critical geopolitics addresses geographic versions of these questions. How does a given spatial arrangement or distribution of resources or power come to be and come to be accepted as natural or necessary? How do political actors invoke or inscribe geographic features, both natural and social, to shape the world into what they want it to be, to shape political realities and relationships? Critical theory in general and critical geopolitics in particular assumes that ideas matter in creating the world in which we live.
This class uses a framework developed by Stephen Brookfield to develop critical thinking skills. The framework focuses on identifying the assumptions, questioning and evaluating those assumptions, looking for different perspectives, and considering how to determine appropriate actions.
Course Schedule