Dr. Nayma Qayum
Email:
[email protected]
CONTEMPORARY SOUTH ASIA
Manhattanville College Spring 2016
Course Description:
This interdisciplinary survey course will cover South Asia from the late modern period to the early 21st Century. It is divided into three disciplinary/subject areas: History and Political Thought, Politics, and Economy. Students will learn about five South Asian countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
The course will focus on the overarching theme of citizenship. It will explore questions of governance on the one hand and citizenship on the other. What did the state look like at various points in modern and contemporary South Asia? What kinds of ideologies shaped governance? Whom do the region's institutions serve? What does citizenship look like for various groups in South Asia? What is the history of nationalism in South Asia? How does one account for the politics of similarity and the politics of difference? Religion, ethnicity, caste, and gender will appear as cross-cutting themes.
The course will begin with the legacy of colonialism and formation of the modern state in South Asia. Students will explore the region's historical backdrop - colonial governance, the anti-colonial movement, and the role and visions of key political thinkers in the partition and subsequent politics of the Indian subcontinent. The region's rich intellectual heritage will be explored through literature, film, and nationalist discourses as reflected in the works of Ambedkar, Gandhi, and Tagore.
The second segment will focus on politics. We will explore the tension between democracy and dictatorship in three postcolonial states: India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, and focus on questions pertaining to the state, regime type, and governing institutions. For example, what is the nature of the post-colonial state in South Asia? Who governs and how? Students will also learn about two states that have recently experienced violent conflict. We will also explore the politics of religion, especially the politics of Hindutva in India and the war crimes trials in Bangladesh.
The third segment of this course will focus on political economy, where students will explore who wins and who loses in the liberalization game. There will be particular focus on rural poverty and innovative solutions, with a focus on the role played by non-governmental organizations and other non-state groups. Throughout the course, we will be studying the Indian film industry, with emphasis on the ways in which nationalism and gender are represented in Bollywood films.
Learning Outcomes:
Upon successfully completing this course, students should be able to
Identify and discuss some of the key political, economic and cultural issues relevant to contemporary South Asia.
Identify and critically evaluate the intellectual foundations of contemporary South Asia through its own intellectual heritage as opposed to western perspectives.
Compare and contrast states, regimes, and contesting notions of citizenship in South Asian countries in light of their diverse histories.
Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of South Asia, and one specific country in particular.
Use concepts, such as nationalism, gender, caste, and poverty, to explain major events or empirical data pertaining to South Asia.
Books:
Students are required to purchase the following books. Additional readings will be provided.
Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal. Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy. 2011: Routledge
Arundhati Roy. The Cost of Living. 2007: Modern Library.
Siddharta Deb. The Beautiful and the Damned: A Portrait of the New India. 2011: Faber and Faber
Course Requirements:
This course involves approximately 50 pages of reading every week. You are expected to complete all assigned readings before class, bring reading material to class, and contribute to class discussions. Failure to do so will reflect on your attendance and class participation grade. You are also required to attend at least 70% of all classes (unless excused for your absence in advance). You will have a midterm exam and a final, each consisting of multiple-choice questions and short-answers. There are no makeup exams. You will write three short analytical papers (3 pages) that involve critical reflections on at least four of the assigned readings or films. One of these papers will involve field research, for which guidelines will be provided. All assignments will be graded and returned within two weeks.
All due dates are final and you will lose one letter grade for each day that you delay in submitting your assignments. Assignments that are over a week late will not be accepted unless advance arrangements have been made. Class participation accounts for 10% of your grade. This includes attendance, engagement, and participation in group activities. You may use laptops or tablets for taking notes or reading. All cell phones must be on silent or vibration mode during class.
For days that we are covering films, you are required to watch the films ahead of the class (with the exception of 2/1, when we will watch the film in class). The films will be made available to you and if possible, screenings scheduled ahead of time. You will have no readings for those days. However, reference materials will be available online.
Your grade breakdown is as follows:
Midterm: 25%
Final: 25%
Reflection papers: 30%
In-class presentation: 10%
Attendance and participation: 10%
Academic Honesty
Manhattanville College's policies regarding Academic Integrity are located in the Student Handbook and Code of Community Conduct at:
http://www.annex.mville.edu/images/stories/Undergraduate_StudentLife/ServicesForStudents_CampusLife/2014-2015_Student_Handbook_Code_of_Conduct.pdf
Any violation of these policies that constitutes a major violation of the Code of Academic Integrity will result in failure of the course and referral to the Academic Dean for disciplinary action. Any minor violation will result in a significantly reduced grade on the assignment.
Accommodations
If you have a disability and are anticipating needing accommodation in this course, please make arrangement to see your instructor by the end of the second weeks of class. Also, request a letter from Disability Services verifying your disability and stating needed accommodation(s):
Gabriella Burd
Director of Disability Services
Library, Main Floor
914-323-7127
[email protected]
Grading Scale
A 93-100
A- 90-92
B+ 87-89
B 83-86
B- 80-82
C+ 77-79
C 73-76
C- 70-72
D 60-69
Class Schedule: (Readings may be added or amended)
Intellectual Foundations and History
1/21
1/25
1/28
2/1
2/8
2/11
2/15
2/18
Introduction to the Course. Bose and Jalal pp. 1-6 and Ch. 2
Colonialism: The Company and the Raj. William Dalrymple, East India Company: The Original Corporate Raiders, Bose and Jalal Ch. 7, skim Bose and Jalal chs. 8-10. Clips: Mangal Pandey – The Rising
The Anticolonial Movement day 1: Gandhi and Hindu Revivalism. Partha Chatterjee, The Nation and Its Fragments, Introduction and Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, chapters III-VI, IX, XIV (skim Bose and Jalal chs. 11 and 13, especially the sections on Swadesh and Hind Swaraj)
Film day 1: Gender and class in Tagore's work. Film: Home and the World
Anticolonial movement day 3: Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste, selections, Bose and Jalal Chs. 14-15
Partition and the Idea of Pakistan. Bose and Jalal chs. 16-17; Cyril Radcliffe, Creating an International Border; Ahmed Kamal, Joy, Hope, and Fear at Independence; India and Pakistani Officials, Where is the Border; from The Bangladesh Reader
Film day 2: The Historical Film. Film: Lagaan. Reference: The Nation and its Discontents. From Jyotika Virdi, The Cinematic Imagination.
Bangladesh: The 1971 war in the context of Cold War Politics. Willem van Schendel, The Pakistan Experiment and the Language Issue; Rehman Sobhan, East and West Pakistan: Economic Divergence; Awami League, Six Points Towards a Federation; Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, This Time the Struggle is for our Freedom, Siddiq Salik, Operation Searchlight; Archer Blood, Richard Nixon, and Henry Kissinger, A Telegram and a Phone Call, from The Bangladesh Reader. Bangladesh Presentation
Politics
2/22
2/25
2/29
3/3
3/7-3/11
3/14
3/17-3/21
3/24
3/28
3/31
4/4
4/7
The post conflict state: India. Bose and Jalal Ch. 18. Paul Brass, Theft of an Idol India Presentation. Reflection paper 1 due
The post conflict state: Pakistan. Pakistan Presentation
States in turmoil: Afghanistan - Tribes and Realities. Barfield Ch. 1: People and Places. Afghanistan presentation
Midterm Exam
Spring Break
States in turmoil: Afghanistan - Rise of the Taliban. Ahmed Rashid, Taliban, selections
States in turmoil: Sri Lanka - Communalism and Conflict. Stanley Tambiah, Ethnic Fratricide and the Dismantling of Democracy, selections. Sri Lanka presentation (3/14)
Film day 3: Communalism. Film: Bajrangi Bhaijaan.
Communalism: Bangladesh - Religion and Politics in Shahbag. Nayma Qayum, Religion and Politics in Dhaka's Public Square and Taking Sides, in The Revealer: A Magazine of Religion and Politics.
Communalism: India. Ashutosh Varshney, Ethnic Conflict and Civil Society: India and Beyond
Film day 4: Gender and Family. Film: Dil Dhadakne Do. Reference: The Ideal Woman. From Jyotika Virdi, The Cinematic Imagination and Patricia Uberoi. Imagining the Family. In Dudrah and Desai eds. The Bollywood Reader.
Gender: Pakistan. Reading TBD.
Political Economy
4/7
4/11
4/14-4/18
4/21
4/25-4/28
Liberalization: Winners and losers (India). The ghosts in the machine and the Factory, from Siddhartha Deb, The Beautiful and the Damned. Reference: When and Why did India Take Off? From India Today.
Rural Poverty. The Red Sorghum, from Siddhartha Deb. Reference: How Have the Poor Fared (and Others Too)? From India Today
Poverty and environment: Narmada. Arundhati Roy: The Cost of Living. Reflection paper 3 due
Film day 5: The Underworld. The Great Gatsby: A Rich Man in India, from Deb. Film: Company
Afghanistan and Sri Lanka: Economic development after conflict.
