Rationale

This course will provide a conceptual orientation to the intersection of gender, politics, and violence, exploring the different forms taken by gendered violence, how it can be understood and explained and the political and policy responses to it. It looks at its representation in cultural forms such as novels, films and the popular media.  Students will investigate how its occurrence varies over time and in different societies, its manifestation on a societal scale and in the most intimate and private of relationships as well as the effects it has on women and girls. The course will look-into the ways it relates to masculinities, its strategic use in military conflicts and women’s resistance to it. Emphasis will be placed on highlighting the power relations that underpin gendered violence and the abuse of power associated with it. Students will be encouraged to question the high profile given to sexual violence and abuse in the media and explore how gendered violence has become an issue that attracts so much public attention. The course will end having laid the foundations for students to learn how this level of publicity affects the prevalence of gender-based violence and what effect it has on its cultural acceptance, particularly in circumstances where abuse of women and children is tolerated and, in some cases, seen as a reasonable response to transgressions of cultural norms.
This course aims to provide a conceptual orientation and framework for the intersection of politics and gender as the precursor for sustainable development. 

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course students will be expected to:
(i)    Analyse the key concepts of gender, violence and politics.
(ii)   Explain a range of theoretical and disciplinary perspectives on the relationships between gender, violence and politics. 
(iii)  Discuss contemporary policy debates and practical initiatives around the basic topics of the course. 
(iv)  Demonstrate the interface of gender of politics and gender as tools for sustainable national development in the global south.