121-057 Ethnic Nationalism and the Modern World

Note

Credit Points

HECS Band

Coordinator

Semester

Subject Description

Ethnicity is of special concern to anthropologists, especially in instances where anthropology becomes part of nationalist discourse. This subject considers a variety of ethnic contexts from Africa, Europe and Australia to the Americas, Asia and the Pacific. Students will examine different approaches to nationalism, the formation and reproduction of ethnic boundaries, nationalism myths and historiography, colonialism and postcolonialism and the relationship between individual, state and nation in the modern world economy. On completion of the subject students should have engaged in a critical comparison of ethnicity in major culture complexes of the world; and be well acquainted with anthropological approaches to the study of colonialism, dependency, and ethnic identity.