GOVT 3401

Refugees and the Politics of Vulnerability: Intersections of Feminist Theory and Practice

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2016-2017.

"We're undone by each other. And if we're not, we're missing something," writes Judith Butler in Precarious Life. Can our mutual vulnerability serve as the basis for political intervention and social justice? More specifically, how does a politics of vulnerability help us address the worldwide refugee crisis? How does it limit or preclude an understanding of certain conditions? How might the notion of precarity / precarious lives supplement vulnerability? We will use the growing body of feminist scholarship on vulnerability in law, philosophy, migration studies, and other fields to analyze the refugee crisis in particular locations, including Central American refugees being detained in the U.S. and Syrian refugees fleeing to Europe. We will focus on the intersections of media representation, immigration policy, and activism.

When Offered Spring.

Distribution Category (CA-AS)

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