Subject Areas: Globalisation Studies

In this introductory course we ask, what are the human consequences of globalisation? How are global flows of money, people, values and ideas tied to global inequalities, processes of cultural transformation, and the (im)possibilities of global justice? More than ever before, cultures are on the move, and many that were once relatively distant and insulated from each other are increasingly coming into contact. In this course, students will develop the conceptual and analytical skills to examine globalisation as an intersection of culture and power. We will consider how ideologies of modernity and the legacies of colonialism have closed off ways of being, at the same time that they have enabled new identities. Through ethnographic texts we will investigate how global economic, political and cultural transformations are experienced at the local level as exploitation, opportunity and resistance. The emphasis in this course will be using our knowledge to respond to real-world issues, such as the global division of labour, the effects of neoliberalism, racism, gender discrimination and ongoing efforts at de-colonial re-imaginings.