Fall 2021 - POL 332 D100
Separatist Movements: Conflict and Accommodation (4)
Class Number: 3810
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
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Course Times + Location:
Sep 8 – Dec 7, 2021: Thu, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
Burnaby -
Exam Times + Location:
Dec 14, 2021
Tue, 9:29–9:29 a.m.
Burnaby
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Instructor:
Clare McGovern
cmcgover@sfu.ca
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Prerequisites:
Six lower division units in political science or permission of the department.
Description
CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:
Examines separatist movements across countries and throughout history, focusing on how people come to self-identify as a nation and seek self-government. We will examine case studies of countries that have split apart and study the political activities of separatist movements in electoral campaigns and policy debates. Students with credit for POL 339 Selected Topics in Comparative Government and Politics under the title Separatist Movements may not take this course for further credit.
COURSE DETAILS:
Course Description:
The desire to leave an existing state, either to join another country or to establish a new nation-state, is at the root of many recent conflicts: in Iraqi Kurdistan, Nagorno-Karabakh and Jammu and Kashmir to name but three. Nor is this a recent phenomenon. Attempts to secede from multinational empires can be seen in the protest movements of the 19th and 20th centuries. However, separatism does not always lead to violence and constitutional crisis. In many countries, including Canada, there are separatist parties which participate peacefully in the existing political system. There are also actual separations that have occurred through negotiation, without physical conflict.
This course examines separatist movements across countries. In the first part of the course we will draw on political science, history and psychology to understand how people come to self-identify as a nation and to seek self-government. We will then examine case studies of separatist movements that actually achieved a new state: Ireland in 1921-2, the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993 and South Sudan in 2011. We will ask why the Irish and Sudanese secessions only occurred after war while the leaders of Czechoslovakia were able to handle the country's break-up peacefully. In Part 3 of the course we will consider the political activities of separatist movements, such as electoral campaigns and policy formation. To do so, we will compare the Bloc Québécois of Canada, the Scottish National Party of the UK, the Catalan and Basque nationalist parties in Spain and the Lega Nord of Italy. Throughout the semester we will be preparing for a simulation where you negotiate a region’s secession from the rest of a country. You will be divided into groups, representing the secessionists and the government. Your task is to negotiate arrangements for a peaceful transition and future relations, covering economic policy, trade, border security, and environmental management.
Course Format:
Most weeks will be a 3-hour in-person class each week, split between lecture, small group work to prepare for the simulation and discussion of the week’s readings. In Weeks 9-10 the whole class will be used for the simulation.
Grading
- Participation in the simulation and class discussion 15%
- Critical review of a course reading 10%
- Group report (preparation for simulation) 20%
- Individual report on simulation 25%
- Take-home exam 30%
Materials
REQUIRED READING:
There is no required textbook for this course. Readings will consist of academic articles available online through the SFU Library and book chapters posted on Canvas.
Department Undergraduate Notes:
Registrar Notes:
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS
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TEACHING AT SFU IN FALL 2021
Teaching at SFU in fall 2021 will involve primarily in-person instruction, with approximately 70 to 80 per cent of classes in person/on campus, with safety plans in place. Whether your course will be in-person or through remote methods will be clearly identified in the schedule of classes. You will also know at enrollment whether remote course components will be “live” (synchronous) or at your own pace (asynchronous).
Enrolling in a course acknowledges that you are able to attend in whatever format is required. You should not enroll in a course that is in-person if you are not able to return to campus, and should be aware that remote study may entail different modes of learning, interaction with your instructor, and ways of getting feedback on your work than may be the case for in-person classes.
Students with hidden or visible disabilities who may need class or exam accommodations, including in the context of remote learning, are advised to register with the SFU Centre for Accessible Learning (caladmin@sfu.ca or 778-782-3112) as early as possible in order to prepare for the fall 2021 term.