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SoSe 21: Racism in International Relations

Timothy Nunan

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Are international relations racist? The global wave of Black Lives Matter protests has drawn attention to the impact of racism in domestic politics, but perhaps an equally important question might be how racism has structured international politics. Events like the Haitian Revolution, the intersection of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and decolonization, and restrictions on immigration all highlight the ways in which racism has affected international relations. At the same time, many have argued that the academic discipline of international relations has failed to take racism seriously as a factor in international relations, pointing to the discipline's racist origins in empire and silencing of intellectual traditions such as the Howard School. This course will explore the history of racism in international relations, exploring both historical scholarship that centers racism and international relations as well as interventions that analyze the history of international relations as an academic discipline. Topics that the seminar will address include the intellectual history of international relations; the "color line" and immigration restriction; Black internationalist thought; the anti-apartheid movement; and the international relations of white supremacist and white nationalist movements. In addition to thematic sessions, this seminar will also provide students with an introduction to working with digital archives, taking advantage of the recently digitized archives of the American sociologist and activist W.E.B. Du Bois. Several methodological sessions over the course of the semester will train students in working with digital archives given the realities of the Covid-19 pandemic. Students who take this seminar for written credit will be required to write a research paper drawing from Du Bois’ papers, which will be exhibited as part of a digital history exhibition developed within the framework of the seminar. close