The course aims to analyse and discuss the connection between the racism of the colonial age and the current one, read through the concepts of governmentality and postcoloniality.

The students will be confronted with the reflections of some authors who, starting from the middle of the last century and up to the present day, have dealt with the meaning of racism in the past and even today in the construction of the political identity of the colonizing peoples and, in particular, of the racialized society still present in the United States of America.

Through this reflection, students will be able to acquire a greater awareness of the meaning and role that racism still plays in the global society in which we live.

The program can be divided into three parts.

The first part of the course will present a historical analysis of racism in the 19th and 20th centuries, focusing on the connection between the rise of Western nationalisms and the development of imperialist domination.

In the second part, the thought of Franz Fanon, an Antillian physician and philosopher, as well as a political militant during the Algerian war and author of one of the most important anti-colonial texts, The Wretched of the Earth (1961), will bestudied. In his doctoral thesis, Black Skin, White Masks (1957), Fanon investigated the psycho-social mechanisms that contributed to the consolidation of European colonial domination over other peoples. These mechanisms, far from being overcome with the end of direct colonialism, have been maintained in the post-colonial era, but have undergone a significant transformation.

Finally, the third part will focus on the civil rights struggle of African Americans in the 20th century United States, and in particular the figures of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, showing their relevance and influence in 21st century movements, such as Black Lives Matter.

No binding courses

At the end of the course the students must have developed the following abilities and competences:

1. contextualize the complexity of the studied topics and recongnize them in similar political and social situations;

2. clearly communicate to expert and non-expert interlocutors the theoretical achievements of the studied analysis, by a genetical reconstrucion and a focusing on the problematic issues;

3. acquire a critical and autonomous ablity to afford social and political themes (both in method and in contents) similar to those considered duting the course.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

The teaching materials and specific communications from the lecturer can be found, together with other support activities, on the Moodle platform ' blended.uniurb.it

Teaching

Mainly frontal lecture, with the possibility for the students to intervene with detailed studies and in collective discussions.

Attendance

No attendance is requested.

Course books

A. Michel, Il bianco e il nero. Indagine storica sull'ordine razzista, Einaudi, Milano, 2021, the following chapters: Introduzione. Bianco e Negro, una storia di parole (pp. 3-10), Parte Terza. Il regno del Bianco (pp. 151-258), Conclusione. L'intrigo della razza (pp. 259-272) 

F. Fanon, Pelle nera, maschere bianche (1951), Ets, Pisa, 2015, the following chaptersi: Introduzione (pp. 25-31), Il Nero e il linguaggio (pp. 33-52), L’esperienza vissuta del Nero (pp. 109-134), Il Nero e la psicopatologia (pp. 135-188), Il Nero e il riconoscimento (pp. 189-199), A mo’ di conclusione (pp. 201-208)

Malcolm X, La scheda o il fucile, discorso tenuto a Cleveland, il 3 aprile 1964

Martin Luther King, Sono stato sulla cima della montagna, discorso tenuto a Memphis, il 3 aprile 1968

G. Briguglia, Malcolm X e Martin Luther King. L’ape e la colomba, Einaudi, Torino, 2024

Assessment

Oral examinations, directed to verify both the ability to synthesize information and the comunicative and the expressive skills of the students, as well as the achievement of the suitable political language.

Excellent grades will be awarded for: good critical and in-depth skills; the ability to link together the main themes addressed in the course; the use of appropriate language with respect to the specific nature of the discipline.

The following will result in fair grades: the student's possession of a mnemonic knowledge of the contents; a relative critical capacity and the ability to link the themes dealt with: the use of appropriate language.

Sufficient assessments will result in: the student's attainment of a minimal knowledge of the topics dealt with, despite the presence of some formative gaps; the use of inappropriate language.

Negative assessments will be given: difficulty in orienting the student with regard to the topics dealt with in the examination texts; gaps in training; use of inappropriate language.

During the course, students will be given the opportunity to present papers or oral presentations on specific topics, aimed at assessing the acquisition of a critical capacity on the part of the student, which will contribute to determining the final grade.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

Mainly frontal lecture, with the possibility for the students to intervene with detailed studies and in collective discussions.

Attendance

No attendance is requested.

Course books

A. Michel, Il bianco e il nero. Indagine storica sull'ordine razzista, Einaudi, Milano, 2021, the following chapters: Introduzione. Bianco e Negro, una storia di parole (pp. 3-10), Parte Terza. Il regno del Bianco (pp. 151-258), Conclusione. L'intrigo della razza (pp. 259-272) 

F. Fanon, Pelle nera, maschere bianche (1951), Ets, Pisa, 2015, the following chaptersi: Introduzione (pp. 25-31), Il Nero e il linguaggio (pp. 33-52), L’esperienza vissuta del Nero (pp. 109-134), Il Nero e la psicopatologia (pp. 135-188), Il Nero e il riconoscimento (pp. 189-199), A mo’ di conclusione (pp. 201-208)

Malcolm X, La scheda o il fucile, discorso tenuto a Cleveland, il 3 aprile 1964

Martin Luther King, Sono stato sulla cima della montagna, discorso tenuto a Memphis, il 3 aprile 1968

G. Briguglia, Malcolm X e Martin Luther King. L’ape e la colomba, Einaudi, Torino, 2024

Assessment

Oral examinations, directed to verify both the ability to synthesize information and the comunicative and the expressive skills of the students, as well as the achievement of the suitable political language.

Excellent grades will be awarded for: good critical and in-depth skills; the ability to link together the main themes addressed in the course; the use of appropriate language with respect to the specific nature of the discipline.

The following will result in fair grades: the student's possession of a mnemonic knowledge of the contents; a relative critical capacity and the ability to link the themes dealt with: the use of appropriate language.

Sufficient assessments will result in: the student's attainment of a minimal knowledge of the topics dealt with, despite the presence of some formative gaps; the use of inappropriate language.

Negative assessments will be given: difficulty in orienting the student with regard to the topics dealt with in the examination texts; gaps in training; use of inappropriate language.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

The student can request to sit the final exam in English with a different bibilography to be chosen upon aggreement with the lecturer.