PLT2250

East Asia and the politics of difference

David Wright-Neville

8 points
* 3 hours per week
* First semester
* Clayton

Objectives On successful completion of this subject students should have an understanding of how dichotomous concepts such as Asia and Europe, East and West, evolved as categories of political control and not as neat reflections of genuine cultural difference. Students should also have an understanding of how these terms are manipulated for political ends today, how an over-reliance upon them blinds us to their contrived character, and distracts attention away from increasingly important struggles for recognition by sub-national groups of individuals.

Synopsis This subject addresses the broad question of cultural difference. It investigates how differences constructed along a rough civilisational line which separates Asian from European societies have been manipulated for political ends. It begins with an exploration of how early contacts between Asian and European peoples gave rise to a core set of stereo-typical images shaped largely by the political ambitions of different groups of people within these societies. It traces the evolution of these stereo-types and reveals how they are reproduced in the modern world through such things as film, television and literature. It also investigates how processes associated with globalisation are eroding the salience of these stereo-typical views and how this threatens the power of certain political elites. It concludes by examining the rejuvenation of an East versus West discourse in modern international diplomacy and raises questions about what this will mean for a future world order.

Assessment Tutorial attendance, oral presentation and participation (equivalent to 1000 words): 20%
* Essay (3000 words): 40%
* Seen examination (2 hours): 40%

Recommended texts

Said E W Orientalism: Western conceptions of the orient Penguin, 1991