Whakapapa provides the conceptual framework for a detailed sociological account of colonisation and social justice that focuses on both Aotearoa and the globalising processes of capitalism.
Students in this course will be asked to begin with themselves. This will involve situating themselves within the webs of relationships they inhabit, and thinking about how their own study and practice might work towards addressing social injustices they feel are significant. Our inquiry is grounded in the concept of ‘whakapapa’, which is the philosophical framework of tikanga and sits at the heart of mātauranga Māori. We understand our present experiences by tracing our whakapapa through history, to understand the relationships and interrelation between various peoples, entities and processes over time. We first survey some contemporary thinkers who describe forms of injustice, and then we attempt to imagine some of the contours of what social justice might look like and how it might be reached. We then develop a detailed whakapapa of colonisation, of which globalisation is a recent aspect. We conclude by attempting to imagine what a fulsome social justice would look like here, in Aotearoa.
| Paper title | Colonisation, Globalisation and Social Justice |
|---|---|
| Paper code | SOCI211 |
| Subject | Sociology |
| EFTS | 0.1500 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Semester 1 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees (NZD) | $955.05 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- SOCI 101, SOCI 102, SOCI 103 or 54 points
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music
- Contact
- Teaching staff
Dr Simon Barber and Guests (TBA)
- Textbooks
Textbooks are not requried for this paper.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
Research, scholarship, critical thinking, life-long learning, ethics, interdisciplinary perspective, self-motivation, cultural understanding, global perspective, communication, information literacy.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes.- Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete the paper will:
- Learn to situate themselves and the theory they encounter in the course in relation to the place of their thinking and learning
- Think critically about ongoing colonial contexts from a range of sociological perspectives
- Develop an understanding of the social and political context of colonisation
- Understand the relationship between the colonisation of Aotearoa and globalising processes of capitalism
- Better understand existing struggles for social justice and how they might act effectively within them
