PSCI212

Description

This course introduces students to the "Global South" and how they exercise agency in international politics. Comprised mostly of countries from Central and South America, Asia, and Africa, the Global South is a convenient term for a complex collection of states and people that share some historical experiences and contemporary aspirations but also project immense diversity that question the very essence of a community. Their diversity notwithstanding, states from these regions have since the 1950s attempted to organize among themselves to pursue common cause in international politics. Since then, the Global South has mobilized themselves around monumental developments like decolonization, the cold war, the New International Economic Order, and reform of international institutions. The course uses Adom Getachew's concept of "worldmaking" to frame these changes that they Global South has been seeking. However, they have also encountered resistance both from within their ranks and from the broader international system. Both internal and external forms of resistance have serious implications for who, how, and under what circumstances actors from the Global South can exercise agency in international politics.