Syllabus for Causes of War
Orsaker till krig
Syllabus
- 15 credits
- Course code: 2FK008
- Education cycle: Second cycle
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Main field(s) of study and in-depth level:
Peace and Conflict Studies A1N
- Grading system: Fail (U), Pass (G), Pass with distinction (VG)
- Established: 2007-01-24
- Established by:
- Revised: 2019-05-09
- Revised by: The Department Board
- Applies from: week 27, 2019
- Entry requirements: A Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen, from an internationally recognised university. Also required is 90 credits in peace and conflict studies, or 90 credits in a related relevant discipline and at least 30 credits in peace and conflict studies or the equivalent.
- Responsible department: Department of Peace and Conflict Research
Learning outcomes
After completion of this course the student is expected to be able to:
- Account for the central theories, themes and empirical evidence relating to the causes of intrastate and inter-state armed conflict, as well as other forms of political violence
- Critically evaluate how different causes of armed conflict, such as poverty, inequality, natural resource wealth, and state weakness, may interact.
- Independently analyse the causes of armed conflict, including being able to account for the role of state- and non-state actors.
- Systematically and critically integrate and apply different perspectives on armed conflict in the analysis of a particular case.
- Account for why and under what circumstances tensions and incompatibilities between and within groups, societies and states sometimes pass the threshold of organised armed violence.
- Independently and critically identify and analyse research problems and practical-political issues related to the causes of armed conflict, and how they relate to other societal phenomena.
- Critically present - orally and in writing - state-of-the-art overviews as well as own analyses in the field. This refers to the ability to design a research task or a policy report, collect and analyse the relevant data with good academic insight and methodological skills, and present the results within a stipulated time frame, in English.
Content
This course focuses on the causes of different types of armed conflict. The course underlines the complexity of the subject matter, clarifies similarities and differences between different theories, and stresses the large number of explanatory factors at work at different levels of analysis.
Armed conflicts are caused by many interacting factors-for example from the economic, political and social arenas-at different levels of analysis (individual, local, national, regional and international). The course is mainly focused on factors explaining the outbreak of intra-state armed conflicts (civil wars), as this is the most common type of armed conflict. International and inter-state wars are also studied, as well as other types of conflicts and organised political violence, e.g. violence against civilians. The special role of the state in different types of armed conflict is emphasised. Different theoretical perspectives are examined and compared. Theories are connected to empirical examples from past and ongoing armed conflicts around the globe in order to improve the students' understanding of the usefulness of the theories in terms of interpreting real world events and developments. Students also develop more detailed knowledge of particular armed conflicts during the writing of the final course paper.
The format of the course includes lectures and different types of seminars. The lectures cover explanations for both interstate and intrastate conflicts, as well as particular aspects of conflict onset, escalation, and dynamics. The insights and skills acquired during the course are presented in a final Course Paper. As with all courses and programmes at the advanced level, this means that students are obliged to work independently with assessing and synthesizing the literature, through reading on their own, as well as organising student-led seminars or study groups.
Instruction
The course is given in the form of lectures and seminars.
Assessment
Examination and final grading is based on student performance in four respects:
- A final course memo in the form of a written academic paper.
- Being discussant on another student's draft course paper.
- Presentations of seminar assignments.
- Active participation in lectures and seminars.
Two retake opportunities are offered every semester the course is given. This takes the form of a 'revise and resubmit' of the final course memo.
If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.
Syllabus Revisions
- Latest syllabus (applies from week 27, 2019)
- Previous syllabus (applies from week 23, 2016)
- Previous syllabus (applies from week 31, 2011)
- Previous syllabus (applies from week 35, 2007)
Reading list
Reading list
Applies from: week 36, 2020
Some titles may be available electronically through the University library.
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Clausewitz, Carl von
Daase, Christopher;
Davis, James W.
Clausewitz on small war
First edition.: New York: Oxford University Press, 2015
Chapter 1
Mandatory
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Hedström, Peter.;
Swedberg, Richard
Social Mechanisms [Elektronisk resurs] : An Analytical Approach to Social Theory
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998
Chapter 1
Mandatory
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Blainey, Geoffrey
The causes of war
3. ed.: New York: Free Press, cop. 1988
Mandatory
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Pruitt, Dean G.;
Kim, Sung Hee
Social conflict : escalation, stalemate and settlement
3. ed.: New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004
Chapters 5-8, pp 87-168 Available as pdf file on course page
Mandatory
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Cashman, Greg
What causes war? : an introduction to theories of international conflict
Second Edition.: Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, [2014]
pp 492-513
Mandatory
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Cederman, Lars-Erik;
Gleditsch, Kristian Skrede;
Buhaug, Halvard
Inequality, grievances, and civil war
New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013.
Chapter 3, pp. 30-53
Mandatory
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Wood, Elisabeth Jean.
Insurgent Collective Action and Civil War in El Salvador [Elektronisk resurs]
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003
Chapter 1 & 8, pp 1-30, 226-256
Mandatory
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SIPRI yearbook : armaments, disarmament and international security. 2015
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015
Bjarnegård, E., Melander, E., Bardall, G., Brounéus, K., Forsberg, E., Johansson, K., Muvumba Sellström, A. and Olsson, L. (2015). Gender, Peace and Armed Conflict (Available from diva-portal.org via ub.uu.se)
Mandatory
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Brosché, Johan
Masters of war : the role of elites in Sudan's communal conflicts
Uppsala: Uppsala universitet, 2014
Chapter 2, pp 24-44. (Available from diva-portal.org via ub.uu.se)
Mandatory
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Bates, Robert H..
When Things Fell Apart : State Failure in Late-Century Africa
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008
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Olson, Mancur
Power and prosperity : outgrowing communist and capitalist dictatorships.
New York: Basic Books, cop. 2000
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Fukuyama, Francis
The origins of political order : from prehuman times to the French revolution
[Ny utg.]: London: Profile Books, 2012
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Tilly, Charles
Coercion, capital, and European states, AD 990-1992
Rev. pbk ed.: Oxford; Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell, 1992
In addition, a substantial number of mandatory, as well as optional, articles and reports will be added. All will be electronically available.
Reading list revisions
- Latest reading list (applies from week 36, 2020)
- Previous reading list (applies from week 31, 2020)