IS830-Week ONE

Analytic Approaches for International Studies

Dr Nazanin Shahrokni

Week ONE, 2024

AGENDA

1. Course Structure

2. Politics of Knowledge Production: who produces what, how and why

3. Your projects

4. Next Steps

OUR TEAM

Supervisor[Insert their name]

Researcher[Insert your name]

Course ConvenorNazanin Shahrokni

Lecture Components

Course Structure & Content

- Contextualizing Your Research- Designing Your Research - Methods & Methodologies - Fine-Tuning & Writing & Presenting Your Project

- Think to Write & Write to Think

Structured Support

- Assignments & Assessments- Peer-to-Peer Meetings - Supervision Meetings - Office Hours

Assessments

All Term Class attendance and participation in class discussions (10 points)Friday February 2nd @ 4pm First 750 word essay (10 points) Friday February 15th @ 4 pm Interview Project and Code Sheet (20 points) Wednesday April 3rd @ 10am Second 750 word essay (10 points) Wednesday April 10th @ 2pm Prepare a presentation (20 points) Wednesday April 17th @ 4 pm Final 1500 word proposal (30 points)

Mark Your Calendars!

Let's review the syllabus!

Politics of knowledge production

WHAT?

WHO?

CONTEXT

HOW?

WHY?

Context matters!

Intellectual Imperialism

Academic Dependency

Funding Agencies

Academic Capitalism

Government Policies

Academic Extractivism

Lobby Groups

Other Actors?

Power Differentials & Power Dynamics (Smith 2015)

Who....?

Whose knowledge counts?

Who produces knowledge?

In his article entitled “The Syrian Cause and Anti-Imperialism”, Yassin Al-Haj Saleh draws attention to the continuously denied “epistemological agency” of the Syrian people over their narration and analysis of war in Syria: “Either there is no value to what we say, or we are confined to lesser domains of knowledge, turned into mere sources for quotations.”

Think of the major thinkers in the fields you are interested in. With a few exception the majority of academic superstars are white men from priviledged backgrounds (Founding fathers of sociology for example). Even the academics of color that we know and admire, with a few exceptions, are those that reside in the global north (in English speaking institutions) Also Follow the $$

What?

What kind of knowledge is produced?

What counts as knowledge?

Note: Knowledge stems from social position --> Discuss Standpoint Theory

Thus, recovery and reaffirmation of indigenous and marginalized knowledge become important

How?

Methods

Approaches

Quantitative methods such as surveys. Let's discuss the complexities. History of survey methods and the ways they have been used --> look at Shahrokni 2012: The politics of polling: Polling and the constitution of counter-publics during ‘reform’ in IranQualitative methods such as ethnography. Let's discuss the history of ethnography and its widespread use by feminists and critical scholars

Why might we consider "interdisciplinary" approaches?When are comparisons important?Why do we do case studies? What is the scale of our analysis? What happens when/if we approach global studies as studies that take a relational & transnational approach and focus on global circuits and flows? Let's also discuss methodological nationalism and its critiques

Why?

For What?

For Whom?

What is the purpose of our study? Getting a degree? Fixing a problem? Expanding a field of inquiry? Commuity building?

Academic institutions? Government bodies? International agencies and organizations? Civil society organizations, NGOs? Thinkthanks? Which sector /groups are we serving?

Discussion Time

With your project in mind, reflect on the following questions.

Whose interests are served by the research that is carried out in your field?

What is the dominant method of data collection & analysis?

Who are the dominant knowledge producers in your field?

What kind of knowledge have they produced?

Whose interests are you planning to serve? How? Why?

What methods will you be using? Why?

This is usually what we call literature review. There might be different clusters. Where do you situate your research?

Think about your positionality

Keep them handy!

Diary

Handouts

Assignments

Syllabus

Jot down your thoughts. Draw concept maps.

To keep important points in mind you will occasionally receive handouts. Keep them handy!

Make a calendar with the deadlines both for this course and for your project. It will help you manage the workload!

Everything you need to know is in the syllabus. Can't find it? Email me!

DECOLONISE

Next Week

 Victoria Donovan (2023) Against academic “resourcification”: collaboration as delinking from extractivist “area studies” paradigms, Canadian Slavonic Papers, 65:2, 163-173

 Asselin, Hugo and Suzy Basil (2018) “Concrete Ways to Decolonize Research” International Journal for Critical Geographies 17(3): 643-650.

 Melany Cruz & Darcy Luke (2020) Methodology and academic extractivism: the neo-colonialism of the British university, Third World Thematics: A TWQ Journal, 5:1-2, 154-170.

 Moreton-Robinson, Aileen (2011) "The White Man’s Burden: Patriarchal White Epistemic Violence and Aboriginal Women’s Knowledges within the Academy," Australian Feminist Studies, 26(70): 413-431.

Good luck with your journey!

Remember that we are a team. Use the collective wisdom! Discuss your work with the team members.