PO3DCW-Dynamics of Civil Wars

Module Provider: School of Politics, Economics and International Relations
Number of credits: 20 [10 ECTS credits]
Level:6
Terms in which taught: Autumn / Spring term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2019/0

Module Convenor: Dr Vladimir Rauta

Email: v.rauta@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

Civil war is the dominant form of political violence in the contemporary world. The module discusses dynamics of political violence in civil wars. It presents students with a theoretical and empirical analysis of key problems in civil wars such as participation, recruitment, organisation, external support, rebel diplomacy and rebel governance. The module will require students to engage with theoretical works and empirical case studies of modern and contemporary conflicts. This will allow students to come away with a clearer sense of the depth and breadth of how political violence is employed in civil war and think about these critical phenomena in a more nuanced way. Classes will consist of two hour-long workshop-style research seminars. There will be 10 sessions in autumn and 10 in spring. The emphasis will be on student-focused activities (discussions, simulations, and small-group exercises) requiring pre-seminar research. For the seminars, all students are required to do preparatory reading and in which student presentations are followed by group discussion. At least one session in each term will focus on researching civil war dynamics as preparation for the assignments. The teaching will combine traditional and non-traditional teaching techniques.

Aims:

• To provide participants with the intellectual tools to understand and analyse political violence in civil wars beyond the issue of caus


• To provide participants with an in-depth understanding of the most salient civil conflicts in recent and contemporary history.


• To enable students to articulate and formulate arguments on key political violence related phenomena by comparing and contrasting different theories and methodologies.

Assessable learning outcomes:

By the end of the module, students will have

• Acquired a broad knowledge of the concepts, theoretical traditions, and debates in the contemporary study of civil war.


• Cultivated the critical skills, awareness, and understanding necessary to recognize, evaluate, and explain current and future developments in civil wars.


• Developed research, analytical, and writing skills through assignments and papers.

Additional outcomes:

The module also aims to develop critical and reflective thinking, effective and independent use of a variety of sources, coherent and rigorous written and oral argumentation, and the ability to work with and learn from others

Outline content:

The following module content is indicative and may be subject to minor changes

In recent years, civil wars have been considerably more frequent and more devastating than international wars. To understand violence in civil wars we usually look at their causes. However, once they begin, civil wars become spaces which produce and reproduce political violence usually divorced from its original drivers. The module looks at these dynamics that form the fabric of political violence in civil war. This module provides an examination of a range of dynamics of political violence in modern and contemporary civil wars. It focuses on the micro-foundations of some key issues concerning rebel and militia groups and their pursuit and employment of political violence. Specifically, the module looks at five broad themes that are each broken down into specific conceptual, theoretical, and empirical issues. To begin with, the module asks the question of ‘Who fights?’ and discusses participation (child and women rebels), recruitment, and the proliferation of pro-government militias as opposition to rebels. Second, the module overviews some key characteristics of armed groups such as organisation and its problems (defection and fragmentation). Third, the focus falls on the technologies of violence rebels employ in conflict (types of warfare and violence against civilians with an emphasis on sexual violence). Fourth, the module analyses the relationships between armed groups and the state with a focus on external support to rebels. Finally, the last theme observes rebel behaviour that develops in parallel to their pursuit of political violence: rebel diplomacy and rebel governance.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Seminars	20	20
Guided independent study:
Wider reading (independent)	10	10
Wider reading (directed)	25	25
Preparation for presentations	5	5
Preparation for seminars	20	25
Essay preparation	15	20
Total hours by term	95	105	0
Total hours for module	200

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method	Percentage
Written assignment including essay	50
Report	30
Oral assessment and presentation	20

Summative assessment- Examinations:

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

Assessment Type	Weight	Length
Class Presentation	20%	5-10 mins
Report	30%	2500 words
Essay	50%	3500 words

Formative assessment methods:

Penalties for late submission:
The Module Convener will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day[1] (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of five working days;

where the piece of work is submitted more than five working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/qualitysupport/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf
You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Assessment requirements for a pass:

40%

Reassessment arrangements:

Failed or missing coursework should be re-submitted on Blackboard within the specified resubmission period.

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

Last updated: 30 September 2019