Essays must be comparative in some way / address some theme or question within the field of comparative political thought.• If your essay compares across difference cases then the comparisons should be between concepts, traditions of political thought, the work of grass roots political thinkers, or intellectuals.• All essays must have clear thesis (a single sentence statement moving beyond a summary of the topic to describe the essay’s core *argument*) located somewhere in the introduction.• There must be some engagement with class readings as well as literature(s)specifically related to the chosen topic.Works that should be drawn upon in this essay Essays must be comparative in some way / address some theme or question within the field of comparative political thought.• If your essay compares across difference cases then the comparisons should be between concepts, traditions of political thought, the work of grass roots political thinkers, or intellectuals.• All essays must have clear thesis (a single sentence statement moving beyond a summary of the topic to describe the essay’s core *argument*) located somewhere in the introduction.• There must be some engagement with class readings as well as literature(s)specifically related to the chosen topic.The titles or research questions below have been used in previous essays. Students are encouraged to develop their own topics.• How can an awareness of anthropological debates and analysis be productive to the project of comparative political thought?• Citizenship and special moral relationships in Ghana• Mourning, martyrdom and politics: Ali Shariati and Judith Butler in comparativeperspective• An examination of the forms of political representation and resistance outlinedby Dipesh Chakrabarty and Vivek Chibber• Transitional justice: looking beyond the ‘amnesty’ vs ‘prosecution’ debate / Acomparative analysis of the relationship between transitional justice and time• Political ‘agency’ in the Indian and Islamic traditions during the Indiansubcontinent’s independence movement• From personal standing to collective political symbol: a comparative exploration of martyrdom and its narratives in contemporary Tunisia and Palestine• Cultural incommensurability? Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei as alternativemodernities to Western democracy• How similar are Saudi Arabia and France in placing restrictions on individualfreedoms with regard to ‘veiling’?• Re-valuing democracy: insights from African political thought• Waqf and citizenship: concepts as practiceThe titles or research questions below have been used in previous essays. Studentsare encouraged to develop their own topics.• How can an awareness of anthropological debates and analysis be productiveto the project of comparative political thought?• Citizenship and special moral relationships in Ghana• Mourning, martyrdom and politics: Ali Shariati and Judith Butler in comparativeperspective• An examination of the forms of political representation and resistance outlinedby Dipesh Chakrabarty and Vivek Chibber• Transitional justice: looking beyond the ‘amnesty’ vs ‘prosecution’ debate / Acomparative analysis of the relationship between transitional justice and time• Political ‘agency’ in the Indian and Islamic traditions during the Indiansubcontinent’s independence movement• From personal standing to collective political symbol: a comparative explorationof martyrdom and its narratives in contemporary Tunisia and Palestine• Cultural incommensurability? Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei as alternativemodernities to Western democracy• How similar are Saudi Arabia and France in placing restrictions on individualfreedoms with regard to ‘veiling’?• Re-valuing democracy: insights from African political thought• Waqf and citizenship: concepts as practiceDallmayr, Fred, ‘Beyond Monologue: For a Comparative Political Theory’, Perspectives on Politics2 (2004), 249–57’Freeden, Michael, ‘Editorial: The Comparative Study of Politics’, Journal of Political Ideologies12:1 (2007), 1-9.March, Andrew, ‘What is Comparative Political Theory?’ Review of Politics (2009).Godrej, Farah, ‘Response to “What is Comparative Political Theory”?’ Review of Politics (2009),567-82.Stears, Marc, ‘The Vocation of Political Theory: Principles, Empirical Inquiry and the Politics ofOpportunity’, European Journal of Political Theory 4:4 (2005), 325-50.Schmitt, Carl The Concept of the Political (tr. George Schwab) (Chicago, 2007), pp.19-37.Chatterjee, Partha, Politics of the Governed (Columbia, 2004), Part I.Sadri Khiari and Jacques Ranciere in Badiou, Alain, et al. What is a People?. Columbia UniversityPress, 2016.Mamdani, Mahmood, Define and Rule: Native As Political Identity (Harvard University Press,2012), Introduction and preface, pp. 1-42; ebook available online via library.Mbembe, Achille, On the Postcolony (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2001),Introduction ‘Time on the Move’ and chapter 1 ‘Of Commandment’, pp. 1-65.Recommended readingsBourdieu, Pierre, ‘The Construction of Political Space: Lecture 12 December 1991’, in eds. P.Champagne, R. Lenoir, F. Poupeau, M-C. Riviere, transl. D. Fernbach On the State Lectures at theCollege de France 1989-1992 (Cambridge: Polity, 2014), 354-70.Brown, Wendy, Walled States, Waning Sovereignty (New York: Zone, 2010), Ch. 1.Carnoy, Martin, The State and Political Theory (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984).Foucault, “Governmentality,” in Akhil Gupta and Aradhana Sharma, The Anthroplogy of theState (Oxford, 2006).
