GV537-6-SP-CO:
Post-conflict State Building

The details
2023/24
Government
Colchester Campus
Spring
Undergraduate: Level 6
Current
Monday 15 January 2024
Friday 22 March 2024
15
06 June 2023

 

Requisites for this module
(none)
GV532
(none)
(none)

 

(none)

Key module for

(none)

Module description

This module examines the interplay between the legacies of conflict and state building post-conflict. Specifically, it focuses on how conflict, violence, third-party intervention, and domestic reforms influence post-conflict state-building, its outcomes, and broader peace-building processes. The topics covered in this module include (but are not limited to): conflict termination and resolution, United Nations peacekeeping, post-conflict elections and election monitoring, constitution building, democratisation, security sector reforms, transitional justice, and gender equality.

Module aims

The aims of this module are:



  • To analyse the interplay between the legacies of conflict and post-conflict state building.

  • To familiarise students with rigorous, empirically grounded research on post-conflict state building.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of this module students will be expected to be able to:



  1. Apply theoretical frameworks to understand state building processes in some of the most conflict prone and unstable areas of the world.

  2. Identify the challenges to post-conflict state building and assess relevant policy responses.

  3. Understand the obstacles to political development and state building in post-conflict societies.

  4. Understand the significance of key concepts in conflict resolution studies and their relevance for the analysis of state building.

  5. Link theory and evidence in the study of peacekeeping and peacebuilding.

  6. Apply theoretical frameworks to understand the dynamics of specific conflict and post-conflict states.

  7. Identify, describe, and critically evaluate solutions to prevent, mitigate and manage civil wars.

Module information

No additional information available.

Learning and teaching methods

The module will be taught on the basis of one two-hour seminar, sometimes divided into a lecture followed by a class, sometimes combined as a two-hour discussion with a break in the middle.

Students must prepare for each class by reading the materials assigned for the week (under required readings). Attendance is mandatory. Failure to read and/or to attend will make it hard to follow the course and even harder to do well on the essays and tests.

Bibliography

The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.

Assessment items, weightings and deadlines

Coursework / exam Description Deadline Coursework weighting
Coursework   In class test 1    50% 
Coursework   Essay    50% 

Exam format definitions

  • Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
  • In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary, for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.

Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.

Overall assessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%

Reassessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Sotirios Karampampas, email: s.karampampas@essex.ac.uk.

 

Availability
Yes
Yes
Yes

External examiner

Dr Edward Morgan-Jones
University of Kent
Reader in Comparative Politics
Resources
Available via Moodle
Of 24 hours, 18 (75%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
6 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.

 

Further information
Government

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