The concepts and methods scholars use in their attempt to comprehend polities, politics and
policies have a history. They have travelled in translation(s), and experienced multiple
appropriations. The story these notions tell us is that of the unequal distribution of social
and symbolic resources across the world. Engaging in a reflection on Comparative Politics
thus invites an exploration into the social conditions of knowledge production. It also offers a
stimulating lens on the current world order. How situated are “universal ideas”? Which
concepts and issues circulate, and how? To what extent can the analyses of extremely diverse
local configurations engage in a conversation (to borrow Sanjay Subrahmanyam's expression)?
These are amongst the questions the course will address.
The purpose of thisintroduction to Comparative Politicsis threefold.
First, the aim is to acquaintstudents with key notions and empirical research in the field of
political science – with a strong focus on how they came into being and were credited with an
ability to account for social dynamics beyond their place and moment of origin. The relationships
between “area studies” and “socialsciences” will also be explored.
Second, a majority of the case studies are borrowed fromthe historical trajectories of Central
and Southeast Europe, as well as Russia. In considering these cases, the course will adopt a
twin perspective: It will examine the making of “Slavic/Soviet/post-Soviet” studies, on the one
hand; it will show how Eastern European configurations may shed new light on such
comparative issues as state formation, identity processes and the resort to violence, on the
other.
Finally, the examination of cross-national insights into politics will provide a basis for a
consideration of sources, research methods, and epistemological controversies. Central to
this course is the belief that students need to familiarize themselves with a diversity of – print,
sound, visual, and digital – sources in order to acquire the tools for developing a reflexive approach to the social sciences and further their own creativity.
Mathilde EMERIAU,Tommaso GERMAIN
Cours magistral et conférences
English
Autumn 2024-2025
Orlando Fals-Borda and Luis Eduardo Mora-Osejo, Context and Diffusion of Knowledge: A Critique of Eurocentrism, Action Research, 1(1), 2003, pp. 29-37.
Yves Gingras and Sébastien Mosbah-Nathanson, Where are Social Sciences Produced?, World Social Science Report, Paris: UNESCO, 2010, pp. 149-153 [pp. 170-174 in the pdf document].