Recent events in global politics have forced the memory of empire into the public domain. Equally, changes in the international system have prompted analysts of various stripes in the public domain to refer to the US, China, Europe or Russia as ‘empire’. These changes have been reflected in political science with American Empire Debate, a turn toward history and critical voices calling for the decolonisation of the discipline and a call for a recognition of the importance of empire in shaping global politics. A sub-discipline of comparative empire studies has emerged that overlaps history with IR and calls for ‘epistemic decolonisation’ have arisen alongside scholarship which offers colonisation as a viable policy option. With the disciplines of the social sciences being largely oriented around the state, this course takes as its focus empire as its referent object and asks: why has political science paid it so little attention? What is an empire and how do we theorise it and study it? What does the introduction of empire as a field of study mean for political science and how we understand the international system? This course takes empire as its object of inquiry and provides students with an interdisciplinary map for the various ways it has been theorised and understood. The aim of the course is to examine and assess in comparative frame the different kinds of analytical tools and methodological problems that might be applied to the study of empire. It will pose the theorisation of empire as a problem which will be explored conceptually, methodologically and empirically. Finally, we explore what empire as a political form or category of analysis contributes to our understanding of global politics.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- assess the extent to which empire as a category of analysis is adequate to describing contemporary global politics and North/South relations;
- compare and assess different theoretical and normative perspectives on empire;
- evaluate the potential contribution of postcolonial theory to political theory generally and a normative understanding of empire;
- apply theoretical analysis to empirical/historical/cultural sources;
Indicative Assessment
- Major Essay (4,000 words) (60) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- Take Home Exam (2,000 words) (40) [LO 1,2,3,4]
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Workload
130 hours of total student learning time made up from:a) 24 hours of seminars over 12 weeks; and,
b) 106 hours of independent student research, reading and writing.
Inherent Requirements
Not applicable
Prescribed Texts
Burbank, J. and F. Cooper (2010). Empires in World History: Power and the Politics of Difference. Princeton and Oxford, Princeton University Press.
Darwin, J. (2007). After Tamerlane: the Global History of Empire Since 1405. London, Allen Lane.
Moreton-Robinson, A. (2015). The White Possessive: Property, Power and Indigenous Sovereignty. Minneapolis & London, University of Minnesota Press.
Shilliam, R. (2021). Decolonising Politics: An introduction, Wiley.
Go, J. (2011). Patterns of Empire: The British and American Empires, 1688 to the Present. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Doyle, M. (1986). Empires. Ithaca, Cornell University Press.
Alcock, S. E., et al., Eds. (2001). Empires; Perspectives from Archaeology and History. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Spruyt, H. (2016). Empires, Past and Present: The Relevance of Empire as an Analytic Concept. N. Parker. New York, Routledge.
Cox, M., Dunne, Timothy & Booth, Ken, Ed. (2001). Empires, Systems and States: Great transformations in international Politics. New York, Cambridge University Press.
Eisenstadt, S. N. (1963). The Political Systems of Empires. London, Collier MacMillan.
Waever, O. (1996). Europe's Three Empires: A Watsonian interpretation of Post-wall European Security. International Society After the Cold War. R. Fawn and J. Larkins. London, Macmillan: 224-225.
Munkler, H. (2005). Empires. Cambridge, Polity Press.
Shilliam, R., Ed. (2010). International Relations and non-Western Thought. Interventions. London & New York, Routledge.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 14
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Second Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7378 | 27 Jul 2026 | 03 Aug 2026 | 31 Aug 2026 | 30 Oct 2026 | In Person | N/A |