MA Sociology of State

MA Seminar
Sociology of the Sstate

SoSe 2022/23
Jun. Prof. Dr. Bani Gill
Wilhelmstr. 36 (Hegelbau), room number 110
bani.gill@uni-tuebingen.de
Modulzuordnung: SD-M4.1 / SD-M4.2 / SD-M5

Dates: 19.04.2023-26.07.2023, wednesday, 12-2 pm
Room: 119A
Consultation hours: Wednesday, 14:30-16:00 by prior email appointment
Seminar Description
The state appears almost ubiquitous in its presence, as amongst the foremost frameworks
organising contemporary society, politics, economics. Even so, defining the “state” remains
an enduringly fraught task, especially within the social sciences. Dominant representations
have foregrounded the monopoly of power and violence, the notion of bounded territories,
and the presence of organised institutions and actors as essential characteristics of the state.
Yet, such neatly defined attributes require inevitable introspection when juxtaposed with the
fragmentation of political power across subnational and supranational levels; the
(in)formalisation of service provision through intermediaries and alternative forms of
citizenship; conflictual claims to the legitimacy of violence; the emergence of increasingly
globalised corporations and the context of international migration such that challenge the
alleged coherence of state forms and functions. Against this background, the present
seminar proposes a critical engagement with homogenising and essentialist conceptions of
the “state” to explore the workings of power across diverse institutions, actors, spaces and
processes through which the “state” acquires resonance in everyday life. Key concepts of
citizenship, bureaucracy, police, migration and mobility will be engaged with using insights
from across diverse socio-political contexts. To this extent, the seminar seeks to denaturalise
normative assessments of the “state” to examine its myriad workings through everyday
experiences and practices on ground. Combining a mix of theoretical and empirical
perspectives, classic and contemporary texts, the seminar also considers the use of
ethnographic methodologies to study complexities of state power.
Course Objectives:
- Introducing and building upon key debates on understandings of ‘the state’,
specifically focusing on everyday representations, ideas and effects of the state
- Deepening a critical engagement with concepts of citizenship, police, migration and
bureaucracy in relation to the study of state across a range of political and
geographical contexts
- Building critical and analytical thinking through group work, intensive reading and
class discussions
- Enhancing writing and presentation skills
Course requirements (6 ECTS):
This is a discussion focused seminar primarily organised around in-depth reading and
presentation of one mandatory text each session. Students are required to actively
participate in the seminar through group work, through written reflections on
questions circulated prior to the sessions, and through leading classroom discussion.
Exam requirements consist of a final term paper that examines some of the key
theoretical concepts explored during the seminar. Students are encouraged to think
about their term paper ideas well in advance of the deadline and discuss the same in
class sessions.
- Attendance and active participation: Attendance is mandatory. Absence in more than

2 classes will result in disqualification from the seminar.
- Reading the seminar literature: Students are expected to read the seminar literature
and be prepared to discuss and critique them. Write notes and comments as you
read as this will help you with the group work and reflection text.
Group work: Students will be divided into groups and are expected to work within
groups for the duration of the seminar. Before each session, questions will be
assigned to each group based on select portions of the reading. You will be given
time for group work in class where you will discuss your answers and draft a short
reflection text. You can supplement this with quotes from the text but the emphasis is
on the group\s reading of the text. This reflection will form the basis of class
discussion.
Active participation is expected of all students. Our intention is to create a safe and
supportive space for learning and discussion. You are encouraged to share your own
experiences and thoughts as they relate to the readings and/or topics at hand. Our
class will likely consist of a diverse array of life experiences, knowledge forms and
expertise and it is imperative that we inculcate skills of listening and respectful
communication.
- Term paper format: 12.5 pages, numbered pages, font: Times New Roman, 12 pt.,
1,5 spacing, justified alignment and automatic hyphenation. See “Leitfaden zum
Anfertigen wissenschaftlicher Arbeiten” in the download section of the institute
homepage for further specifications. Deadline 30th September 2023
- The last session will be dedicated to a discussion of your seminar papers. In
preparation, you are expected to submit a short outline by noon, 24th July 2023.
1. Introduction (19.04.2023)
2. Defining “ the state” I (26.04.2023)
Abrams, Philip. 2006. [1977]‘Notes on the Difficulty of Studying the State’. In The
Anthropology of The State: A Reader, edited by Aradhana Sharma and Akhil Gupta, 112–30.
Blackwell Readers in Anthropology 9. Malden, MA ; Oxford: Blackwell Pub.
3. Defining “ the state” II (03.05.2023)
Hansen and Stepputat, States of Imagination: Ethnographic Explorations of the

Postcolonial State,2001, Introduction
4. Citizenship I (10.05.2023)
Routray, S. (2022). The Right to Be Counted: The Urban Poor and the Politics of
Resettlement in Delhi, Stanford University Press., Introduction
5. Citizenship II (17.05.2023)
Holston, Jame. 2008. “insurgent Citizenship in an Era of Global Urban Peripheries”.
City & Society, Vol. 21, Issue 2, pp. 245–267, ISSN 0893-0465, eISSN 1548-744X.
6. Police I (24.05.2023)
Akarsu, Hayal, “Citizen forces: the politics of community policing in Turkey” American
Ethnologist
XXXXXXX NO CLASS ON 31.05.2023 XXXXXXXXXXX
7. Police II (07.06.2023)
Ibrahim, Farhana. 2021. ‘From Family to Police Force: Security and Belonging
on a South Asian Border’. in From Family to Police Force. Cornell University Press,
introduction
8. Migration and mobility (14.06.2023)
Wimmer, Andreas, and Nina Glick Schiller. 2002. ‘Methodological Nationalism and
beyond: Nation–State Building, Migration and the Social Sciences’.
9. Migration and mobility (21.06.2023)

Shock Mobilities During Moments of Acute Uncertainty Biao Xiang, William L. Allen,
Shahram Khosravi, Hélène Neveu Kringelbach, Yasmin Y. Ortiga, Karen Anne S. Liao, Jorge
E. Cuéllar, Lamea Momen, Priya Deshingkar & Mukta Naik
10. Workshop with Biao Xiang (30.06 instead of 28.06.2023)
Reading TBC
11. Bureaucracy I (05.07.2023)
Bourdieu, Pierre, Loic J. D. Wacquant, and Samar Farage. 1994. ‘Rethinking the
State: Genesis and Structure of the Bureaucratic Field’. Sociological Theory 12 (1):
1–18.
12. Bureaucracy II (12.07.2023)
Hoag, Colin. “The Magic of the Populace: An Ethnography of Illegibility in the South
African Immigration Bureaucracy.” Political and Legal Anthropology Review, vol. 33, no. 1,
2010, pp. 6–25. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24497599. Accessed 8 Apr. 2023.
13. Globalization (19.07.2023)
Sharma, Aradhana, and Akhil Gupta, eds. 2006. The Anthropology of the State:
A reader. Oxford: Blackwell. Introduction
14. Conclusion (26.07.2023)

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MA Seminar

Sociology of the Sstate

Modulzuordnung: SD-M4.1 / SD-M4.2 / SD-M5

- Attendance and active participation: Attendance is mandatory. Absence in more than

2. Defining “ the state” I (26.04.2023)

3. Defining “ the state” II (03.05.2023)

Hansen and Stepputat, States of Imagination: Ethnographic Explorations of the

XXXXXXX NO CLASS ON 31.05.2023 XXXXXXXXXXX

8. Migration and mobility (14.06.2023)

9. Migration and mobility (21.06.2023)

10. Workshop with Biao Xiang (30.06 instead of 28.06.2023)

11. Bureaucracy I (05.07.2023)

12. Bureaucracy II (12.07.2023)

13. Globalization (19.07.2023)

14. Conclusion (26.07.2023)

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