HI079 Gender, Sexuality and Decolonization in the Global South

This course will examine the intersections of gender, sexuality and nationalism within the context of decolonization movements in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean from the late 19th century to the postcolonial period, with a particular focus on the 1920s to 1970s.  Case studies will range from analysis of Mahatma Gandhi’s views on sexuality in India to the involvement of women in armed rebellions in Africa to reproductive politics in the Caribbean.  Students will consider how nationalist movements worked to either include or exclude certain genders and sexualities from their discourses and projects, how a variety of actors resisted these proscriptions and tried to pursue a different agenda, and how these struggles shaped society, politics, and state-building in postcolonial societies.