General Notes

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INTS 265: Comparative Social and Political Systems - Syllabus

I strongly encourage you, the student, to use ANGEL...

Course Description: This course provides an introduction to the varying ways in which societies around the world organize and govern themselves. Students will examine different political, social, and economic systems, including democracy, authoritarianism and "developing" regimes. They also explore how and why political systems change, paying particular attention to globalization, the emergence of democratic countries, and the development of market societies around the world. To understand global societies and political systems in more detail, students consider the history, society, and contemporary political systems in a local and global space.

Readings are taken from the following books:
Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities. London: Verso, 1991.
Arendt, Hannah. The Origins of Totalitarianism. Cleveland: Meridian Books, 1969.
Barber, Benjamin. Jihad vs. McWorld - Terrorism's Challenge to Democracy. New York: Ballantine Books, 1995.
Breuilly, John. Nationalism and the State. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 1994.
Campbell, R.H. and Skinner, A.S. Adam Smith. New York: St. Martin Press, 1982.
Chatterjee, Partha. The Nation and its Fragments. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993.
Chua, Amy. World on Fire. New York: Doubleday, 2003
Giddens, Anthony. Capitalism and Modern Social Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971.
Greenfeld, Leah. Nationalism: Five Roads to Modernity. Boston: Harvard University Press, 2003.
Grigsby, Ellen. Analyzing Politics. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing, 2005.
Heilbroner, Robert L. The Worldly Philosophers. New York: Touchstone, 1972.
Hobsbawn, E.J. Nations and Nationalism since 1780: Programme, Myth, Reality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Mary Russo Parker, Doris Sommer, and Patricia Yaeger, eds. Nationalisms and Sexualities. 147-156. New York: Routledge, 1992.
Huntington, Samuel. "The Clash of Civilizations?" Foreign Affairs 72.3 (1993): 22-49.
Mill, John Stuart. On Liberty. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989.
Reisman, D.A. Adam Smith's Sociological Economics. New York: Barnes and Barnes Books, 1976.
Said, Edward. Culture and Imperialism. New York: Vintage Books, 1994.
Sassen, Saskia. Globalization and its Discontents. New York: New York Press, 1998.
Weitz, Rose. The Politics of Women's Bodies - Sexuality, Appearance, and Behavior. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Zeitlin, Irving. Ideology and the Development of Sociological Theory. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1990.

Films: During the course of the semester we will view all or part of a number of films related to particular issues.

Evaluations: Papers and Presentaiton

* Feel free to submit an outline a week and a half prior to the deadline and BEFORE proceeding to write the papers. Moreover, feel free to submit a draft one week prior to the deadline. Submitting an outline or draft does not guarantee an A, but it should make writing easier. All papers should be submitted in MLA format and you will need to use at least 3 academic sources. Each paper should be 5 pages in length EXCLUDING cover sheet and referenced.

** Details provided separately.

Please note:
(1) Attendance is mandatory.
(3) The videos shown in class should be watched carefully as they should be incorporated into the papers. Same goes for speakers/invited guests.
(4) There will be no midterm or final exam so each paper is of equal importance.
(5) All assignments should be handed to me personally and on time. Please do not leave assignments in my (or the department's) mail box.

Schedule:
January 10 - 12: Introduction: Seeing the World as a Social and Political Space
Giddens, Anthony. "Fundamental Concepts of Sociology." in Capitalism and Modern Social Theory. 145-168. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971.
Grigsby, Ellen. "Political Theory: Examining the Ethical Foundations of Politics." in Analyzing Politics. 68-90. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing, 2005.

Analyzing Political Theory and the Fundamental Concepts of Sociology

Internet Resources:

January 17 - 19: Nationalism

17 - Imagined Communities: Nations, Nationaliism, and the Nation State
Anderson, Benedict. "Introduction." in Imagined Communities. 1-7. London: Verso, 1991.
Hobsbawn, E.J. "Introduction." in Nations and Nationalism since 1780: Programme, Myth, Reality. 1-13. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Imagined Communities:Nations and Nationalism, and the Nation States
Imagined Communities:Nations and Nationalism, and the Nation States - Revisit and Review

Internet Resources:

19 - The Western Model: Who's Imagined Communnity?
Chatterjee, Partha. "Whose Imagined Community?" in The Nation and its Fragments. 3-13. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993.
Greenfeld, Leah. "Introduction." in Nationalism: Five Roads to Modernity. 4-26. Boston: Harvard University Press, 2003.

The Western Model:Whose Imagined Community?

Extra:
Breuilly, John. "Introduction." in Nationalism and the State. 1-41. Chicago: Ukniversity Of Chicago Press, 1994.

Internet Resources:

January 24 - 26: Liberalism and Conservatism: Less is more, or is more is less?
24 - Grigsby, Ellen. "Political Ideollogies I - Liberalism, Conservatism, and Socialism." in Analyzing Politics. 91-119. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing, 2005.
26 - Heilbroner, Robert L. "The Economic Revolution." in The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times, and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers. 16-39. New York: Touchstone, 1972.

Organizing in a Political Space

The case of the caning of Michael P. Fay, an American student who had vandalised several automobiles.
Readings:
Culture Is Destiny: A Conversation with Lee Kuan Yew
Is Culture Destiny? The Myth of Asia's Anti-Democratic Values Kim Dae Jung

Internet Resources:

January 31 - February 2: Organizing Societies within the Imagined Communities I: Marx contra Smith
31 - Grigsby, Ellen. "Political Ideologies I - Liberalism, Conservatism, and Socialism." in Analyzing Politics. 91-119. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing, 2005.
and Heilbroner, Robert L. "The Economic Revolution." in The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times, and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers. 16-39. New York: Touchstone, 1972.
Extra:
Heilbroner, Robert L. "The Wonderful World of Adam Smith." in The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times, and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers. 40-72. New York: Touchstone, 1972.

Marx

2 - Heilbroner, Robert L. "The Inexorable System of Karl Marx." in The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times, and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers. 131-163. New York: Touchstone, 1972. and The Socialism of Bolivia's Evo Morales and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez as well as Neoliberalism
Extra:
Campbell, R.H. and Skinner, A.S. "The Wealth of Nations." in Adam Smith. 168-185. New York: St. Martin Press, 1982.
Reisman, D.A. "Introduction." in Adam Smith's Sociological Economics. 9-19. New York: Barnes and Barnes Books, 1976.

Internet Resources:

Special Resource:
Karl Marx: A Life - Francis Wheen

February 7 - 9: Socialism and Communism: How Much Government Control?
7 - Giddens, Anthony. "Marx's influence." in Capitalism and Modern Social Theory. 185-204. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971.
9 - Grigsby, Ellen. "Political Ideologies I - Liberalism, Conservatism, and Socialism." in Analyzing Politics. 91-119. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing, 2005.

Weber and Durkheim contra Marx

Internet Resources:

February 14 - 16: Organizing Societies within the Imagined Communities II: Weber and Durkheim
14 - Zeitlin, Irving. "Max Weber (18664-1920) The Debate with Marx's Ghost." in Ideology and the development of sociological theory. 256-291. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1990.
Giddens, Anthony. "Max Weber: Protestantism and Capitalism." in Capitalism and Modern Social Theory. 119-132. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971.
Extra:
Protestant Work Ethic - Authors Introduction
Protestant Work Ethic - Chapter One: Religious Affliliation and Social Stratification
16 - Zeitlin, Irving. "Emile Durkheimm (1858-1917)." in Ideology and the development of sociological theory. 256-291. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1990.
Giddens, Anthony. "Durkheim's conception of sociological method." in Capitalism and Modern Social Theory. 82-94. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971.

Weber and Drukheim

Internet Resources:

February 21 - 23: Exporting and Importing Worldviews: Imperialism and Colonialism
21 - Said, Edward. "Introduction.>" in Culture and Imperialism. xi-xxviii. New York: Vintage Books, 1994.

Edward Said's Culture and Imperialism

In Class Film: Edward Said On Orientalism (22580) 1998

23 - Arendt, Hannah. "Expansion and tthe Nation State." in Chapter 5 - "The Political Emancipation of the Bourgeoisie." in The Origins of Totalitarianism. 124-134. Cleveland: Meridian Books, 1969.

Extra:
Great Expectations - Afterword

Internet Resources:

Special Resource:
Orientalism

February 28 - March 2: The Race Problematic

28 Fanon, Frantz. "The Voice of the Damned." in Robin W. Winks, ed. The Age of Imperialism. 154-167. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1969.
In Class Film: Frantz Fanon [videorecording] : black skin, white mask / Mark Nash

02 - Race: Floating Signifier
In Class Film: Stuart Hall: Race - The Floating Signifier (22581) 1996

Extra:
The Wretched of the Earth - Preface
The Wretched of the Earth - Conclusion

Fanon

Internet Resources:

March 7 - 9: Class and Ethnicity: The Deadly Combination
Chua, Amy. "Rubies and Rice Paddies - Chinese Minority Dominance in Southeast Asia." in World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability. 23-48. New York: Doubleday, 2003.

Internet Resources:
*In the order these countries appear in Amy Chua's "Rubies and Rice Paddies."

Special section (ints 265): Chinese in..

Special Resource:
World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability

Race Resouces [Part 1]:
Discomfort of strangers and Discomfort of strangers (part two) - David Goodhart's essay challenging liberals to rethink their attitudes to diversity and the welfare state has provoked a bitter debate among progressive thinkers.
Los Angeles marks 1992 riots (BBC News)
Hate Letter Against Filipinos - The Art Bell Incident

Race Resouces [Part 2]:
Racist Culture: Philosophy and the Politics of Meaning - David Theo Goldberg
Discrimination - Michael Banton
Racialised Barriers: The Black Experience in the United States and England in the 1980s - Stephen Small
Racial Formations in the United States: From the 1960s to the 1990s - Michael Omi and Howard Winant
Racism and Migrant Labour - Robert Miles
Racism after 'race relations' - Robert Miles
Race and Ethnicity - John Rex

March 13 - 17 Spring Break

March 21 - 23: Gender: Exploiting the Most Vulnerable.
21 - Mill, John Stuart. "The Subjection of Women 1869 - Chapter 1." in On Liberty with The Subjection of Women and Chapters on Socialism. 119-145. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989.
23 - Weitz, Rose. "A History of Women's Bodies." in The Politics of Women's Bodies - Sexuality, Appearance, and Behavior. 3-11. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Extra:
Holland, Norman S. "Fashioning Cuba." in Mary Russo Parker, Doris Sommer, and Patricia Yaeger, eds. Nationalisms and Sexualities. 147-156. New York: Routledge, 1992.

Theoretical Review of Feminism

Reading: Moghadam, Valentine. "Revolution, Islam and Women: Sexual Politics in Iran and Afghanistan." in Mary Russo Parker, Doris Sommer, and Patricia Yaeger, eds. Nationalisms and Sexualities. 424-446. New York: Routledge, 1992.

Internet Resources:

Special Resource:
No god but God : The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam
contra
What Went Wrong? : The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East
and
Osama

March 28 - 30: Fascism: Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Grigsby, Ellen. "Political Ideologies II - Fascism." in Analyzing Politics. 120-134. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing, 2005.

Extra:
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - The Intellectual Roots of the Third Reich.

Fascism, etc.

Internet Resources:

"Mussolini's writings assert that Fascism supports the creation of a totalistic state. Indeed, Italian Fascists coined the word totalitarian to describe the proper boundaries of state authority" (Grigsby 124).

U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
Simon Wiesenthal Center
Southern Poverty Law Center

Of the Holocaust and concentration camps:
American Concentration Camps - Map
Working to preserve Japanese History
Manzanar - America's Concentration Camps
Confinement and Ethnicity
Japanese Internment Camps
Debating the uniqueness of the Holocaust
Valentina's Nightmare - The Crime of Genocide
Genocide - Robert Leventhal

Special Resource:
Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust

March 30 - Special Review of Racism - Part 1
In Class Film: Yellow Fever (already seen)
In Class Film: Crash - Part 1

Option B:
In lieu of Paper #3, one could elect to critically answer all of the questions
outlined on this document (at least half a page per question).
One would need to have watched the movie and have taken these questions into account.
If you elect to do this exercise (as opposed to a paper) feel free to contact me.

April 4 - 6: Feminism, Environmentalism, and Postmodernism: Modes of Resistance.
4 - Special Review of Racism - Part 2>
In Class Film: Yellow Fever (already seen)
In Class Film: Crash - Part 2

Environmentalism, and Postmodernism: Modes of Resistance.
6 - Grigsby, Ellen. "Political Ideologies III - Feminism, Environmentalism, and Postmodernism." in Analyzing Politics. 135-153. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing, 2005.
6 - Grigsby, Ellen. "Political Ideologies III - Feminism, Environmentalism, and Postmodernism." in Analyzing Politics. 135-153. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing, 2005.

Extra:
Vanity Fair: Paris Hilton - Wearing White Her Way!

Environmentalism

Internet Resources:

April 11 - 13: Globalization: The Walls Come Crumbling Down.
11 - Huntington, Samuel. "The Clash of Civilizations?" Foreign Affairs 72.3 (1993): 22-49. ; Barber, Benjamin. "Introduction." in Jihad vs. McWorld - Terrorism's Challenge to Democracy. 2-200. New York: Ballantine Books, 1995.
13 - Sassen, Saskia. "Introduction." in Globalization and its Discontents: Essays on the New Mobility of People and Money. ix-xxxvi. New York: New York Press, 1998.

Extra:
Grigsby, Ellen. "International Relations I - Introduction." in Analyzing Politics. 240-260. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing, 2005.
Grigsby, Ellen. "International Relations II - Contemporary Issues." in Analyzing Politics. 135-153. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing, 2005.

Internet Resources:

Special Resource:
Golden Arches East: McDonald's in East Asia

Thomas Friedman and "The Nexus and the Olive Tree"
We are the Capitalists
The Power of the Electronic Herd
The Nexus and the Olive Tree
Thomas Friedman - Wikipedia

Looking at the benefits of Globalization and other issues of comparative social and politcal systems through the Kellogg series of talks.
Thank you Ankur!
Here is the link to the Northwestern University online business school videos:
http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/news/video/index.htm
Look for the video collection for Philip Marineau, CEO of Levi Strauss & Co.

April 18 - 20:

INTS 265
Comparative Social and Political Systems
Spring 2006
Presentation

Since this a "comparative political and social systems" class, the presentation will have to be based on comparing one thing vis-à-vis another. Paired up or alone, one will present (using PowerPoint) on a topic mutually agreed upon with the professor.

Possible topics include (but are not limited to) comparing two countries using the same political or social system. Another possible topic could be theme based - taking into account such things as (but not limited to) imperialism, colonialism, race, class, ethnicity, gender, or even the advent of globalization. An example of a country by country presentation (using the same system) could be comparing and contrasting the People's Republic of China against Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (or Cuba).

A group could also do a presentation along a "themed" line. Using some of the topics outlined directly above (imperialism, colonialism, race, class, ethnicity, gender, or even the advent of globalization) one could compare and contrast how globalization has impacted Japan vis-à-vis the United States (or Korea). An interesting topic to consider would be comparing and contrasting feminist resistance to the patriarchy in Taiwan against Middle Eastern countries such as Turkey or Afghanistan.

Nationalist narratives (stories) are perpetuated through the educational system - one could compare and contrast how war is remembered in Germany as opposed to Japan. In Latin America - one could possibly consider comparing oil based countries such as Mexico as opposed to Venezuela. In Africa, one could well compare a "post-colonial" or "de-colonization" strategy in South Africa as opposed to neighboring Rhodesia or even Kenya. One could compare the Czech Republic and the perhaps the Slovak Republic or Romania in terms of its reaction to the demise of the Soviet Union, the dropping of the "Iron Curtain," and the impact of the re-introduction of full on Capitalism as well as Globalization. There is a lot to select from.

Grounded on the readings and lectures provided, one could very well expand on a country profile taking into account the issues taken up (and papers written about) in class and apply them to the presentation. How are these countries serving the needs (political and social) of its citizens - is that even the question? The possibilities are endless. To stay within the framework - it needs to be a comparison - and within the same matrix to be relevannt.

Evaluation:
Grade will be based on the quality of research done. Taken into account will be such things as sources, theme, and formulation. In other words, how you put it all together.

Action:
1. You will need to pair up as soon as possible.
2. I will need a topic from the pair or student as soon as possible.
3. Based on the topic, it might be wise to consider at least 2 outside sources (no internet, please).

Time and other issues:
I have allotted 3 hours for what I estimate will be 5 (four pairs and a single) presentations. It averages out to around 30 minutes for each presentation and "give or take" 5 to 10 minutes of a break in between. Plan for around between 15 to 20 minutes of presentation and the remainder for Question and Answer (Q & A). Kindly provide everyone in the class with all your sources BEFORE the presentation so as to ensure that we have read the material. Please feel free to consult with me about the topic prior to your final decision. Moreover, after deciding on a topic, know that you can come to me for suggestions regarding your sources as well as presentation.

Thank you.

page last updated 26 October 2007
Copyright © 2006 Miguel B. Llora, MA. All Rights Reserved.
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