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Fall 2002
This information effective
for Fall 2002.
Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.
Fall 2002
Instructor: Bruce Larkin
To view class syllabus, go to:
http://www.learnworld.com/COURSES/P72/P72.Syllabus.html
Fall 2002
Instructor: Isebill V. Gruhn
In today's world ethnic conflicts seem to play an important role in domestic and international affairs. Kosovo, Chechnya, Rwanda, the Congo, Indonesia, Afghanistan, among other multi-ethnic states, are wrestling with the politics of ethnicity. Like all Politics 100 courses, this course is devoted to intensive writing and discussion about important topics in the study of politics. Students will write four to five short five-page essays and will participate in seminar discussions. Readings will include: Michael Ignatieff, Blood and Belonging; Stuart Kaufman, Modern Hatreds; Gopal Balakrishnan, Mapping the Nation; and Michael Brown (ed.), Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict (revised edition).
Instructor: Michael Urban
Office hours: Tues., 12:30 - 3:00, 273 Stevenson
E-mail: urban47@cats.ucsc.edu
Phone: 459-3153)
Teaching Assistant: Zachary Bowden
Scope and Objectives. Analytically, the content of this course concerns communism and its aftermath. Substantially, the focus falls primarily on East European states, although excurses or political developments in Russia are also necessary to our enterprise. Russia's role in the region represents one important instance of a theme running through the entire course; namely, that East European politics has been and remains in many ways determined by forces outside the region itself. We explore this question as it relates to the hegemony exercised by West European states in both the pre- and post-communist periods, as well as the USSR's dominion over them in communist times. With respect to the latter, our objective is to build an understanding of the communist past, what is, here, taken to be a unique socio-political formation known as "state socialism." This objective can be broken down further into a number of sub-topics that comprise the first part of the course: Marxist revolutionary theory, Leninist revolutionary practice, Stalinist state construction and the maturation and decay of state socialist systems. The problem of the political role of intellectuals within the specific historical contexts peculiar to East Europe and Russia is singled out for special attention in this regard.
The second part of the course focuses on reforms within, and revolts against, the state socialist order that have occurred in East Europe and the former Soviet Union. On the basis of the analysis presented in the first part, it locates a number of crisis tendencies specific to state socialist systems that have led to movements for reform and revolution and examines how new directions taken in one place and time often have reverberated later in the politics of other states within the region. Moreover, the specific incidences of mass resistance to state socialism modified it in one place or another, lending different characters to state socialist regimes that would determine the particular paths of transition that they would follow.
Part three concerns the collapse of communism in East Europe and the former USSR. The significance of that moment has only begun to be measured in historical terms, yet its implications are already staggering enough: the unhinging of the capitalist/communist dichotomy that has dominated politics, nationally and globally, for the second half of the twentieth century, thus throwing into question established identities, arrangements and alliances. The collapse of one system and the formation of another allows us to glimpse the political magma, usually obscured, assumed, or unremarked in the study (and practice) of "normal" politics. Therefore, we devote particular attention in this section to social, cultural, and economic issues, exploring the ways in which they have shaped the politics of postcommunist transitions.
The final section examines a set of major political questions embedded in the post-communist transition. Is this transition all of a piece, or are there quite distinct patterns evident among those societies that are undergoing it? If the latter is true, how can differences be explained? Should post-communist transitions be regarded as a variant of a broader phenomenon, the transition from authoritarian to democratic government, or are they fundamentally different, thus constituting an entirely separate set of cases? Do post-communist systems have a democratic future and, if so, on what does it depend? How have new combinations of political and economic power been spun out of their state socialist predecessors, and how might they be characterized? Finally, has the hegemony of powers outside the region persisted in the present period, and, if so, how does it determine East European politics today?
Course Requirements. In addition to meeting standard expectations—attending lectures, completing all reading assignments prior to the respective class and discussion sessions at which they are to be considered, sitting for two examinations (a mid-term and a final)—each student is required to write an extended term paper (10-12 pages in length) on a topic selected by the student and approved by the instructor. This paper will observe all of the usual rules governing such an enterprise: coherent organization, proper referencing, adequate bibliography (on average, 5 books and/or an equivalent number of journal articles not included in course readings). It is due the final day of class.
Topics and Readings. (All readings are available at the reserve desk in McHenry. They are required, unless marked with an asterisk—in which case they are recommended.)
1.Communism as a Project.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party.
Vladimir Lenin, What Is to Be Done? (selections).
Alvin Gouldner, Against Fragmentation, pp. 12-27.
2. Pre-Communist East Europe.
Rothschild, pp. 3-75.
Zygmunt Bauman, "Intellectuals in East-Central Europe," East European Politics and
Societies, Vol. 1 (1987), pp. 162-186.
*John Feffer, Shock Waves (Boston: South End Press, 1992), pp. 1-31.
*Janos, pp. 1-217.
3. Communism as a System.
Rothschild, pp. 76-123.
Jowitt, pp. 1-49.
*Feffer, pp. 33-47.
*Janos, pp. 218-256.
1. Reform and Rebellion.
Rothschild, pp. 125-190.
Ekiert, pp. ix-xvi, 3-120.
Jowitt, pp. 88-158.
Vaclav Havel, "The Power of the Powerless," part 1, pp. 23-41.
*Feffer, pp. 49-59.
*Janos, pp. 257-328.
2. Opposition Within and
Without.
Rothschild, pp. 191-225.
Ekiert, pp. 121-213.
Havel, part 2, pp. 41-78.
*Feffer, pp. 59-67.
3. Late Communism and the
Question of "Civil Society."
Ekiert, pp. 215-304.
Havel, part 3, pp. 78-96.
Jadwiga Staniszkis, "Forms of Reasoning as Ideology," Telos, No. 66 (Winter, 1985-86), pp.67-80.
Verdery, pp. 3-82.
1. Overview.
Jowitt, pp. 220-248.
Ekiert, pp. 305-330.
Elster et al., pp. 1-62.
2. Political Steps.
Rothschild, pp. 226-262.
Elster et al., pp. 63-155.
Verdery, pp. 83-129.
3. Economic and Social Change.
Elster et al., pp. 156-246.
Verdery, pp. 133-203.
David Stark, "Recombinant Property in East European Capitalism," G. Grabher and D.Stark (eds.), Restructuring Networks in Post-Socialism, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), pp. 35-69.
*Eric Hanley, "Cadre Capitalism in Hungary and Poland: Property Accumulation among Communist-Era Elites," East European Politics and Societies, Vol. 14 (winter, 2000), pp. 143-178.
*Jozsef Borocz, "Informality Rules," East European Politics and Societies, Vol. 14 (spring, 2000), pp. 348-380
4. Identities and Ideologies.
Elster et al., pp. 247-270.
L. Cook and M. Orenstein, "The Return of the Left and Its Impact on the Welfare State in Poland, Hungary and Russia," L. Cook et al. (eds.), Left Parties and Social Policy in Postcommunist Europe. (Boulder: Westview Press, 1999), pp. 47-108.
*Martin Horak, "Environmental Policy Reform in the Post-communist Czech Republic: the Case of Air Pollution," Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 53 (March, 2001), pp. 313-327.
Elster et al., pp. 271-308.
Verdery, pp. 204-234.
*Bela Greskovits, The Political Economy of Protest and Patience (Budapest: Central European University Press, 1998), pp. 71-91, 103-112, 122-131.
Fall 2002
Instructor: Bruce
Larkin
To view the class syllabus, go to:
http://www.learnworld.com/COURSES/P141/P141.Syllabus.html
Fall 2002
Instructor: Isebill V. Gruhn
This course explores a range
of theories, issues, and cases that are of interest to students of international
affairs and that are helpful in understanding recurrent patterns of global conflict
and cooperation. This course is organized around the proposition that this subject
is propelled by contemporary questions and concerns. The aim of the course is
to place contemporary concerns and interests into historical, theoretical, and
methodological context. The course is intended to lay the foundation for students
wishing to embark on the formal study of international "global" politics.
This course is also suitable for students who would simply like to enhance their
understanding of international affairs.