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Winter 2002
This information effective for Winter 2002.
Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.
Instructor: D.J. Whrls
MWF 9:30–10:40 a.m.
Stevenson 175
For Winter 2002 we will use the conflict over terrorism as one of the integrating themes for the quarter.
Politics 1 offers a systematic introduction to the nature and study of politics and government. Organized around the dynamic relationship between power (who controls what and how) and principle (ideas of right and wrong, justice and injustice), this course provides an overview of the historical and contemporary nature of politics. The interactions among government, laws, and societies are explored at the national and international level. Topics include the nature of democracy, civil liberties and rights, governmental institutions, war and conflict, and global politics.
Readings will include:
Deborah A. Stone, Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making
E. E. Schattschneider, The Semi-Sovereign People
Edmund Morgan, Inventing the People
W. Phillips Shively, Comparative Governance
Various readings in western political thought and issues in international relations.
Course Outline:
I. FOUNDATIONS
The Means and Ends of Politics
II. INVENTIONS
A. From Clans to Countries
B. From Control to Legitimacy
C. Westphalia and Beyond
III. MODERN FORMS AND PRACTICES
A. Linkages: Movements, Parties, Elections, Protest
B. Institutions: National Governments
C. International: Security Regimes/Economic Regimes
IV. GOALS AND POLICIES: Local, National, Global
A. Liberty
B. Equality
C. Security
D. Justice
V. THE PROBLEM OF GOVERNMENT REVISITED
What are human rights? Where did they come from? By whom and how are they implemented? The course seeks to lay the groundwork for understanding the historical and philosophic issues and also to understand today’s institutions and policies which help to define and implement human rights. The course work will also examine empirical materials in an attempt to understand both human rights abuse and what, if anything, has been or can be done to address violations of human rights. Topics will include genocide, refugees and humanitarian intervention.
Required course readings include:
Michael Perry, The Idea of Human Rights: Four Inquiries
Jonathan Glover, Humanity: A Moral History of the Twentieth Century
Philip Gourevitch, We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, The State of the World Refugees
Council on Foreign Relations, Humanitarian Intervention
The course work will include two take-home assignments, one or two in-class quizzes, and a short 5–8-page focused essay on a human rights topic selected by the student, due in week eight of the course.
Winter 2002
Instructor: Ronnie Lipschutz
TTh 2:00–3:45 p.m.
Earth and Marine B214
What does it mean to “think Green?” Are Green politics and environmentalism the same? If not, how do they differ? What are the philosophical bases of Green thought? Was Hobbes a closet Green? Do Green political parties have any chance of gaining power, or are they doomed to opposition? What does it mean to be biocentric? Is sustainable development feasible or a fantasy? What do Green political programs propose to do? This is a course on Green political thought and practice. In it, we shall examine the origins and content of ecological politics, ethics and political economy, and ask whether they offer a “realistic” alternative to neo-liberalism and other political ideologies.
The workload for the course is substantial. In addition to intensive reading, students will be expected to write four papers of four pages in length that analyze and critique the readings, and draw on additional materials, as well. Part of the course will consist of lectures, but there will be substantial discussion of the materials in class and section, and everyone is expected to contribute to them through oral presentations.
Required texts
Edward Abbey, The Monkey Wrench Gang (Avon, 1997). ISBN 0-380-00741-X
Ernest Callenbach, Ecotopia (Bantam, 1990). ISBN 0960432019
Michael E. Zimmerman, et. al, Environmental Philosophy (Prentice-Hall, 1998, 2nd ed.) ISBN 0-13-778366-3
Eric Laferrière & Peter J. Scott, International Relations Theory and Ecological Thought (Routledge, 1999) ISBN 0-415-16479-6
Ariel Salleh, Ecofeminism as Politics (Zed, 1997) ISBN 1-85649-400-4
Winter 2002
Instructor: Ronnie Lipschutz
TTh 4:00–5:45 p.m.
Merrill 002
In this senior seminar we will examine various “problematics” in world politics through the lenses of international relations (IR) theories and world political practices. IR is ordinarily represented as a body of theory and data that purport to tell us something about how nation-states act under so-called normal conditions. These “normal” conditions are captured in three words: anarchy, sovereignty, territory. Each of these terms is thought to mean something fairly precise, yet each falls apart under close inspection. Indeed, it might be said that the conception and practice embodied in each term are under challenge by various forces extent in world politics today.
The seminar is centered around an investigation of these three terms, and the social science that has developed to explain and rationalize them, as applied to specific “problematics”such as war and peace; world order and disorder; wealth and poverty; human oppression and human rights; environmental degradation communication, information and action, and so on. We will not, however, try to rationalize the conditions that we find associated with these problematics by simple reference to IR theory. Rather, our purpose is, first, to understand the relationship between international relations, as a practice, and International Relations, as a social science; second, to discover how IR came to be constituted as such (its “practical,” political, and academic origins); and, finally, to disassemble the construct of international relations, as theory and practice, and try to imagine how the pieces might come back together, especially in light of changes in world politics and the approach of the 21st century.
The reading load for the course is substantial as is the writing requirement. A premium is placed, therefore, on participation in the seminar. Each student is required to write three, fairly brief, well-written, critical essays on readings drawn from the syllabus or seminar, as well as a final research paper that links these essays to a specific problematic. There will be a set of assigned texts as well as assigned readings on reserve. Students are expected to have done the readings before a seminar meeting, and will be asked to discuss them in class. For this purpose, each student will also keep a journal of the readings. This will involve keeping note of the main themes and arguments put forth in each reading.
Assigned texts (there will be additional readings)
Neil Stephenson, Snow Crash (Bantam, 2000), ISBN: 0553380958
Martin Shaw, Theory of the Global State (Cambridge, 2000) ISBN 0-521-59730-7
Oswaldo de Rivero, The Myth of Development (Zed, 2001), ISBN 1-85649-949-9
Adrian Guelke, The Age of Terrorism and the International Political System (St. Martin’s, 1998), ISBN: 1860643388