11.S942

M, W ((9:30-11)

Room 4-253

Prof. J. Phillip Thompson

617-452-2813

Deep Divides and the Politics of Economic Democracy

Following the election of Donald Trump it is evident to most observers that the U.S. is deeply divided by class, and even more so by race. This course seeks to identity to causes of deep divisions and how to overcome them. The course will begin with readings on the “subjects” of politics and planning, that is, the people politics and planning claim to serve. Initial classes will discuss the lives and perspectives of blacks and working class whites as illuminated through ethnographies. The aim is to ground democracy’s potential within its principal components—the people themselves. Attention will focus on the way in which economic and political institutions shaped class and racial identities. The class will then examine the origins and viewpoints of Western citizens toward the “Third World.” We will then dive into the role of emotions in relation to reason and social discourse. The course then explores means and methods of overcoming class and racial divides in practice. One part of this will look into technical interventions, focusing on energy and healthcare reform. The other part will examine discourse and popular education interventions. Students will be encouraged to design their own interventions on “deep divides” of their choosing.

Course Requirements

Students are required to do readings and discuss them in class. All students will be required to do classroom presentations of selected readings and to participate in class discussions (50% of grade). Students are required to either write a final paper (20-30 pages) or undertake a project (in consultation with professors) that will count for 50% of the grade.

Readings

Baptist, E. E. (2014). The Half Has Never Been Told; Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism. New York, Basic books.

Hochschild, A. R. (2016). Strangers in Their Own Land. New York, The New Press.

Isenberg, N. (2016). White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America. New York, Viking Press.

Lowe, L. (2015). The Intimacies of Four Continents. Durahm, Duke University Press.

Macintyre, A. (2006). Ethics and Politics: Selected Essays, Vol. 2. New York, Cambridge University Press.

Nedelsky, J. (1990). Private Property and the Limits of American Constituionalism: The Madison Framework and Its Legacy. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.

Nussbaum, M. C. (1990). Love's Knowledge: Essays on Philosophy and Literature. New York, Oxford University Press.

Parekh, B. (2008). A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Interdependent World. New York, Palgrave MacMillan.

Roediger, D. (2015). Seizing Freedom. New York, Verso Press.

Somers, M. R. (2008). Genealogies of Citizenship: Markets, Statelessness, and the Right to Have Rights. New York Cambridge University Press.

Taylor, C. (2016). The Language Animal: The Full Shape of the Human Linguistic Capacity. Cambridge, Ma., Harvard University Press.

Turkle, Sherry (2015). Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age.New York, Penguin Press.

Wilkerson, I. (2011). The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration. New York, Vintage Books.

Wright, E. O. (2010). Envisioning Real Utopias. Brooklyn, Verso Press.

Deep Divides

  1. Introduction: Sources of Knowledge and Identity (Feb. 8, 13)
  • Martha Nussbaum, “Love’s Knowledge” (chapter on Stellar)
  • Charles Taylor, “The Language Animal” (chapter on Stellar)
  1. White Working Class Experience and Perspectives (Feb. 15, 20)
  • Isenberg, “White Trash” (read entire book)
  • Hochschild, “Strangers in Their Own Land” (read entire book)
  1. Black Experience and Perspectives (Feb. 27, March 1)
  • Roediger, “Seizing Freedom” (read entire book)
  • Wilkerson, “Warmth of Other Suns” (read entire book)
  1. How Capitalism and the State Structured Class, Race, and Gender (March 6, 8)
  • Baptist, “The Half That Has Never Been Told” (chapters on Stellar)
  • Nedelsky, “Private Property and the Limits of American Constitutionalism” (chapters on Stellar)
  1. Meanings of Anglo American Citizenship (March 13, 15)
  • Somers, “Genealogies of Citizenship” (read entire book)
  1. Eurocentrism vs. an Interdependent World (March 20, 22)
  • Lowe, “The Intimacies of Four Continents”
  • Parekh, “A New Politics of Identity”

[Mid-term Essay: ‘What Should You Know About the Other?’ You are hosting a ‘get to know you’ gathering between a group of black and low-income white workers (or between a group of U.S. and immigrant workers from a TW country). This assignment is to write a five page memo for circulation among participants about critical things each group should know about the other.]

  1. Emotional Solidarity (April 3, 5, 10)
  • MacIntyre, “Social Structures and Their Threats to Moral Agency” (on Stellar)
  • Solomon, “The Passions” (read entire book)
  1. What Comes Next? (April 12, 19)
  • Wright, “Envisioning Real Utopias”(Chapter 8, “Elements of a Theory of Transformation.” On Stellar)
  1. Planning Transitions: Technique and Discourse in Energy (April 24, 26)
  • TBA
  1. Planning Transitions: Technique and Discourse in Brooklyn Healthcare (May 1, 3)
  • TBA
  1. Organizing Conversations for Planning (May 8, 10)

* Turkle, “Reclaiming Conversation” (read entire book)

  1. Student Presentations (May 15, 17)