IR 444: Issues and Theories in Global Society

IR 444: Issues and Theories in Global Society

Fall 2009

VKC 258

School of International Relations

University of Southern California

Tuesday and Thursday, 3:30-4:50PM

Instructor: Dr. Eric Blanchard SOS 268

(213) 740-2554

Office Hours: Tuesday 5-6PM, Thursday 11AM-12, and by appointment

I. Course Description, Objectives and Requirements:

“Issues and Theories in Global Society” is a course designed to help the student of International Relations (IR) conceive of the world as a single society and understand the key forces that have constituted and transformed this society. After a careful consideration of the roles the state plays in theories of IR, we will debate the relative merits of seeing world politics in terms of states, networks, or some form of transcendent political community. While the course is designed to help students become familiar with the consequences that flow from the way the world is organized into sovereign nation-states, we will also consider at length the challenges posed to nation-states and global communities in the 21st century by globalization, democratization, revolution, technology, and new forms of cultural identity. Considering the existence of “global society,” and the possibilities of “global restructuring,” do we need new theories to help us grasp change, now and in the future? In other words, we will be asking whether our theories are up to the task of future challenges.

The main purpose of IR 444 is to present students with the intellectual tools to think through these big issues, helping them develop the ability to apply advanced IR theory to the study of world politics. To this end, students are expected to come to all class sessions ready to discuss the week’s readings, and raise thoughtful questions about these readings, prior readings, or lecture points. Attendance is a prerequisite, but engaged, meaningful class participation and the focused application of critical thinking skills are the keys to success in this class. To satisfy the research component of all 400 level courses, students will produce (with the advisement of the instructor) an analytic research paper tailored to their individual interests. This paper will draw upon the IR 444 course materials in a focused but creative direction.

Grading

Participation and discussion 15%

Midterm 25%

Research paper (15-20 pages, 3750-5000 words) on topic approved by instructor 35%

Final Exam 25%

Readings (texts on order at the USC Bookstore)

John M. Hobson. 2000. The State and International Relations. Cambridge University

Press.

Sanjeev Khagram, James V. Riker, and Kathryn Sikkink, eds. 2002. Restructuring

World Politics: Transnational Social Movements, Networks, and Norms. University of

Minnesota Press.

All other readings are available on USC’s Blackboard system (https://blackboard.usc.edu/).

Classroom policies:

In the classroom:

Please be sure to help the instructor maintain a collegial atmosphere necessary for learning by keeping comments civil and respectful. This is a discussion seminar that will demand the full use of your undivided cognitive abilities; therefore, the use of laptops is discouraged and even frowned upon. Before you enter the seminar, please discontinue the use of and stow all portable electronic communication devices and be sure your device is in an off-position or silent (not vibrating) mode. Messaging, tweeting, texting, chatting, stock trading, scat singing, yodeling or using electronic devices in any manner that distracts your fellow classmates from classroom activities will not be tolerated, and may result in a lowered participation grade. Audio or video recording of class sessions is not allowed without explicit permission from the instructor. I will only consider excusing absences upon the presentation of appropriate medical or other documentation.

Notes on written work:

*All written work should be neat, free of spelling and grammatical errors, double-spaced, page numbered, and utilize appropriate citation practices.

*It is strongly suggested that assignments accord with the citation practices and reference standardization found at www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html, or a similar style guide. Students may also wish to consult a helpful guide to research papers, such as The Craft of Research by Wayne C. Booth, et al. (University Of Chicago Press), or Stephen Van Evera’s Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science (Ithaca. NY: Cornell University Press).

*Work must be submitted by the relevant deadline, both as a hard copy to my box in VKC 330, and as a clearly labeled (your name, name of assignment) electronic attachment to . Late work will be penalized one half grade for each day late (A to A-, etc.)

Statement for Students with Disabilities

Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to

register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of

verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the

letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301

and is open 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is

(213) 740-0776.

Statement on Academic Integrity

USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic

honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the

expectation that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an

instructor, and the obligations both to protect one’s own academic work from misuse by

others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own. All students are expected to

understand and abide by these principles. Scampus, the Student Guidebook, contains the

Student Conduct Code in Section 11.00, while the recommended sanctions are located in

Appendix A: http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/SCAMPUS/gov/. Students will be

referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards for further

review, should there be any suspicion of academic dishonesty. The Review process can

be found at: http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/SJACS/.

II. Schedule

WEEK 1: Introduction, Concepts, Definitions

August 25

Course introduction (No readings assigned)

August 27

James Fulcher, 2000. “Globalization, the Nation-State and Global Society,” Sociological Review, 48, 4, pp 522-543.

Manuel Castells, “The Network Society,” in David Held and Anthony Grew, eds., The Global Transformations Reader (Great Britain: Polity, 2000), pp.76-81.

Stephen Krasner, “Compromising Westphalia,” in Held and Grew, pp.124-135.

WEEK 2: The State and IR Theory

September 1

Hobson, Ch 2, “Realism” (46 pages)

September 3

Hobson, Ch.3, “Liberalism” (42 pages)

WEEK 3: Constructivism and the International Society

September 8

Hobson, Ch 5., “Constructivism”

September 10

Adam Watson, “European International Society and Its Expansion,” in Hedley Bull and Adam Watson, eds., The Expansion of International Society (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1984), pp. 13-32.

Hedley Bull, “The Emergence of a Universal International Society,” in Bull and Watson, pp. 117-26.

WEEK 4: Identity and Networks

September 15

Manuel Castells, “Identity and Meaning in the Network Society” in The Power of Identity (Great Britain: Blackwell, 1997), pp. 5-67.

September 17

Consuelo Cruz, “Identity and Persuasion: How Nations Remember Their Pasts and Make their Futures,” World Politics 52, 3 (2000) pp. 275-312.

WEEK 5: The Future of the State, Multiple Modernities or World Society?

September 22

Shampa Biswas, “W(h)ither the Nation-State? National and State Identity in the Face of Fragmentation and Globalization,” Global Society, 16, 2 (2002), pp. 175-198.

September 24

S.N. Eisenstadt, “Multiple Modernities,” Daedalus 129(1), Winter 2000, pp. 1-29.

John W. Meyer et al., “World Society and the Nation State,” American Journal of Sociology 103(1), July 1997, pp. 144-81.

WEEK 6: Transnationalism

September 29

Sanjeev Khagram, et. al, Ch.1. “From Santiago to Seattle: Transnational Advocacy Groups Restructuring World Politics” in Khagram, et al.

Kathryn Sikkink and Jackie Smith, Ch.2. “Infrastructures for Change: Transnational Organizations, 1953-93,” in Khagram, et al.

October 1 *MIDTERM*

WEEK 7: Human Rights and Democratization

October 6

Darren Hawkins, Ch.3. “Human Rights Norms in Authoritarian Chile”, in Khagram, et al.

Daniel C. Thomas, Ch. 4. “Human Rights in U.S. Foreign Policy,” in Khagram, et al.

October 8

J. Ann Tickner, 2001, “Democratization, the State, and the Global Order: Gendered Perspectives,” in Gendering World Politics: Issues and Approaches in the Post-Cold War Era, pp.96-124.

(STUDENTS SHOULD MEET WITH ME TO DISCUSS PAPER TOPICS STARTING THIS WEEK)

WEEK 8: Gender and the Environment in Global Society

October 13

Jan Jindy Pettman, “Women, Gender and the State” in Worlding Women: A Feminist International Politics, pp.3-24.

Karen Brown Thompson, Ch.5. “Women’s Rights are Human Rights,” in Khagram, et al.

October 15

Eric Laferriere and Peter Stoett, “Ecological Thought: A Synopsis,” in International Relations Theory and Ecological Thought (New York: Routledge, 1999), pp. 22-74.

Charlotte Bretherton, “Gender and Environmental Change: Are Women the Key to Safeguarding the Planet?” in John Volger and Mark Imber, eds., The Environment and International Relations (New York: Routledge, 1996), pp.99-119.

WEEK 9: Revolutions and Transformation

October 20

John Foran, “The Comparative-Historical Sociology of Third World Social Revolutions,” in John Foran, ed., Theorizing Revolutions (New York: Routledge, 1997), pp. 227-61.

Robert S. Snyder, “The End of Revolution?” The Review of Politics (Winter 1999), pp. 5-28.

October 22

Alex Callinicos “What Does Revolution Mean in the Twenty-first Century?” in John Foran, ed., Revolution in the Making of the Modern World: Social Identities, Globalization, and Modernity (New York: Routledge, 2008).

WEEK 10: Catastrophes, Accidents and Surprise

October 27

Francis Fukuyama, “The Challenges of Uncertainty” pp.1-6, Richard Posner, “Thinking About Catastrophe,” pp.7-19, Bruce Berkowitz, “U.S. Intelligence Estimates of Soviet Collapse: Reality and Perception,” pp.29-41,

Peter Schwartz and Doug Randall, “Ahead of the Curve: Anticipating Strategic Surprise,” pp.93-108, in Fukuyama, ed. Blindside: How to Anticipate Forcing Events and Wild Cards in Global Politics (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2007).

October 29 *FINAL PAPER PROPOSALS DUE*

Paul Virilio “Continental Drift,” in The Virilio Reader, ed. James Der Derian, pp.183-195.

WEEK 11: Technologies and the Information Revolution

November 3

Ronald J. Deibert, Parchment, Printing, and Hypermedia: Communication in World Order Transformation (New York: Columbia University Press, 1997), selections.

Geoffrey L. Herrera. “New Media for a New World? Information Technology and Threats to National Security,” in Jonathan Kirshner, ed., Globalization and National Security (Routledge: New York, 2006), pp. 75-104.

November 5

David Landes, “Slow Surprise: The Dynamics of Technology Synergy,” in Fukuyama, ed. Blindside: How to Anticipate Forcing Events and Wild Cards in Global Politics (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2007), pp.23-28.

James Der Derian, Virtuous War: Mapping the Military-Industrial-Media-Entertainment Network, 2nd Ed. (New York: Routledge, 2009), selections.

WEEK 12: The State of the Future, Pt.1

November 10

Scott Barrett, “Emerging Infectious Diseases: Are We Prepared?” in Fukuyama, ed. Blindside: How to Anticipate Forcing Events and Wild Cards in Global Politics (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2007), pp. 82-92.

Peter Dickens, “The Cosmos as Capitalism’s Outside,” Sociological Review 57,1, (2009), pp. 66-82.

November 12

Nick Bostrom, “Existential Risks: Analyzing Human Extinction Scenarios and Related Hazards,” May 2001.

Bill Joy “Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us.” Wired 8,4 (April 2000), available at http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy.html

WEEK 13: Towards the Restructuring of World Politics?

November 17

Kathryn Sikkink, Ch. 15, “Restructuring World Politics: The Limits and Asymmetries of Soft Power,” in Khagram, et al.

November 19

Bahar Rumelili, “Interstate Community-Building and the Identity/Difference Predicament,” in Richard Price, ed., Moral Limit and Possibility in World Politics (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008) pp.253-280.

WEEK 14: The State of the Future, Pt. 2

November 24

W. Warren Wagar. 1999. A Short History of the Future 3rd Ed., (University of Chicago Press, 1999).

National Intelligence Council. 2004. “Executive Summary” and sections of interest in Mapping the Global Future 2020. pp. 8-18.

November 26 NO CLASS-Thanksgiving

WEEK 15: The Future (continued) and Review

December 1

American Council for the United Nations University’s “Millennium 3000 Scenarios,” available at http://www.millennium-project.org/millennium/m3000-scenarios.html

December 3

Review (no assigned readings)

FINAL PAPER Due December 11 by 5PM, hardcopy in my box in VKC 330, and electronically to .

FINAL EXAM Tuesday, December 15, 2-4 PM, location TBA

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