Nijhoff-SOC331 Fall 2003
SYLLABUS
SOC 331Fall 2003
"Political Sociology: The Decline of the Nation-State?"
Karijn Nijhoff
Office hours: Tuesday 1:00-2:00pm or by appointment.
Office phone: 353 1734, room 8 Berkey Hall
mail box: room 316 Berkey Hall
Email:
When contacting the instructor by email, please make sure to mention the course number in the subject-box!
Class website: -for articles, changes in the syllabus and other class-related announcements.
The main question of this class is "Can the nation-state govern today's world?" To answer this question, in the first part of the semester the focus is on the history of state formation, the history of the nation-state, the history of the welfare state. In the first part of the semester, we will discuss views on government, political ideologies, and developments. The focus will largely be on Europe: today's world is still divided based on European conceptions of government.
The second half of the semester will look at current developments, and current aspects of globalization. We will discuss international business and multinational corporations, international migration, and international media and spread of culture, international terrorism. This will bring us to the question on the importance of the nation-state in these developments.
Even though the title of the course is ‘political sociology’, the historical and contemporary analyses are shaped around an economic-political perspective.
Readings:
Polanyi, Karl (1944), The Great Transformation. The political and economic origins of our time. Beacon Press, Boston.
Barber, Benjamin R. (1995/2001), Jihad vs. McWorld. Terrorism's challenge to democracy. Ballentine Books, New York.
Grading:
Movie attendance (4): 80
Class debate: 60 (grade per group)
In-class assignments (4): 40
Multiple Choice questions: 30
Midterm exam: 90
Final exam:100
Total:400 points
Movie Summaries (note: only 3 movies are assigned: the 4th will be announces in class/on the web site)
For each movie watched in class, the following questions need to be answered in order to receive the movie credit (maximum of 1-page typed, handed in the next class time):
1)What was the main story-line of the movie?
2)What is the main relationship between the movie and lecture? Explain the relevance for a economic-political analysis of society.
3)Do you think the movie is beneficial in teaching students on the topic? Explain why or why not.
Class debate:
Each student is required to participate in class debates. The structure and requirements of the debates are given on a separate hand-out.
In-class assignments:
There will be four short in-class assignments. These assignments are given without notice, and can be given at any time during class. The assignment can be a pop-quiz, but it can also be a simple question on that day’s lecture.
Multiple-choice questions, midterm, and final:
The mid-term and the final exam will be multiple-choice exams, based on questions made by the students. Each student is required to hand in one multiple-choice question a week (typed) on the readings. At the middle and at end of the semester, each student needs to hand in a disk (word document) with all his/her questions, and all the questions will be given to each student as a study guide. Dependent on the quality of the questions handed in, the exams will be based on these questions. If the questions made by the students were of good quality, the instructor will not make extra questions on the book. If the quality of the questions was not high, then the instructor will make questions that are not distributed beforehand. It is in everybody's interest then to make serious and well-defined questions. The questions on the lectures will be made by the instructor.
The assignments need to be handed in typed, double-spaced. Late hand-ins are not accepted, unless a valid reason is given. The same policy is for missing exams, question making, and movie attendance.
There will not be a penalty for missing classes, but it is the student's responsibility to have all lecture notes. The instructor will only provide students with notes if a valid reason for missing class is given.
Grading Scale:
Total points: 400
360+ = 4.0; 359-340 = 3.5; 339-320 = 3.0; 319-300 = 2.5; 299-280 = 2.0; 279-260 = 1.5; 259-240 = 1.0; <240 = 0.0
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Schedule (tentative and subject to change):
WEEK 1 August 26-28: Introduction
WEEK 2 September 2-4: History.
Readings: chapters 1, 2, Polanyi.
TUES: movie 1
WEEK 3 September 9-11: The Nation State.
Readings: chapters 3, 4, 5, 6, Polanyi.
WEEK 4 September 16-18: Capitalism and Government.
Readings: chapters 10, 11, 12, 13, Polanyi.
THUR: Debate 1
WEEK 5 September 23-25: Government, Economics and Internationalization.
Readings: chapters 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, Polanyi.
THUR: Debate 2
WEEK 6 September 30 - October 2: Power, Money, and Freedom.
Readings: chapters 19, 20, 21, Polanyi.
THUR: Debate 3
THUR: hand in disk with multiple-choice questions on Polanyi, as one word-document
WEEK 7 October 7-9: Conclusions and midterm.
TUES: Conclusions on Polanyi and history of the formation of the nation-state.
THUR: MIDTERM EXAM: on Polanyi and lectures.
WEEK 8 October 14-16: Introduction: History of Globalization.
Readings: Barber, Introduction 2001; introduction; chapters 1, 2.
WEEK 9 October 21-23: Globalization: Business and Politics.
Readings: chapters 3, 4, 5, Barber.
THUR: Debate 4
WEEK 10 October 28-30: Globalization: Media and Politics.
Readings: chapters 6, 7, 8, 9, Barber.
TUES: Movie 3
WEEK 11 November 4-6: Regionalization.
Readings: chapters 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, Barber.
THUR: Debate 5
WEEK 12 November 11-13: Challenges to the Nation-State and Democracy.
Readings: chapters 15, 16, 17, Barber.
TUES: Movie 4.
WEEK 13 November 18-20: Challenges to the Nation-State and Democracy.
Readings: chapters 18, 19, afterword, Barber.
WEEK 14 November 25-27: Internationalization.
TUES: Debate 6
TUES: Hand in disk multiple-choice questions Barber, as one word-document
THUR: Thanksgiving, no class.
WEEK 15: Dec. 2-4
TUES: Conclusions on Barber and globalization.
THUR: FINAL EXAM, on Barber and lectures.
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