What is "objectivity" anyway, and how has this norm changed through history? The goal of these discussions is to generate debates over the conceptual, historical, and policy significance of the subjects that we cover. Others, whose ambitions and initiatives arguably undermined progress toward American ideals, were not recognized as dangerous at the time. Do the mass media and political elites inform or manipulate the public? Does economic development lead to the spread of democracy? [more], This is a course about international politics in the nuclear age. The third part surveys significant topics relevant to the themes of the course, with applications to current public policy issues, such as: power relations and autonomy in the workplace; asymmetric information and social insurance; economic inequality and distributive justice; equality of opportunity; the economics of health care; positional goods and the moral foundations of capitalism; social media and addiction; economic nationalism; behavioral economics; climate change and intergenerational equity; finance and financial crises; and rent-seeking. [more], This tutorial provides an introduction to comparative political economy by focusing on an enduring puzzle: the spread of capitalism led to both transitions to democracy and dictatorship/authoritarianism. This suggests that the better we can understand the nature of cause and effect, the better we can understand power. Can they be the same thing? But what is the polarization about and what caused it? Does the state and its policies make the nation, as many scholars claim? How have its constitutive institutions, from pensions to unemployment insurance, evolved since the post-war "Golden Age"? Some defenders argue that the media is a convenient scapegoat for problems that are endemic to human societies, while others claim that it actually facilitates political action aimed at addressing long-ignored injustices. The final section takes a comparative approach to some of the most pressing issues in Africa today: health crises, migration and mobility, technological revolution, climate change, and the emerging power of women and youth. How is political power generated and exercised? And we will ask persistently: what constitutes a "Jewish justification" for a political claim in modern Jewish political theory? Yet, law is still where we look for justice and, perhaps, for power to be tamed by the pressure to be legitimate. We will carefully consider, for example, the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, continental expansion in the Manifest Destiny period, the Civil War, overseas expansion in the late nineteenth century, the presidency of Woodrow Wilson, the Second World War, the Cold War, and the "War on Terror." [more], This course examines how U.S. leaders have conceived of their nation's place in the world and sought to use power to achieve national objectives. While a fairly obscure and struggling author for much of his life, Orwell achieved worldwide fame after the Second World War with the publication of Animal Farm (1945) and 1984 (1949). Also explored will be political imprisonment in the United States. Some readings will be historical, particularly those focusing on American political thought and the politics of the Gilded Age. The class is divided into four sections. Attention then turns to how post-World War II authoritariansm has been understood from a variety of perspectives, including: the "transitions to democracy" approach; analysis of problems of authoritarian control and authoritarian power-sharing; and examination of "authoritarian relience," among others. We will begin by examining institutional constraints facing political leaders: globalization, sclerotic institutions, polarization, endemic racism, and a changing media environment. What is our individual and collective responsibility for creating and disposing of waste? How have leaders from James Madison to George W. Bush thought about U.S. vulnerabilities, resources, and goals, and how have those ideas influenced foreign policy decisions? This course confronts these questions through readings drawn from a variety of classic and contemporary sources, including works of fiction, autobiography, journalism, law, philosophy and political theory, and social science. Hamer, Shirley Chisholm, Safiya Bukhari, Erica Garner, Greta Thunberg, Malala Yousafzai, Marielle Franco, Winnie Mandela. To revisit this history, we will read W.E.B. Class will be driven primarily by discussion, typically introduced by a brief lecture. We will explore the causes of the rise of nationalism and far-right populism in the US and Europe, discuss their relations with liberal democracy, conservativism, and authoritarian politics to study varieties of far-right populism and nationalism not only within the nominal far-right but all political parties in Western democracies. Alongside a selection of readings by canonical postcolonial writers and current political theorists, James and Du Bois provoke us to ask what it would take for the democratic world to be truly free. Henry Kissinger served as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State. Women studied include: Mamie Till Mobley, Anne Moody, Ella Baker, Gloria Steinem, Angela Davis, Bettina Aptheker, Assata Shakur, Yuri Kochiyama, Denise Oliver, Domitilia Chungara. Why probe modern notions of black and blackness? At the conclusion of the seminar, each student will submit a substantial and rigorous 10-12 page research proposal, with an annotated bibliography, for a roughly 35 page "article-length" thesis to be completed during Winter Study and the spring semester. The readings will begin with claims that democracy consists of government by elites, that the democratic component consists of elections that amount to choosing between rival slates of elites, and that agreements among elites set the boundaries for permissible democratic decision making. What does it say about pre-pandemic politics that we were so eager to consume stories of states falling and bands of survivors scraping together a nasty, brutish and short existence? [more], The Oxford English Dictionary defines Decolonization as "the withdrawal from its colonies of a colonial power; the acquisition of political or economic independence by such colonies." A phenomenal strategy? [more], Even casual observers know that appearances matter politically and that the saturation of politics by visual technologies, media, and images has reached unprecedented levels. This research seminar examines the intent, process, meaning and consequence of these new practices, particularly in terms of national constitutions, international law, and principles of justice. Meanwhile, national activists look to international apologies and reparations for models of what to demand. Then the class will read significant portions of the following canonical works: Radical Theories of Political Struggle: Anti-Black Racism and the Obama Administration. In much of the rest of the world, however, conservatives harbor no hatred of the state and, when in power, have constructed robust systems of social welfare to support conservative values. Every week we explore a different component of South Asian politics. Moving from the emergence of cybernetics during World War II through such contemporary examples as facial recognition software, this seminar approaches algorithms as complex technological artifacts that have social histories and political effects. Our investigation will include substantial class-time collaboration with a similarly structured undergraduate course taught by a sociologist at Johns Hopkins University and may include an optional weekend research trip. Meanwhile, efforts to reform the nation's immigration laws have been stuck in gridlock for years. Type in your search terms and press enter or navigate down for suggested search results. legislation, balancing human needs and environmental quality has never been harder than it is today. With this preparation, we then look more closely at major contemporary figures and movements in Venezuela, Bolivia, Mexico, Brazil, and other countries. It also creates status for other actors, such as international organizations, soldiers, national liberation movements, refugees, terrorists, transnational air and sea shipping companies, and multinational corporations. [more], This seminar examines incarceration, immigration detention centers, and the death penalty from historical and contemporary perspectives. and dominant media companies (Google, FaceBook, CNN, FOX, etc.). What role do moral and legal considerations play in world politics? Among the topics we will discuss are the incentives, norms, and practices of news-making organizations; how politicians try to sway the public during campaigns; how the media covers campaigns; and how the media influences Americans' racial attitudes. We will study past campaigns and then research and discuss contemporary reform efforts. From there, the course will cover a number of important topics and case studies, such as Stuxnet, NotPetya, cyber espionage, intellectual property theft, threats to critical infrastructure, misinformation, propaganda, election interference, the potential implications of quantum computing, and the prospects for the establishment of an international cyber arms control regime. Guided by a Black diasporic consciousness, students will explore the canon's structural and ideological accounts of slavery, colonialism, patriarchy, racial capitalism, Jim Crow, and state violence and, subsequently, critique and imagine visions of Black liberation. *Please note the atypical class hours, Wed 4:45-8:30 pm* [more], The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution begins: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." and individual personality, constitution and institution, rules and norms, strategy and contingency. In the last two decades, trials expanded dramatically in number, scope, and philosophy. In this course, we will look at how leaders have marshaled ideas, social movements, and technological changes to expand the scope of American democracy--and the reasons they have sometimes failed. Looming environmental catastrophes capable of provoking humanitarian crises. Is America really a democracy at all? We will explore answers to these questions through seminar discussion, analytic essays, and independent research culminating in the writing of a longer (15 to 20 page) research paper. We will pay particular attention to the construction of "Jews" and "Judaism" in these arguments. The final module introduces students to theory and methods for analyzing media relations (how a given media connects particular groups in particular ways). Third, through ongoing, self-guided reading on students' individual topics as well as feedback from both the seminar leader and other seminar participants on their written work about that topic, it endeavors to guide students to frame a viable and meaningful research project. We will carefully consider, for example, the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, continental expansion in the Manifest Destiny period, the Civil War, overseas expansion in the late nineteenth century, the presidency of Woodrow Wilson, the Second World War, the Cold War, and the "War on Terror." The course is designed to teach political science majors the nuts, and maybe also the bolts, of social science research. What do left and right see when they survey the nation, and why is what they see so different? How does international war leave its mark on domestic politics? Marcuse famously supported the aims of student activism, feminism, black liberation movements and Third World anti-colonialism during that period, publicly affirming their efforts to integrate ethical idealism with concrete concerns for the economic wellbeing and political freedom of oppressed groups. Conflicting groups regularly accuse each other of being 'duped' by 'biased' sources of information on crucial issues like war, elections, sexuality, racism, and history. By the character of the occupant? Does it reflect increased inequality in a fast-changing global economy? The course will consider these questions from an interdisciplinary perspective that combines political science concepts with an historical approach to the evidence. While focusing primarily on the welfare states of Western Europe, we will also examine how the politics of social risk unfold around the world, extending our investigation to Africa, Asia, and Latin America. social media. If the U.S. is a nation of immigrants, why is immigration reform so difficult to achieve? All students read common secondary materials and engage in research design workshops; each will write (and rewrite) an independent research paper grounded in primary sources. Illustrative cases to aid our inquiry will be drawn primarily from the USA and Canada, with additional examples from India, South Africa, and possibly European law. what is the polarization about and what caused it? [more], For decades, people and countries have used "human rights" to advance their position, delegitimize their opposition, and lodge their interests in an unassailable political category. This course examines the political dynamics of disputes in which disadvantaged interests push for major change. Du Bois, Richard Wright, Robert Williams, Yuri Kochiyama, Grace Lee and Jimmy Boggs, Ishmael Reed, and Amiri Baraka; films of Bruce Lee; music of Fred Ho; revolutionary praxis of Mao Tse Tung's Little Red Book and his writings on art and society; the Marxism of the Black Panther Party; the Afro-futurism of Sun Ra and Samuel Delany; and contemporary "Afro-pessimism." [more], Every American president from Franklin Roosevelt to John F. Kennedy sought to avoid a commitment of ground forces to Vietnam. American independence movements through the end of the Cold War and recent developments. How do religion and politics interact? But the irony is that their oppressors were the leaders of the French Revolution across the Atlantic. How should we decide what constitutes a good policy? We conclude the course with a look toward the future of global capitalism and of the liberal world order. One might even claim that when Plato deployed the metaphor in an extended allegory, he constituted the fields of both philosophy and political theory. What is our individual and collective responsibility for creating and disposing of waste? alliances, arms races, and wars, Wilson offered a vision of a peaceful world and the rule of international law. What lessons might we derive for our own times from studying this history? Like domestic law, it is enforced only some of the time, and then against the weak more than the strong. And how will the unfolding pandemic change how we respond to these stories? Is "democracy" a procedure or a substance and what is the relationship between democratic government and market economies? and an unscientific, patriarchal worldview. How does Congress act as an institution and not just a platform for 535 individuals? For whom do they function? What makes American political leadership distinctive in international comparison? Although the study of religion and politics raises a host of deep philosophical questions, the principal aim of the course is to understand how religion affects politics (and vice versa), rather than to explore the normative dimensions of questions raised by the interaction of these two forces. What anti-democratic means? To this end, the department offers two routes to completing the major, each requiring nine courses. What lessons might we derive for our own times from studying this history? [more], This seminar will introduce students to the study of Black Political Thought as a set of critical normative and diagnostic gestures that help theorize the Black experience. Course cap: 19 How much do we attribute the shaping of politics to the agency of the individual in the office and to what extent are politics the result of structural, cultural, and institutional factors? It then considers how nationalism is manifest in the contemporary politics and foreign relations of China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea and Taiwan. How does political leadership in the 21st century differ from leadership in earlier eras? We investigate these and related questions, primarily through active, project-based group research activities, guided by political theory and empirical research in the social sciences. A century after Rosa Luxemburg's challenge, it is clear that socialism did not win. How are we to understand this contradiction as a matter of justice? Who is equal? Senior Seminar in American Politics: The Politics of Belonging. This course is part of a joint program between Williams' Center for Learning in Action and the Berkshire County Jail in Pittsfield, MA. Although we will attempt to engage the readings on their own terms, we will also ask how the vast differences between the ancient world and our own undercut or enhance the texts' ability to illuminate the dilemmas of political life for us. [more], Impeachments. If so, should it be Hebrew or Yiddish? [more], The seminar involves a critical engagement with key Africana political leaders, theorists and liberationists. Thinkers we will engage include Judith Butler, Audre Lorde, Catherine MacKinnon, Hannah Arendt, and Patricia Hill Collins. More recent perspectives and critical interpretations will be drawn from feminist theory (Spivak, Pateman, MacKinnon, Folbre) and critical anthropology (Cassirer, Fabian, Graeber & Wengrow). Primary papers are due to respondent/professor 48hrs before the tutorial meets; response papers are emailed to the professor 2hours before the weekly tutorial meets. This course addresses the controversies, drawing examples from struggles over such matters as racism, colonialism, revolution, political founding, economic order, and the politics of sex and gender, while focusing on major works of ancient, modern, and contemporary theory by such authors as Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau, Mill, Marx, Nietzsche, Beauvoir, Arendt, Fanon, Rawls, Foucault, and Young. 2) How do we identify democratic breakdown? This tension over what government is doing and what it should be doing is only heightened in times of crisis, such as the moment the country is in now. What are the forces that shape whether citizens pay attention to politics, vote, work on campaigns, protest, or engage in other types of political action? How does corruption grow and what can we do about it? How might it change in the near future? to revisit this assumption. Where do we find continuities and where upheavals? They contend that it legitimates a view of the status quo, in which such terrible things are bound to happen without real cause. and exegetical writing about, core texts of ancient Chinese philosophy in English translation. The basic structure of the class is interdisciplinary; the goal of this approach is to utilize key conceptual arguments to gain greater leverage for the examination of major historical decisions in national security policy. We then interrogate dynamics central to political life in Africa over the 60 years since independence: the role of ethnic diversity in shaping competition, the prominence of patronage politics, and the evolution of elections. We will analyze texts and audio-visual works on the political economy of late colonial Jamaica, core Rastafari thinking, political theology, the role of reggae music, the notion of agency, and the influence of Rastafari on global politics. On the other hand, shifting ideas about science have strongly influenced the development of feminist theory and practice: for example, debates about reproductive rights are often couched in terms of a conflict between reliable scientific knowledge of embryos, STDs, etc. The third part focuses on religion in the USA. Environmental Studies 307 analyzes the transformation of environmental law from fringe enterprise to fundamental feature of modern political, economic and social life. The Impact of Black Panther Party Intellectuals on Political Theory. To whom? Readings will be drawn from such authors as Adorno, Allen, Arendt, Berlant, Brown, Butler, Connolly, Dean, Foucault, Galli, Honig, Latour, Moten, Rancire, Rawls, Sen, and Sexton. modernity and of politics offered by such thinkers as Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, Mill, and Freud. After examining general models of change and of leadership, we will consider specific case studies, such as civil rights for African-Americans, gender equality, labor advances, social conservatism, and populism. What do disadvantaged interests do in light of these power dynamics? The course will give a global perspective on Islamophobia and how it is structuring and used by political actors in various territories. It also creates status for other actors, such as international organizations, soldiers, national liberation movements, refugees, terrorists, transnational air and sea shipping companies, and multinational corporations. [more], This seminar examines the role of women in "liberation movements," it focuses on their contributions to civil and human rights, democratic culture, and theories of political and social change. In this tutorial, we will investigate what Arendt's vision of politics stands to offer to those struggling to comprehend and transform the darkest aspects of the contemporary political world. Why does Congress not act, especially when the U.S. confronts so many pressing problems, and how do legislators justify inaction? When should we leave important decisions to technocratic experts? will begin by surveying institutional constraints confronting contemporary political leaders: globalization, sclerotic institutions, polarization, endemic racism, and a changing media environment, among others. Political science attends to the ways that social power is grasped, maintained, challenged, or justified. The second part considers mid-20th-century writers who revise and critique economic liberalism from a variety of perspectives, including Joseph Schumpeter, Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, Ronald Coase, Arthur Okun, and Albert O. Hirschman. The readings will consist mostly of Palestinian authors, with an emphasis on documents, histories, and political analyses. From the perspective of the workplace, we investigate the firm as an arena of power, where workers and managers meet each other in continuous contests for control. Many argue that the presidency has been fundamentally altered by the tenure of Donald Trump. Most countries around the world have built elaborate institutions to ensure citizens' welfare by protecting some people from some risks, but not all people and not all risks. We will examine both the international and domestic context of the war, as well as pay close attention to both South and North Vietnamese perspectives on the war. We also compare historical U.S. foreign policy toward the hemisphere to U.S. policy toward the entire world after the Cold War. During this time, students will work primarily with their assigned faculty advisor, with the workshop leader's primary role becoming one of coordination, troubleshooting, and general guidance. Among the questions that we will address: What is justice? [more], What can a critical analysis of gender and sexuality bring to the study of law, constitutions, legal interpretation, and the task of judging? [more], The rise of gigantic tech firms--Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon--has sparked widespread worries about the role of business power in capitalist democracy. and analyze the principal structural and situational constraints--both foreign and domestic--that limit leaders' freedom of action, and which they must manage effectively to achieve their diplomatic and military goals. The structure of the course combines political science concepts and historical case studies, with the goal of generating in-depth classroom debates over key conceptual, historical, and policy questions. [more], This course examines the political, economic, and cultural determinants of conflict and cooperation in East Asia. With authority? The course will show how Muslims were constructed as subjects in history, politics, and society from the very beginning of the making of Europe and the Americas to the end of the Cold War to the post-9/11 era. We will engage some of the central questions and issues in the current debate on East Asia. Topics may include neoliberalism and democracy; sovereignty and biopower; pluralism, individuality, and justice; technology and the specter of ecological catastrophe; the problem of evil in politics; white supremacy; and contemporary struggles over gender and sexuality. that used to be the prerogative of human actors. Well-known contributions by feminist theorists include the conceptualization and critique of anti-discrimination frameworks, the legal analysis of intersecting systems of social subordination (particularly gender, race, class, sexuality, disability), and the theorization of "new" categories of rights (e.g. How closely do candidates resemble the constituencies they represent, and does it matter? Second, through a series of regular exercises and assignments, it seeks to stimulate critical thinking about fundamental questions of research design (crafting a question, performing a literature review, selecting appropriate methodological tools, evaluating data sources) and hone an array of practical skills--whether interpretive, historical, or quantitative--involved in political science research. The course goes back to the founding moments of an imagined white-Christian Europe and how the racialization of Muslim bodies was central to this project and how anti-Muslim racism continues to be relevant in our world today. Escalating racial violence in cities. This course will examine the problems and paradoxes that attend the exercise of the most powerful political office in the world's oldest democracy: Can an executive office be constructed with sufficient energy to govern and also be democratically accountable? At the same time, worries about residual impunity or the effect that punishment might have on societies' futures has led to the development of national and social courts, as well as national military tribunals, to complement those at the international level.
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