Core II ​ Social Thought and Political Economy 392 H

Tu / Thu 2:30­3:45, Bartlett 205 Fall 2016 Instructor: Shakuntala Ray Office Hours: Tuesdays 4:00­5:00 at E­30 Machmer, or by appointment. ​

Email : [email protected]

Course Description This course is the second seminar in the year long STPEC Core Seminar sequence. In Core I, we focused on the reading, critique, and discussion of key foundational Western texts from the 16th century onwards to explore the driving forces behind the production of modernity as a Western episteme ( the way we organize and learn the world today). In Core II, we will turn to ​ ​ understanding in more detail the complex ways in which key political, social, and cultural practices and philosophies of the 20th century reveal or critique contradictions, complexities and pitfalls of modernity. As this is an interdisciplinary class, we will be bringing tools and perspectives from various disciplines (i.e. economy, sociology, anthropology, political science, literary theory, gender studies, history and cultural studies) to bear upon each other, always paying special attention to the construction and reception of ideas in specific contexts differentiated by class, race, gender, sexuality, religion, and geopolitics. Importantly, we will try to understand the relevance of “theory” to praxis and the contested worlds that we all form a part. Core II is an interactive seminar rather than a lecture course. Full and active participation is needed and expected. All students are expected to attend all class meetings, arrive on time, read assigned texts, and participate in discussions.

Student Responsibilities

All readings and a copy of this syllabus are updated on Moodle. If you are unsure about how to use Moodle or are encountering problems, please visit OIT and seek help immediately. If I have trouble using Moodle, I will be sending out updates via gmail. I expect you to search beyond the assigned material, i.e. look up background information on the author, time period, context etc. before engaging with textual analysis. This course is an advanced university course; it requires much reading, but also intelligent and productive discussion and analysis. Please bring your ​ readings to class. Your laptops will be welcome, but please do not use the laptop to browse ​ materials that are not relevant for this class.

Attendance

Attendance will affect your participation both in lectures and discussion sections. This is not an online course, and therefore your presence and punctuality are required. I will accept only THREE (3) unexcused absences. Every absence after that will lower your final grade by a third of a letter. Also, every THREE (3) late presents will count as ONE (1) unexcused absence. All excused absences MUST be accompanied by proper documentation (doctor’s note, obituary, athletic department letters, etc).

Communication with the instructor You are encouraged to meet with the instructor during office hours to chart your individual learning and progress in this class. There will be one mandatory meeting this semester. ​ Additionally, we will try to hold discussion sessions to talk about our learning collectively as a class.

Academic Honesty

Please remember that plagiarism is a serious academic offense. You should review the University’s policies on academic honesty at http://www.umass.edu/dean_students/codeofconduct/acadhonesty/ Please be aware that you will get an F for the class if plagiarism occurs.

ASSIGNMENTS AND EVALUATION

You will be evaluated in the course based on the quality of your written work combined with your attendance and participation. Your grades will not be based on your beliefs or whether you ​ ​ agree with the perspectives presented in class, but on your knowledge of the material, rigor in analysis and writing skills.

Talking about what you think will NOT pass you! The reading of the material is necessary for any real discussion. Critical discussions are necessary for any real significant learning. Each class students must prepare at least 2 discussion questions or 2 fleshed out definitions of the ​ ​ major concepts from the readings for each class and post it on the Discussion Forum for each ​ class before class begins. I will call upon you to share your discussion questions or concept definitions in class. Additionally, you are expected to take charge of the class space and participate in class discussions regularly.

Co­facilitation of a class session ​ As part of our commitment to a participatory classroom each student is expected to co­facilitate ​ the first 10 minutes of one class session. A sign­up sheet will be passed around the first week of ​ ​ the semester so that everyone can sign­up. This is not a formal lecture, but a participatory ​ seminar. The student should prepare to present for 8­10 minutes and lead the rest of the class ​ time in meaningful discussion on the session topic. Creativity and interactive presentations are encouraged. Powerpoints are necessary.

2 Main Papers: Midterm and Final

1)The midterm analytical paper should be a 5­ 6 page critical essay. The purpose of this short ​ analytical paper is to help you understand the main argument of the texts and to put different authors in conversation with each other. Due on Oct 22nd.

2) You will write a final academic paper that is 10­12 pages. Before writing a final paper, you ​ will be required to hand in a paper proposal and bibliography. More details about the final paper will be made available on Moodle. Your annotated bibliography and summary are due on 12/01. The final paper is due on 12/17.

Class Exercises

In addition to your presentations and participation in class discussions, we will do other exercises in class along with assigned readings. These may include presenting each other’s work, media analysis exercises, debates etc. These will form a part of your participation grade.

Creative Project

The project proposal is due on Oct 2nd . The project will be due Tuesday and Thursday last week of class. Instructions and details will be uploaded on Moodle.

Grading Criteria

Attendance and Participation 10%, Discussion questions and blog : 5%, Co­facilitating class ​ sessions 10%, Project 20%, Final Paper and Midterm paper 30% and 25% (each i.e. total 55%)

(A) 94­100 points, (A­) 93­90 points, (B+) 87­89 points, (B) 84­86 points, (B­) 80­83 points, ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (C+)77­79 points, (C) 74­76 points, (C­) 68­73 points, (D+)64­67 points, ( D)60­63 points, and ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (F) below 60 points.

Class etiquette If any of the class discussions and readings make you uncomfortable, we can talk about it outside class, but we need to start with the awareness that certain academic discussions will not have easy resolutions. This course is built around debate and discussion of complex, controversial issues. We will proceed with this knowledge.

Syllabus

While students may rely upon this syllabus for all readings and assignments, they should also be aware that unforeseen events and circumstances might require that we alter the syllabus from time to time. Students are therefore encouraged to attend class regularly and check emails and ​ ​ Moodle for any updates or changes. Depending on class learning, the instructor might make alterations to the syllabus.

Course Calendar ​

Week One: Introduction Sept 6th Tuesday: Introduction to the seminar.

Sept 8th Thursday: Revisiting Core 1; What were the main concepts/theories in 391H?

Week Two: Empire

Vladimir Lenin's main goal in Imperialism was to show how the colonial expansion and ​ ​ ​ imperialist rivalry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were based in profound changes in the nature of capitalism during the same period, calling imperialism at the beginning of the 20th century the last stage and end of capitalism.

Sept 13th Tuesday : Vladimir Lenin, (1917) Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. ​ ​ Moscow: Progress Publishers. Selections. https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/imp­hsc/

Sept 15th Thursday: Imperialism as we knew it may be no more, but Empire is thriving. It is, as Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri argue that Empire as a universal order allows no boundaries. ​ ​ ​ According to them, this Empire is fundamentally different from the imperialism of European dominance and capitalist expansion in previous eras. Hardt and Negri link this change to cultural and economic shifts —to new forms of racism, new conceptions of identity and difference, new webs of communication and power, and new paths of movement and mobilization.

Antonio Negri, Michael Hardt. (2000). Empire. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University ​ ​ Press.Selections. http://www.angelfire.com/cantina/negri/HAREMI_printable.pdf

Week Three: Neoliberalism Globalization has created a new interconnected, mobile and shifting world. As capital flows freely across borders, protected by laws and regulations, it also collides with social movements that oppose it. In a move that David Harvey famously defined as “accumulation by ​ ​ dispossession,” neoliberal policies were implemented to guarantee the freedom of markets. Unevenly deployed across the world, these policies created various new situations of conflict and oppression.

Sept 20th Tuesday : David Harvey,(2005). A Brief History of Neoliberalism. New York:Oxford ​ ​ University Press. Selections. ​ ​ http://www.sok.bz/web/media/video/ABriefHistoryNeoliberalism.pdf

Sept 22nd Thursday: Africa is a huge, diverse continent. However, the concept of “Africa” is ​ ​ ​ ​ socially constructed as monolithic. Nevertheless, people in the continent have to live and be defined by this narrow concept. Anthropologist James Ferguson analyzes the impact of the ​ ​ West in creating shadows of democracy and shows the transnational relations that created “Africa’s” poverty.

James Ferguson, (2006). Global Shadows: Africa in the Neoliberal World Order. Durham:Duke ​ ​ University Press. Selections. ​ ​ http://www.womin.org.za/images/regional­and­global­perspectives/minerals­energy­complex/Ja mes%20Ferguson%20­%20Global%20Shadows%20­%20Africa%20in%20the%20Neoliberal%2 0World%20Order.pdf

Week Four: Cultural Imperialism and Globalization Sept 27th Tuesday: The early 20th century witnessed a proliferation of new forms of mass communication, and the emergence of a powerful entertainment industry geared towards the creation of profit through the distribution of cultural products. Theodor Adorno and Max ​ Horkheimer were some of the first scholars to critically engage with these cultural conditions ​ and argue that, in modern capitalist society, the increasing commodification of culture had transformed culture itself into a crucial instrument of cultural hegemony— a key means by which the capitalist order itself was maintained.

Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, (1944). “The Culture Industry:Enlightenment as Mass Deception.” Dialectic of Enlightenment. Trans. John Cumming. New York: Herder and Herder, ​ ​ 1972. http://faculty.georgetown.edu/irvinem/theory/Adorno­Horkheimer­Culture­Industry.pdf

Sept 29th Thursday :McDonaldization is the term invented by George Ritzer to describe a ​ ​ ​ ​ sociological phenomenon that is happening in our society. Henry Ford was the first McDonaldization pioneer with his vision of an assembly line for improving the production of automobiles. His revolutionary idea dramatically changed how many automobiles could be produced in “efficient” ways. In essence, McDonaldization is the process of rationalization taken ​ ​ to extreme and contradictory levels.

George Ritzer, (1996). “ The McDonaldization of Society.” McDonaldization of Society. California: Pine Forge Press. http://petermarina.com/DOCUMENTS/problemsurbancomm/mail/The%20McDonaldization%20 of%20Society.pdf

Week Five: Michel Foucault was an influential French philosopher who gave rise to a powerful ​ methodology to understand the world by focusing on power and knowledge in Western societies. Rather than limiting his analysis to the economy, Foucault engaged in an exploration of how power produces knowledge and truth in different historical contexts.

Oct 4th Tuesday: Michel Foucault. (1975). Discipline and Punish. Selections ​ ​ http://dm.ncl.ac.uk/courseblog/files/2011/03/michel­foucault­panopticism.pdf ( Monday schedule so holiday) ​​

Oct 6th Thursday: Michel Foucault. (2004). The Birth of Bio­Politics. Selections ​ ​ https://1000littlehammers.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/birth_of_biopolitics.pdf

Week Six: Foucault Oct 11th Tuesday : Tuesday Schedule ­­ no class!

Oct 13th Thursday Michel Foucault. History of Sexuality. Selections. ​ ​ https://stjsociologyofgender.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/history­of­sexuality­volume1­part­1.pd f Week Seven: Queer Theory Although useful to unify in a struggle for basic civil rights, in time the concept of “women” came under attack by women of color and poststructuralist thinkers. While women of color did not feel white feminists represented their own struggle, poststructuralist author Judith Butler critiqued ​ ​ the concept from a different angle. For her, the concept of “women” was responsible for reinforcing the women­men binary. Butler’s work gave rise to the queer movement.

Oct 18th Tuesday : Judith Butler, (1990). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of ​ ​ ​ Identity. New York: Routledge. Selections. ​ http://www.lauragonzalez.com/TC/BUTLER_gender_trouble.pdf

Oct 20th Thursday :In Aberrations in Black: Toward a Queer of Color Critique, Roderick A. ​ ​ ​ Ferguson defines queer of color analysis as a critique of social formations as the intersections of ​ race, gender, sexuality, and class, with particular interest in how those formations correspond with and diverge from nationalist ideals and practices. Queer of color analysis is a heterogeneous enterprise made up of women of color feminism, materialist analysis, poststructuralist theory, and queer critique. (Ferguson, Aberrations in Black: Toward a Queer of Color Critique) ​ ​

Roderick Ferguson, (2004). Preface and Introduction. Aberrations in Black: Toward a Theory of ​ Color Critique. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ​

Week Eight: Feminism and Neoliberalism ​ ​

Feminism’s immersion in identity politics coincided with a decline in its visionary energies and the rise of neoliberalism. Predicting a revival in the movement, political theorist Nancy Fraser argues for a reinvigorated feminist radicalism able to address the global economic crisis.

Oct 25th Tuesday : Nancy Fraser, (2013). Fortunes of Feminism: From State­Managed ​ ​ ​ Capitalism to Neoliberal Crisis. New York:Verso.Selections. ​ ​

October 27th Thursday: Eurocentric Feminisms ​ Do Muslim women need saving? Lila Abu­Lughod challenges this conclusion. An ​ ​ anthropologist who has been writing about Arab women for thirty years, she delves into the predicaments of Muslim women today, and questions generalizations and stereotypes about culture, asking what motivates particular individuals and institutions to promote rights on behalf of certain women.

Lila Abu Lughod,(2002). “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?:Anthropological ​ Reflections on Cultural Relativism and its Others. ”American Anthropologist Vol 104, No. 3. ​ ​ http://org.uib.no/smi/seminars/Pensum/Abu­Lughod.pdf

Week Nine: Black Feminism Audre Lorde was one of the most influential radical black feminists of the past century. Her ​ writings served as a transformative and important foundation for theorists and activists in considering questions of power and social justice through an embracing of difference.

Nov 1st Tuesday: Audre Lorde, (1985). I am your Sister: Black Women Organizing across ​ Sexualities. New York: Oxford University Press. Selections. ​ https://www.marxists.org/subject/lgbtq/pamphlets/I%20Am%20Your%20Sister­Audrey%20Lor de.pdf

Nov 3rd Thursday: Race, Gender, and Class in America ​ Prof. Glenn's work focuses on the dynamics of race, gender, and class in processes of inequality ​ ​ and exclusion. She illustrates the complex interplay of local and national forces in American ​ society and provides a critical view of how labor and citizenship were defined and contested in a developmental era for non white relations in America.

Evelyn Nakano Glenn, (2002). Unequal Freedom : How Race and Gender Shaped American ​ Citizenship and Labor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Selections. ​ https://caringlabor.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/unequal­fredom_­how­race­and­gender­shap­ev elyn­nakano­glenn.pdf

Week ten: Critical Race Theory Critical race theory not only treats race as central to the law and policy of the United States, it attempts to look beyond the popular belief that getting rid of racism means simply getting rid of ignorance, or encouraging everyone to “get along.” As race relations continue to shape our lives in the new century, critical race theory has become an indispensable tool for making sense of it all. (Excerpt from Preface, Critical Race Theory: An Introduction)

Nov 8th Tuesday : Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, (2006). Critical Race Theory: An ​ Introduction New York: NYU Press. http://www.odec.umd.edu/CD/RACE/CRT.PDF ​ ​

Nov 10th Thursday: Michelle Alexander argues that we have not ended racial caste in America: ​ ​ we have simply redesigned it. Alexander shows that, by targeting black men and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of color blindness. The New Jim Crow challenges the civil rights community ­ and all of us ­ to place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice in America. (Excerpt from the book)

Michelle Alexander, (2010). The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the age of ​ Colorblindness. New York: New Press. Selections. ​ :https://peacelawandjustice.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/newjimcrow­ch­1.pdf

Week Eleven: The Postcolonial and Globalization

Nov 15th Tuesday : Renowned critical theorist, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak finds the neat ​ ​ ​ divisions of tradition and modernity, colonial and postcolonial, no longer fully adequate for interpreting the globalized present. She argues that aesthetic education is a powerful instrument for implementing global justice and democracy.

Gayatri C. Spivak, (2012). An Aesthetic Education in an Era of Globalization.Cambridge, MA: ​ ​ Harvard University Press. Selections. ​ ​ https://academictrap.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/gayatri­chakravorty­spivak­an­aesthetic­educa tion­in­the­era­of­globalization.pdf

Nov 17th Thursday: Political scientist Achille Mbembe delves deeper into explaining the ​ ​ ​ present neoliberal era of terror and insecurity, in which he argues, a new form of biopolitical governmentality or “necropower,”i.e. the technologies of power through which life is subjugated to the power of death, operates alongside technologies of discipline, and the power to enhance ​ ​ life.

Achille Mbembe, (2003). “Necropolitics.” Trans. Libby Mientjes. Public Culture 15(1):11­40. ​ ​ https://www.dartmouth.edu/~lhc/docs/achillembembe.pdf

Week Twelve: ​ No class Thanksgiving!! ​​

Week Thirteen: Anti­Corporate Global Movements Occupy Movement While the Anti­Corporate Globalization movement fought over global justice, the Occupy movement mostly focused on domestic issues following the 2008 economic crisis. By identifying Wall Street as the monster behind the debacle, Occupy mobilized important sectors of the US population.

Nov 29th Tuesday: David Graeber, (2013). “Why did it Work?” The Democracy Project: A ​ History, a Crisis, a Movement. NY: Spiegel and Grau. Pp. 55­149 ​

Dec1st Thursday: In Stolen Harvest, Vandana Shiva charts the impact of globalized, corporate, ​ ​ ​ ​ agriculture on small farmer, the environment and the quality of the food we eat.

Vandana Shiva, (2000). The Stolen Harvest: Hijacking The Global Food Supply. Cambridge, ​ ​ MA:South End Press. Selections. http://staff.washington.edu/jhannah/geog270aut07/readings/GreenGeneRevolutions/Shiva%20­% 20Ch%201%20HijackingGlobalFoodSupply.pdf

Week Fourteen : ​ Dec 6th Tuesday : Reflection Dec 8th Thursday: Reflection Paper due by Dec 17th. Grades final Dec 21st.

Week Fifteen: Last day of class Tuesday 13th. Writing Workshop.

*Acknowledgements I want to acknowledge the important contributions that have been made to this syllabus by Dr. Graciela Monteagudo. ​

Bibliography:

Abu­Lughod, Lila. “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?:Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and its Others. ”American Anthropologist Vol 104, No. 3, 2002. Web. ​ ​

Adorno, Theodor, and Max Horkheimer. “The Culture Industry:Enlightenment as Mass Deception.” Dialectic of Enlightenment. Translated by John Cumming, New York: Herder and ​ ​ Herder, 1972. Print.

Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the age of Colorblindness. ​ ​ New York: New Press, 2010. Print.

Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: ​ ​ ​ Routledge, 1990. Print.

Delgado, Richard, and Jean Stefancic. Critical Race Theory: An Introduction New York: NYU ​ ​ Press, 2006. Print.

Ferguson, Roderick. Aberrations in Black: Toward a Theory of Color Critique. Minneapolis: ​ ​ University of Minnesota Press, 2004. Print.

Ferguson, James. Global Shadows: Africa in the Neoliberal World Order. Durham:Duke ​ ​ University Press, 2006. Print. ​ ​

Foucault, Michel. History of Sexuality: Vol 1 An Introduction. Translated by Robert Hurley, ​ ​ New York: Pantheon Books, 1978. Print. ​ ​

Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish. Translated by Alan Sheridan, New York: Vintage ​ ​ Books, 1995. Print.

Foucault, Michel. The Birth of Bio­Politics. Translated by Graham Burchell, New York: ​ ​ Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Print.

Fraser, Nancy. Fortunes of Feminism: From State­Managed Capitalism to Neoliberal Crisis. ​ ​ New York:Verso, 2013. Print.

Glenn, Evelyn Nakano. Unequal Freedom : How Race and Gender Shaped American ​ Citizenship and Labor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004. Print. ​

Graeber, David. “ The Globalization Movement and the New New Left.” Implicating Empire: ​ st ​ Globalization and Resistance in the 21 .Century World Order. Edited by Stanley Aronowitz ​ ​ and Heather Gautney, New York: Basic Books, 2003. Print.

Graeber, David. “Why did it Work?” The Democracy Project: A History, a Crisis, a Movement. ​ ​ NY: Spiegel and Grau, 2013. Print.

Harvey, David. A Brief History of Neoliberalism. New York:Oxford University Press, 2005. ​ ​ ​ ​ Print.

Lenin, Vladimir. Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. Moscow: Progress Publishers, ​ ​ 1963. Print.

Lorde, Audre. I am your Sister: Black Women Organizing across Sexualities. New York: ​ ​ Oxford University Press, 2011. Print.

Mbembe, Achille. “Necropolitics.” Translated by Libby Mientjes, Public Culture 15(1):11­40. ​ ​ Web.

Negri, Antonio, and Michael Hardt. Empire. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University ​ ​ Press, 2000. Print.

Ritzer, George. “ The McDonaldization of Society.” McDonaldization of Society. California: ​ ​ Pine Forge Press, 1996. Print.

Shiva, Vandana. The Stolen Harvest: Hijacking The Global Food Supply. Cambridge, ​ ​ MA:South End Press, 2000. Print.

Spivak, Gayatri C. An Aesthetic Education in an Era of Globalization.Cambridge, MA: Harvard ​ ​ University Press, 2012. Print.