Politics 510
Political Science Department
Boston College
Globalization
Prof. Paul T. Christensen
McGuinn 218
2-4176 christpj@bc.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday, 10-12; Friday: 10-11; or by appointment http://www2.bc.edu/~christpj
Fall 2004
M-W-F 12 & 3
Cushing 210
Course Description and Objectives
This course is designed as an introduction to the controversial issue of “globalization.”
The term has been used to describe a series of economic, social, and cultural processes that involve greater integration and interaction among states, institutions, communities, and individuals on an international scale. The term is also used as an ideological lightening-rod, to either justify certain policies, like “free trade” and “democratization,” or to condemn them.
Some analysts present globalization as a fact, others as an on-going process, still others as an analytically empty term. The purpose of this course is not to resolve the disputes surrounding globalization, but to provide you with the empirical and theoretical tools necessary for you to construct your own interpretations of what globalization is and what it means.
We will begin the course by examining divergent views of where the world is now, where it might be going, and how the current system evolved. We will then turn to an analysis of the general economic, political, social and cultural components of globalization. In the second part of the course, we will explore more specific issues in the globalization debate.
Course Requirements
The reading for this course will average 100 pages per week, and each week will consist of two lecture days and one discussion session. Grades will be based on two 5-7 page papers
(due dates listed on the syllabus), a mid-term, and a final take-home exam, each of the four assignments making up 25% of your final grade.
Grading Policy: All assignments are due at the end of class on the day indicated. Any late papers will be reduced by 1/3 of a grade per 24 hours that the paper is late (that is, an “A” paper becomes and “A-“ paper if it is day late), unless you have made prior arrangements with me.
Academic Integrity: Please see the Boston College Catalogue section on academic integrity at: http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/enmgt/stserv.acd/univ.html#integrity

Books and Readings
The following titles are available for purchase at the BC Bookstore:
Jagdish Bhagwati, In Defense of Globalization
Mark Brawley, The Politics of Globalization
David Held and Anthony McGrew, Globalization/Anti-Globalization
Frank Lechner and John Boli, The Globalization Reader
Joseph Stiglitz, Globalization and its Discontents
There will also be readings that will be available in the library reserve room and/or on my website that are marked with an asterisk (*) on the syllabus.
Weekly Schedule and Assignments
September 7: Distribution of Syllabus; administrative notes
September 9:
Film: “Globalization: Winners and Losers”
Part I: Globalization—Economic, Political, and Historical Processes
September 13-17: Introduction to the course: Globalization—what is at stake?
Readings: Brawley,
Lechner and Boli,
The Politics of Globalization (PG), Chapters 1-3
The Globalization Reader (GR), Chapters 1-6
September 20-24: Globalization, Past: What is the driving force behind globalization?
Readings: Brawley, PG, Chapters 4 and 8
Lechner and Boli, GR, Chapters 7-10
September 27-October 1: Global Trade, “Free” Markets, and Multinational Corporations
Readings: *David Held, Global Transformations,
(on reserve in O’Neill)
Chapters 3 and 5
October 4-8: Interpreting the Global Economy
Readings: Held and McGrew, Globalization/Anti-Globalization, Chapter 4
Lechner and Boli, GR, Chapters 19-24
*(Optional: Oxfam report, “Making Trade Fair,” on reserve in O’Neill)
October 11: No Class—Columbus Day . . . speaking of globalization

October 13-15: Global Governance—Institutions or Anarchy?
Readings: Held and McGrew, G/A-G, Chapters 5-6
* Robert Gilpin, “A Realist Perspective on International Governance,” and
*Ngaire Woods, “Global Governance and the Role of Institutions,” in Held &
McGrew, eds., Governing Globalization (on Reserve in O’Neill)
October 18-22: Globalization, the Nation-State, and Democracy: Friends or Foes?
Readings: Brawley, PG, Chapter 5
Held, G/A-G, Chapter 2
Lechner and Boli, GR, Chapters 26-30
First Paper Due in Class, October 22
October 25-29: Terrorists, Mercenaries, and Merchants of Mass Destruction: Globalization and
Security in a New Century
Readings: *Audrey Kurth Cronin, “Behind the Curve: Globalization and International
Terrorism,” International Security, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Winter 2002/03)
*William Hartung, “The New Business of War: Small Arms and
Proliferation of Conflict”
*Stanley Hoffman, “Clash of Globalizations,” Foreign Affairs, July/August
2002
*Kendall Hoyt and Stephen G. Brooks, “A Double-Edged Sword:
Globalization and Biosecurity,”
International Security, Vol. 28, No. 3
(Winter 2003/04)
*Peter Landesman, “Arms and the Man,” New York Times Magazine,
August 17, 2003
Part II—Issues within Globalization
November 1: Mid-term Exam
November 3-5: “Workers of the World—Change Jobs?”
Readings: *Kim Moody, Workers in a Lean World (On reserve in O’Neill)
*Beverly Silver, Forces of Labor (On reserve in O’Neill)
November 8-10: Globalization and Gender
Readings: *Moghadam, “Gender and Globalization: Female Labor and Women’s
Mobilization,” Journal of World-Systems Research (On my
website)
*Aihwa Ong, “The Gender and Labor Politics of Postmodernity,” in O’Meara,

Globalization and the Challenges of the New Century (On reserve in
O’Neill)
November 12
Film: Who’s Counting?
November 15: Globalization and the Environment: It’s Not Easy Being Green
Readings: Lechner and Boli, GR, Chapters 47-52
November 17-22: POINT:
What’s Wrong with Globalization?
Reading: Joseph Stiglitz, Globalization and Its Discontents
November 24-26: No Class—Thanksgiving
, entire
November 29-December 3: COUNTER-POINT: What’s Right with Globalization
Reading: Jagdish Bagwati, In Defense of Globalization, entire
Second Paper Due December 3 in class
December 6-10: Where does Globalization go from here?
Reading: Brawley, PG, Chapters 9-10
Held & McGrew, G/A-G, Chapters 8-9
Final Exam Due in my office (McGuinn 218) by 2:30pm Saturday, December 18