PSc 8388.11
Politics and Culture
COURSE AND CONTACT INFORMATION
Course: PSc 8388.11: Politics and Culture
Semester: Spring 2011
Time: Tuesdays, 6:10 PM to 8 PM
Location: Monroe B-37
INSTRUCTOR
Name: Harvey Feigenbaum
Campus Address: 478 Monroe Hall
Phone: 202 994 9356
E-mail: harveyf@gwu.edu
Office hours: TR 1 PM to 2 PM, and by appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This is a course that examines a number of the ways that issues of culture and politics
intersect. While the subject is vast, and could hardly be exhausted by a single course, the
purpose of this seminar is to give the student an idea as to some of the ways in which
culture affects politics and in which politics affects culture. The purpose is also to give
the instructor some idea of how students see the interaction of politics and culture. As
always in a proseminar, there will be no lectures. Rather, we will discuss the readings
assigned each week. Students should have done all the assigned readings for the week
before the each class begins.
TEXTS
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The German Ideology
Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities
Edward Banfield, The Moral Basis of a Backward Society
Aida Hozic, Hollyworld: Power and Fantasy in the American Economy
Victoria de Grazia, Irresistible Empire
Gabriel Almond and Sydney Verba, The Civic Culture
Michael Loriaux, The European Union and the Deconstruction of the Rhineland Frontier
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
1.By taking this course students will first be exposed to a wide variety of approaches to
understanding the relationship between politics, ideas and culture.
2. Students will learn to evaluate theories in terms of methodological rigor, logical fallacies
and inherent political biases.
3. They will develop writing skills which focus on clarity of exposition, logical organization,
and attention to alternative hypotheses.
GRADING
Besides doing the readings in a timely fashion, the course has three written assignments.
These include a research paper, a short critical essay and a possible final short paper to be
determined. If no final short paper is assigned, the grading will be as follows: short paper
=one third of final grade; term paper= two-thirds of final grade. If a final short paper is
assigned, grading will be: first short paper=25%, final short paper=25%; term paper =
50%.
Research Paper: All students must submit a research paper by the end of the term (the
day of classes). The student will a pick a culture policy in the country or region of his or
her choice. The policy may be broad, such as “culture policy in France” or narrow, such
as “municipal support for the opera in Houston”. The paper will describe the policy in
question, discuss the goals and the areas of political contention, and make a judgement as
to whether or not the policy is a success, making clear what the criteria for judging
“success” are.
Research should be done using both primary and secondary resources. The paper should
be about 20 pages long or 5,000 words.
Additional Requirements: Students are required to submit two or three discussion
questions based on the week’s readings at least two hours before class begins. Questions
may be sent by e-mail or hand delivered to the instructor. Discussion questions will not
be graded. However, if students are lax in turning in discussion questions the instructor
reserves the right to assign a grade to them totaling no less than 25% of the total grade,
with the weight of other assignments being adjusted accordingly.
CLASS POLICIES
As the class only meets 14 times, attendance is vital. Excessive absences, for whatever
reason, will be considered grounds for failure.
University Policy on Religious Holidays:
1. Students should notify faculty during the first week of the semester of their
intention to be absent from class on their day(s) of religious observance;
2. Faculty should extend to these students the courtesy of absence without penalty
on such occasions, including permission to make up examinations;
3. Faculty who intend to observe a religious holiday should arrange at the
beginning of the semester to reschedule missed classes or to make other
provisions for their course-related activities
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ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
I personally support the GW Code of Academic Integrity. It states:: “Academic
dishonesty is defined as cheating of any kind, including misrepresenting one's own work,
taking credit for the work of others without crediting them and without appropriate
authorization, and the fabrication of information.” For the remainder of the code, see:
http://www.gwu.edu/~ntegrity/code.html
SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
DISABILITY SUPPORT SERVICES (DSS)
Any student who may need an accommodation based on the potential impact of a
disability should contact the Disability Support Services office at 202-994-8250 in the
Marvin Center, Suite 242, to establish eligibility and to coordinate reasonable
accommodations. For additional information please refer to: http://gwired.gwu.edu/dss/
UNIVERSITY COUNSELING CENTER (UCC) 202-994-5300
The University Counseling Center (UCC) offers 24/7 assistance and referral to
address students' personal, social, career, and study skills problems. Services for students
include:
- crisis and emergency mental health consultations
- confidential assessment, counseling services (individual and small group), and
referrals
http://gwired.gwu.edu/counsel/CounselingServices/AcademicSupportServices
SECURITY
In the case of an emergency, if at all possible, the class should shelter in place. If the
building that the class is in is affected, follow the evacuation procedures for the building.
After evacuation, seek shelter at a predetermined rendezvous location.
Weekly Topics
I.
Introduction
II..
The Classics: Culture and Capitalism
Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
Anthony Giddens, “Introduction” to the Protestant Ethic (on Blackboard)
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III.
Culture, Ideas and Politics: Theoretical approaches
Clifford Geertz, the Interpretation of Cultures, chap. 2, “The Impact of the
Concept of Culture on the Concept of Man”
Daniel Beland and Robert H. Cox, eds, Ideas and Social Science
Chapters by Schmidt, Hay, Blyth and Berman on Blackboard
IV.
Class, Culture and Perception
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The German Ideology, part I.
Karl Marx, “The Method of Political Economy,” in The Grundrisse, Blacboard
Eugene Miller, “Postivism, Historicism, and Political Inquiry,” APSR, v. 66,
972JSTOR
http://www.jstor.org/pss/1957479
Recommended: Karl Mannheim, Ideology and Utopia
V.
Culture and Development
Edward Banfield, The Moral Basis of a Backward Society
David Landes, “Culture makes almost all the Difference” in Laurence Harrison
and Samuel P. Huntington, Culture Matters (Blackboard)s
VI.
Culture and Democracy
Gabriel Almond and Sydney Verba, The Civic Culture
Robert Putnam, “Bowling Alone” in Crothers and Lockhart,eds., Culture and
Politics: A Reader Blackboard
Alexis de Tocqueville, "Political Associations in America", in Democracy in
America (Chap. 10) (Blackboard)
Margaret Kohn, “Civic Republicanism versus Social Struggle: A Gramscian
Approach to Associationalism in Italy,” Political Power and Social Theory, vol. 13,
pp. 201-235.(Blackboard)
Recommended:
Robert Putnam, Making Democracy Work
Sydney Tarrow, “Making Social Science Work Across Space and Time: A
Critical Reflection on Robert Putnam’s Making Democracy Work in Crothers and
Lockhart
VII.
Nationalism and Identity I
Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities
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Marc Howard Ross, “Culture, Identity, and Comparative Political Analysis” in
Crothers and Lockhart; Blackboard
Recommended:
Ernest Gellner, Nations and Nationalism
Harvey Feigenbaum, “Centralization and National Integration in France,”
Mediterranean Quarterly, 8, 1 (Winter 1997)
VIII. Nationalism and Identity II
Michael Loriaux, The European Union and the Deconstruction of the Rhineland
Frontier (Cambridge University Press, 2008)
EJ Hobbsbawm and Terrence Ranger, The Invention of Tradition, Chaps. 1, 6, 7,
Blackboard
Ronald Inglehart and Maria Carballo, “Does Latin America Exist? (And Is There
a Confucian Culture?): A Global Analysis of Cross-Cultural Differences” in
Crothers and Lockhart
IX
Culture, Power, and Trade
JPSingh, ed., International Cultural Policies and Power: Chapters by Singh,
Schneider, Balassa, and Feigenbaum; on Blackboard
 Henry Farrell, “The Political Economy of the Internet and E-Commerce,” in
Political Economy and the Changing Global Order (third edition), eds. Richard
Stubbs and Geoffrey R.D. Underhill (Oxford: 2005)
Harvey Feigenbaum, “The Dialectics of Multi-Level Governance in European
Audiovisual Markets,” Prepared for presentation at the Conference, “Drawing
Lessons from the Transformation of the State in the Age of Multi-Level
Governance.” May 2008, Paris, France; Blackboard
X Popular Culture: Film and Television
Aida Hozic, Hollyworld
Victoria de Grazia, Irresistible Empire, chap. 6
Desmond King, “Americans in the Dark? Recent Hollywood Representations of
the Nation’s History,” Government and Opposition,
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1477-7053.t01-1-00010
“Hegemony or Diversity in Film and Television?: The US, Europe and Japan,”
Pacific Review,Volume 20, Number 3, September 2007 , pp. 371-396(26)
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XI.
Film TBA
XII
Popular Culture: Film discussion
XIII.
Culture and Globalization
Rosenfeld and Farhi, Washington Post articles, Oct 25, 26, 27, 1998
Feigenbaum, “Digital Entertainment Jumps the Border,” March 2003
Feigenbaum, “Smart Practice and Innovation in Cultural Policy: Responses to
Americanization” Blackboard
De Grazia, chaps 1, 2, 7, 9, Conclusion
.
XIV. Culture and Foreign Policy
Samuel Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations?”Foreign Affairs (Summer
1993), in Crothers and Lockhart and on Blackboard
Peter Katzenstein, “’Walls’ between ‘Those People’”Perspectives on Politics, 8, 1
(March 2010), Blackboard
Feigenbaum, Globalization and Cultural Diplomacy, Blackboard
Peter J. Katzenstein, “’Walls’ between ‘Those People. Contrasting Perspectives
on World Politics,” Perspectives on Politics, 8, 1 (March 2010)
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