Politics 329
Globalization Politics
Spring 2014
Stephen Crowley
Monday 2:30-4:20
Rice 17
Office: Rice 211
Office Hours: W 2:00-4:30; or by appointment
(please sign up at: http://tinyurl.com/scrowley)
e-mail: scrowley@oberlin.edu
Phone: 775-8286
This seminar will examine what is arguably the dominant trend of the post-Cold
War world: the increasingly global nature of capitalism, together with the compression of
the world through new technologies, and the consequences and reactions these trends
have spurred throughout the world. We will examine how competing theoretical
perspectives on globalization help explain why this issue has generated such conflict and
controversy. We will explore the impact of globalization on the Third World, on labor, the
environment, state sovereignty and world culture, before asking what possible
alternatives to globalization exist.
Course Requirements
The seminar will involve reading and discussing a number of different
perspectives and debates about both globalization and the conflict it has generated.
Through these we will jointly explore and debate theoretical models, ideas, and
hypotheses that should prove fruitful in the writing of your research paper. Since this is a
seminar, you are expected to complete the weekly reading and come to class prepared to
discuss the issues raised.
The first ten sessions will involve critical discussion of the readings. The day
before each class (i.e., Sunday) you are to post critical comments about the week’s
reading on the seminar’s Blackboard discussion forum. These will form the basis for our
collective discussions and are essential for the success of that enterprise.
Please note: I request that you not use laptop computers or other electronic devices during
class time. Even if laptops might not be distracting to the user, they can be distracting to
other students, and in a discussion-oriented seminar we want to give one another our full
attention. (Plus, laptops, smart phones and all that other crap are made with sweatshop
labor; see below.)
The extended research paper (approximately 20-25 pages) will compromise a
major part of this course, and is due no later than the scheduled exam time for this class.
To make completing the paper more manageable, we will break the research and writing
into a number of components, according the following schedule:
- a meeting with instructor to define a topic sometime before class on March 10.
- a 1-2 page proposal for your research topic, which should include a statement of your
research question(s); justification of the topic in terms of its interest and importance; any
anticipated problems and proposed solutions, due March 14.
- an annotated bibliography, which identifies and evaluates a variety of research
materials, due March 21.
- a meeting with the instructor to discuss your progress during the week of April 21.
- a 1-2 page introduction to your paper, including your thesis statement, and a detailed
outline of your paper, due April 25.
- a complete draft of your paper, due May 5.
- a presentation of your “works in progress” to the class; the last three sessions will be
devoted to these presentations and discussion of your papers in progress.
- the final paper, along with your draft(s) and the other above materials, will be due no
later than May 17.
Grades will be assessed in the following manner: Class participation, including
your regular postings to the Blackboard discussion forum and the in-class presentation,
will be 50% of the grade. The remaining 50% will be based on the research paper.
Reading:
The following books have been ordered for purchase at the Oberlin College bookstore:
Ha-Joon Chang, Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of
Capitalism (Bloomsbury, 2008)
Aravind Adiga, White Tiger (Free Press, 2008)
David Harvey, The Enigma of Capital (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010)
[this book is available as an e-book via OBIS]
These books we will be reading substantial portions of, so their purchase is
recommended:
Martin Wolf, Why Globalization Works (Yale University Press, 2004)
Joseph Stiglitz, Globalization and its Discontents (Norton, 2002)
The other reading will be available on Blackboard.
Class Schedule
February 3: Introduction
no assigned reading
February 10: Liberalism
Thomas Friedman, Lexus and the Olive Tree, "Opening Scene", chapts. 6-7
Martin Wolf, Why Globalization Works, preface, chapters 2-6
Gregg Easterbrook, Sonic Boom, introduction
February 17: Mercantilism and the State
Robert Gilpin, "The Nature of Political Economy," in Robert Art and Robert
Jervis, International Politics
Ha-Joon Chang, Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History
of Capitalism, prologue, chapts. 1-6, and 8
Watch the 4-minute video, “The iPhone Economy”: http://www.nytimes.com/
interactive/2012/01/20/business/the-iphone-economy.html?ref=business
February 24: Marxism and Globalization
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto [part 1, "Bourgeois
and Proleterians"]
Immanuel Wallerstein, World Systems Analysis, chapt. 2
David Harvey, The Enigma of Capital, pp. 8-66; 88-116; 119-121; 140-172;
204-214
Take a look at this video of a presentation by Harvey: http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=qOP2V_np2c0
March 3: Globalization and Inequality
Charles Lindblom, “The Market as Prison,” The Journal of Politics, Vol. 44, No.
2, 1982
Joseph Stiglitz, Globalization and its Discontents, chapts. 1-2; 4
Branko Milanovic, The Haves and the Have-Nots, pp. 95-140; 149-164; 171-175;
182-186
[available as an e-book via OBIS]
March 10: Globalization and the Commodification of Labor
Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of
Our Time (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), chapts. 6-7, 12
Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, “Two Cheers for Sweatshops,” New York
Times Magazine, Sept. 24, 2000
Frances Moore Lappe and Joseph Collins, "Why Can't People Feed Themselves"
in Robin Broad, ed., Global Backlash
Robert Ross, Slaves to Fashion, chapts. 5-6
Ken Silverstein, “Shopping for Sweat: The Human Cost of a Two-Dollar T-Shirt,”
Harpers, January 2010
March 14: Paper proposal due
March 17: The Environmental Critique
Erik Assadourian, “The Rise and Fall of Consumer Cultures,” The Worldwatch
Institute, State of the World, 2010
John Talberth, “A New Bottom Line for Progress,” The Worldwatch Institute,
State of the World, 2008
Jonathon Porritt, Capitalism as if the World Matters, Introduction, chapt. 1, 3- 4
Clive Hamilton, Affluenza, chapt. 1
Chandran Nair, “Constraining Consumption,” RSA Events Video, http://
www.thersa.org/events/video/vision-videos/chandran-nair
March 21: Annotated bibliography due
March 31: Global Culture
Arjun Appadurai, Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization,
chapters 1 (to page 16); chapter 2
Amartya Sen, “How to Judge Globalism,” American Prospect, 13, no. 1 (Jan.
2002)
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, “Our Right to Remain Separate and Distinct,” in Jerry
Mander and Tauli-Corpuz, eds., Paradigm Wars
Kwame Anthony Appiah, “The Case for Contamination,” The New York Times,
January 1, 2006
Paul Hooper, Understanding Cultural Globalization, chapt. 6
Chrystia Freeland, “The Rise of the New Global Elite,” The Atlantic, January/
February 2011
April 7: The View from Below
Thomas Friedman, The World is Flat (pp. 3-36) [skim]
Aravind Adiga, White Tiger
April 14: Reaction and Resistance
Margaret Keck and Kathryn Sikkink, “Activists Beyond Borders,” in The Politics
of Globalization
David West, Social Movements in Global Politics, pp. 127-129; 138-149
Heikki Patomaki and Teivo Teivainen, A Possible World, chapts. 12-13
Asbjorn Wahl, “Austerity Policies in Europe: There is No Alternative,” Global
Labour Journal, vol. 3, issue 1, 2012
Peter Evans, “Is an Alternative to Globalization Possible?” Politics & Society, vol.
36 no. 2, June 2008
Michael Burawoy, “From Polanyi to Pollyanna: The False Optimism of Global
Labor Studies,” Global Labour Journal, vol. 1, issue 2, 2010
Week of April 21: Individual meetings to discuss your work in progress
April 25: Paper introduction and outline due
April 21, April 28 and May 5: presentations of draft research papers
Draft paper due: May 5
May 17: Final research papers due