Spring 2008

WWS556B: Imperialism and the Developing World (Also POL 587)

syllabus
This course will systematically situate America's "informal empire" in a comparative and historical context. A major point of comparison will be colonial empires of the 19th and the early 20th century, of Great Britain, Japan and France. We will study how America's informal empire is similar to and how it differs from old colonial empires. We will take stock of the historical origins of US foreign policies (the Monroe Doctrine, Open Door Policy, and the post-WWII settlement, including the establishment of the Breton Woods system and the UN). The focus, however, will be on the more recent US role in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Specific topics will include British colonialism in India and Nigeria, and Japanese colonialism in Korea. The second half will focus on the global activities of the US, likely to include the US role in Vietnam, Chile, and Iraq.

POL522: Politics and Modernization

syllabus
This course will provide a graduate level introduction to the theoretically guided study of modernization. The scholarly works that could be covered in such a course are rather large. I have therefore adopted several organizing principles. First, the course focuses on the comparative analyses of states, markets and social-structures in the process of development; as such this is a course in the comparative political sociology of development and modernization. The curriculum is designed to highlight a variety of theoretical approaches to the subject: modernization, neo-Marxist, state-society, rational choice, and what I have chosen to call the new cultural analyses. Second, the book length studies included are compartive; they analyze several cases across space and/or over time. Many of these works thus interpret both the historical transformation of Western countries and the efforts under way in the contemporary developing world. And third, scholarly works addressing political questions have been favored. Important relevant works by sociologists, historians, economists and area scholars have been left out. I have attempted to compensate for this by a recommended list of readings. Students seriously interested in the sub-field comparative political development would do well to take cognizance of these works.

Fall 2007

WWS561: The Comparative Political Economy of Development (also POL523)

syllabus
Analysis of political change and the operation of political institutions in the development process, with emphasis on the interaction of political and economic factors. Various definitions and theories of political development are examined and tested against different economic, ethnic, geographic, and social contexts.

Spring 2007

WWS556b: Empires and Imperialism (Also POL587)

syllabus
This course will systematically situate America's 'informal empire' in a comparative and historical context. A major point of comparison will be colonial empires of the 19th and the early 20th century, of Great Britain, Japan and France. We will study how America's informal empire is similar to and how it differs from old colonial empires. We will take stock of the historical origins of US foreign policies (the Monroe Doctrine, Open Door Policy, and the post-WWII settlement, including the establishment of the Breton Woods system and the UN). The focus, however, will be on the more recent US role in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Specific topics will include British colonialism in India and Nigeria, and Japanese colonialism in Korea. The second half will focus on the global activities of the US, likely to include the US role in Vietnam, Chile, and Iraq.

Fall 2006

WWS561: The Comparative Political Economy of Development (Also POL523)

syllabus
Analysis of political change and the operation of political institutions in the development process, with emphasis on the interaction of political and economic factors. Various definitions and theories of political development are examined and tested against different economic, ethnic, geographic, and social contexts.

POL378: Politics in India

syllabus
This course introduces students to politics in the large subcontinental country of India. The themes discussed during the course will be those that are both important to India and to a general study of politics in a developing country. The following questions will help organize the course: How does one make sense of democracy in a poor, multi-ethnic setting? How has democratic politics shaped and been shaped by a society divided along numerous lines such as caste, class, and linguistic and religious identities? And how well has India's democratic state fared in promoting economic development, both growth and equity?