The Western Way of War

Try to guess what events these pictures refer to. (They may not be events covered in class, but they are all war related.) Click on the images to find out what they are referring to.

"Barring the Allied pursuit the
Guard died where it stood."

"Young man - who likes the machine
gun, who likes football."
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will load from Russia.

Please note that this is not the exact syllabus for SOC250, but it should give you an idea of what to expect this Fall.

Please note that all the principal readings (first one listed) will be available at Micawber Books on Nassau St. Secondary readings will be available online by late January (http://infoshare1.princeton.edu/reserves/elecres.html.) [Please note that you will need Acrobat Reader for this. This software is available on all cluster machines, or you may download it here.] All readings will also be available on reserve at Firestone.

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I. Origins and Nature of War

Week 1: Basic Instincts or Rationality

Barbara Ehrenreich, Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War

Donald Kagan, The Origins of War (pp. 68074, 205-214, 269-274, 413-417, 546-548, 566-573)

Week 2: War as Organized Violence

Robert L. O’Connell , Ride of the Second Horseman
Charles Tilly, Coercion, Capital and European States, (pp.67-95)

Week 3: War and Democracy

Charles Moskos and John Sibley Butler, All That We Can Be
Spencer Weart, Never at War: Why Democracies Will Not Fight one Another (pp. 1-24)

1-page outline of idea for paper due in class.

II. The Experience of Battle

Week 4: Classic Warriors

The Song of Roland [see link for a full online version of the text]

Yojimbo [see link for review]

Week 5: The Special case of Conquest

Miguel León-Portilla, ed. The Broken Spears : the Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico
Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs and Steel. ( pp. 67-113, 195-215, 354-375)

Week 6: Industrialization of War