Friday 11/11 Proposal for research
paper dueWednesday, 3-5:30pm
Phillips Room, Muller Chapel
Prof. Chip Gagnon
324 Muller Center
Office hours: Tu-Th 9:20-10:30am
and by appointment
tel. 274-1103
e-mail:
course web site: www.ithaca.edu/gagnon/seminar/
Last revised 9/28/2011
Description
Democracy promotion has been a major goal of US foreign policy since the 1980s. Both Democratic and Republican administrations have seen the spread of liberal democracy as an important part of ensuring US interests in a stable and secure world, but have also asserted that liberal democracy is the best form of government for every country in the world. Since the 1980s, the US has funded numerous governmental and nongovernmental efforts to achieve this goal.
In this seminar we will address the questions of why and how the US tries to spread democracy around the world. Given how often US democracy promoters are spoken of as missionaries, we’ll address this question through comparing democracy promotion to traditional religious missionary work, considering the similarities and differences between the two.
In the first part of the semester we'll consider missionary work, especially among North American natives in the 17th century and US missionary efforts around the world in the 19th and 20th centuries. We'll also discuss the concept of conversion, as well as some theoretical ways of thinking about mission work.
Then we'll explore democracy promotion. We'll first talk about the definitions of democracy, then whether democracy “travels” across cultures, the relationship of democracy promoters to target societies, and we'll look at some case studies of democracy promotion in Southeastern Europe. One of the questions we are seeking to answer is whether and how democracy promotion is similar to missionary work.
By juxtaposing these two types of activities we should get a better understanding of the processes that are behind US (and other countries') efforts to promote democracy around the world.
Although the first part of the course is heavily historical, I am not presuming any prior knowledge of missionaries or of early North American history, nor of democracy promotion in general.
The following books are required. These books are available at Buffalo Street Books downtown. Though I know you have other options for buying your books, I'm strongly urging that you buy them at Buffalo Street Books, the last of Ithaca's independent bookstores, now a member-owned cooperative. BSB will not charge you sales tax on these books, nor is there a shipping/delivery fee. They will be delivered to you in person on the second day of class.
Checking against Amazon.com, the total cost of these books is the same from BSB ($148) as from Amazon, with the added convenience of the books being delivered (for free) directly to you in person.
They can all be ordered, by telephone (607) 273-8246, or preferably, by email ( BuffaloStreetBooks@hotmail.com ).
If you preorder they will be delievered to class on our second class meeting, September 14.
When you place your order, be sure to state your name, contact information (telephone or email), what class (Gagnon, Seminar) you're ordering for, the books being ordered, and your credit card number including expiration date. They accept MC, VISA and Discover (no AmEx). Confirmation will be sent by email. Of course, if you would like to shop in an actual very cool independent bookstore, you can make your purchases in person. The bookstore is located on Buffalo Street, between Cayuga & Tioga in the Dewitt Mall.
Doing the readings
Since this is an upper-level seminar most of our time will be spent discussing the assigned readings in light of the questions posed above. I therefore expect you all to have done the readings before each class.
What does "doing the readings" mean?
It doesn't mean just sitting down and mechanically going through the articles and books; that's a sure way to make even an interesting text boring.
Reading is an active and interactive process between the reader and the text. If you're really reading a text you are also reacting to it. I've included a wide range of texts in order to provoke a wide range of responses from readers.
Reading should also be a reflective process. To really understand an article deeply it is usually necessary to read it and think about it, and then read it again, and think about it again, and discuss it with others, write about it and read it yet again. I've found that even after many readings, when I read a text in order to explain it to someone else I get new perspectives on the author's arguments and assumptions, on the text's strengths and weaknesses.
So when I say "do the readings," I mean "engage yourself with the ideas of the text." I understand that some of the texts are quite complex and that not all of them are entertaining. But struggle is part of the reading experience. If something's not clear, if it's confusing, talk about it with others outside of class, and/or bring it up in class. As I mentioned above, taking notes on a text while you read it or re-read it is also a very good way to engage the text and to make sure you understand it.
One way to think about this is to look at the readings as stories.
The authors are telling us a story about something. What is the focus
of each story? What happens in each story? Why?
Grading
You cannot pass the course unless you have handed in all written assignments.
Reading assignments
W 9/7 Introduction
Questions and answers: what is democracy? what are missionaries? why the attempt to spread religion and political systems? What is conversion? Is religious conversion different than political conversion? If so, how and why?
W 9/14 America's mission to the world? Democracy promotion and US foreign policy
Issues to think about:
What are the arguments for the US having democracy promotion as a key goal? Based on these texts and documents, how exactly does a country become democratic? What is the role of the US in that process? How successful has the US been? How is that success measured or determined?
Required reading:
- Muravchik. excerpts from Exporting Democracy, in CR, pp.1-75
- 1999 Bill Clinton, "United States Strategic Plan for Itnernational Affairs:
Strategic Goal: Democracy and Human Rights," in CR p.76
- National
Security Strategy of the United States, September 2002 excerpts in CR pp.77-80
- National
Security Strategy of the United States, March 2006 excerpts in CR pp.81-86
- National
Security Strategy of the United States, May 2010 excerpts in CR after page
86
W 9/21 Missionaries in 17th century North America
The readings for tody are a collection of 5 articles focused on European missionary interactions with Native peoples, in New England and New France. Please take your time reading these. I'd suggest reading each one separately over the course of the week rather than trying to read them all at the same time.
Issues to think about:
North American settlement was intimately linked to missionary efforts. Indeed,
the United States looks to the Puritan settlers at Plymouth as the original
"founding fathers," and the religious imagery of America as the City
upon the Hill is one that is still with us today. Thus, looking at these initial
interactions between missionaries and native peoples may tell us not only about
history, but also something about that part of US identity that draws on these
early interactions.
These readings also raise important, more general issues regarding this kind of intercultural interaction. Because of the different nature of French Jesuit missionary activity among the native peoples of New France, articles on that topic focus on some of these more general issues.
For each of these articles, I've included a couple of specific questions. Please
also think about these broader questions as you are reading them:
- What was the goal of the missionaries?
- How did they define "success"?
- Why were they pursuing those goals?
- How were they attempting to achieve them?
- What was their relationship or attitude towards their intended targets?
- Did their efforts achieve the intended goals? Why or why not?
- What was the attitude of the natives towards the missionaries? Why?
- Do you sense a difference in attitudes towards natives between the French
and the English? If so, what is the difference?
- What was the effect of missionary activity on native societies?
- What was the effect on the English and French?
Required reading:
- Salisbury, "Red Puritans: The 'Praying Indians' of Massachusetts Bay
and John Eliot", pp.87-114.
Some background on the Puritan missionary efforts and on the relationship in
their eyes of culture and religious conversion. Why did Eliot establish
"praying towns"?
- Bross, "The Mission upon a Hill: New England Evangalism
1643-1653" pp.115-130.
What is Bross's argument about the purpose of the New England Mission? How was
it related to English identity(ies)?
- Morrison, "Discourse and the Accomodation of Values:
Toward a Revision of Mission History" pp.131-148.
Think about the challenge of cross-cultural communication and conversion.
- Conkling, "Legitimacy and conversion in social change:
The case of French missionaries and the Northeastern Algonkian" pp.149-172.
Why were the French successful in their efforts to convert the Wabanaki?
- Richter, "Iroquois versus Iroquois: Jesuit missions
and Christianity in village politics, 1642-1686" pp.173-188.
Think about the effect of missionaries on the internal dynamics of the target
villages/societies.
W 9/28 US missions late 19th and early 20th century: From the religious to the secular?
Starting in the early 1800s US religious denominations began to send missionaries abroad. As the Protestant religious denominations began to split between more liberal and conservative theologies, so too did the missionary movement reflect that split. By the early 1900s the mainstream, liberal Protestant denominations came to see their mission in more secular terms, and as Hutchison points out, one could see the large number of purely secular US NGOs currently operating around the world as heirs to those religious missions.
Required reading:
- Hutchison, Errand to the World, Introduction, Chapters 3-7, Afterward
In class:
"Round Trip Mission"
Link of interest:
- Round Trip Mission
website
Issues to think about
- Think about the relationship between missionaries and US foreign
policy goals in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Did the missionaries
see themselves as agents of US empire? What were their motivations and goals?
- Think also about the evolution of the theology behind missions, and the shifts
in relationships and attitudes towards target populations over time.
W 10/5 The issue of conversion
Conversion is obviously a key concept when we think about missionaries. But what does it mean? How does it happen? How does it differ from syncretism? What is the relationship between one's prior beliefs and world views and those after conversion? Conversion also raises the issue of intercultural communication. Finally, to what extent is the goal of conversion more about the missionary him/herself than about the target persons?
As you are thinking and reading about religious conversion, please also think about whether this concept is relevant for the political sphere, that is, is a change in political views a kind of conversion?
Required reading:
- Bilodeau, "'They honor our Lord among themselves in their
own way': Colonial Christianity and the Illinois Indians" pp.189-214.
Think about translation of concepts. Why were the Jesuits willing to accept
the natives' culture and previous religion? Why do you think this was so different
from the Protestant English in New England? What did it mean for an Illinois
to convert?
- Austin-Broos, "The Anthropology of Conversion: An introduction" pp.215-221
- Norris, "Converting to What? Embodied Culture and the Adoption of New Beliefs" pp.222-227
- Coleman, "Continuous Conversion? The Rhetoric, Practice, and Rhetorical Practice of Charismatic Protestant Conversion" pp.228-234
W 10/12 Defining Democracy
In order to understand the challenges involved in promoting and spreading democracy, we first have to have an understanding of what exactly democracy is, and how it comes into being. Tilly uses historical and contemporary examples to explain how and why liberal democracy comes to be established.
Required reading:
- Tilly, Democracy
To think about
As you are reading Tilly, think about:
- What is the definition of democracy? How would you determine whether a country
is democratic?
- How and why do countries become liberal democracies?
- How does Tilly's analysis compare to the Muravchik reading we did for September
9?
- Is the spread of democracy is comparable to the spread of a religious belief?
Does the concept of conversion that we've discussed have any relevance for political
ideology?
- Based on Tilly's arguments, how would one go about trying to promote and spread
democracy? Is anything we've learned about religious missionary activity relevant
here?
W 10/19 Democracy promotion
As we discussed at the start of the semester, democracy promotion is a key goal of US foreign policy. Carothers provides background on this policy, including history, types of democracy promotion, and effects. As you read these texts, compare how Carothers and democracy promotors talk about democracy and democratization to: a) Tilly's analysis of democracy; b) Muravchik's way of talking about the spread of democracy; c) the activities of religious missionaries.
Required reading:
- Carothers, Aiding Democracy Abroad: The Learning Curve, chapters 1, 2, 3,4 5, 6, 8, 12
W 10/26 Democracy promotion continued
These articles present some arguments for specific policies of democracy promotion, including rebuttals of arguments against it.
Also included below are links to the main US institutions that carry out and fund policies of democratization. Go to those links and see how they present themselves as well as their projects on democratization.
- Fukuyama and McFaul, "Should
Democracy Be Promoted or Demoted?" (pdf) and pp.235-258
- Carothers, "The Backlash against democracy promotion" pp.259-272
- Carothers, "Democracy
Promotion under Obama: Finding a way forward" (pdf) and pp.273-280
Links to check out:
- National
Endowment for Democracy
- USAID:
Projects on Democracy and Governance
- National Democratic
Institute
- International Republican
Institute
To think about
What do proponents of democracy promotion
see as missing in the countries they are targeting? How do they see themselves
as providing those missing elements? How do they evaluate the success of their
projects?
W 11/2: TBA
W 11/9 Democracy promotion and culture
Proponents of spreading liberal democracy claim that it is a universally valid ideology and political system, based on universal values. Others argue that it is actually a culturally specific political form. This reading looks at how the concept of democracy translates into a nonwestern context.
As you read Schaffer, think about the arguments and assumptions of the authors above, as well as the experiences of the religious missionaries and their targets that we discussed in the first part of the course. What are the implications of Schaffer's findings for the promotion of democracy by the US and other western states?
Required reading:
- Schaffer, Democracy in Translation: Understanding politics in an unfamiliar culture
Friday 11/11 Proposal for research
paper due
W 11/16 On the ground: Democracy promotion in Southeastern Europe
Contrast the way democracy promotion is talked about in the previous classes' readings and links, and what these authors find when they look into the actual way in which democracy assistance is done on the ground.
Required reading:
Note: Please read the introductions to each of these chapters by Keith
Brown
- Brown, Chapter 1, in Transacting Transition
- Merritt, Chapter 2, in Transacting Transition
- Nuti, Chapter 4, in Transacting Transition
- Sneed, Chapter 5, in Transacting Transition
- Gagnon, "International NGOs in Bosnia-Herzegovina: Attempting to Build
Civil Society" pp.281-293
- Gagnon, Chapter 8, in Transacting Transition
W 11/30 - W 12/7 The case of Bosnia
- W 11/30 Required reading:
Cole, Democratic Designs: International intervention and electoral practices
in postwar Bosnia-Herzegovina, pp.1-112
- W 12/7 Required reading:
Cole, Democratic Designs, pp.115-245
Friday 12/9 Annotated Bibliography for research
paper due
W 12/14 Presentations on research projects
Friday 12/16 Literature Review due
Thursday 12/22: Research papers due 4pm
(finals week)