Tuesday 2:35-5pm
Philips Room, Muller Chapel

Prof. Chip Gagnon
324 Muller Center
Office hours: Tu 12-2:30
and by appointment
tel. 274-1103
e-mail:
course web site: www.ithaca.edu/gagnon/seminar/
Last revised 4/01/2008

From Rwanda to western Europe, from Bosnia to the US, most of the violent conflicts taking place in the world today are framed in terms of ethnic, nationalist, or religious identity.  Some argue that the major cause of violent conflict in the post-cold war era will be clashes between cultures or culturally-defined civilizations.  In this scenario, cultural difference itself is the cause of violence.

Is cultural identity and diversity itself enough to explain hatred and killing?  Will the wars of the future be fought over culture? What is the relationship between nationalism, cultural identity, violence, and state power? Is there a link between globalization and culturally-framed conflict?  Is US foreign policy driven by culture? These are among the questions we'll be thinking about this semester.

Over the course of the semester we'll be focusing on the relationship between cultural difference and violent conflict.  First we'll discuss different ways of understanding cultural identities.  We'll then consider various explanations for conflicts framed in cultural terms, including theories of the state and theories of nationalism and ethnicity; the relationship between liberal democracy and cultural identities; and the way conceptions of space inform nationalism.

We then proceed to look at some specific cases of violence framed in terms of cultural difference: Rwanda; Yugoslavia (Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo); Australia; the United States. For each case we'll ask the following questions:  What were the origins of cultural difference? What were the origins of the specific meanings given to cultural difference? What were the immediate and proximate causes of violent conflict? How can periods of peace and coexistence be accounted for? What does each account say about the agency of individuals, that is, their ability to act based on their own understanding of their situation and identity?

Other readings will be in a course reader (abbreviated CR on syllabus) which should be purchased in the Politics Department office, 309 Muller Center.
 

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 abou 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.

Tu 2/12 Liberal Democracy, Identity, and Conflict
Required reading:
Yael Tamir, Liberal Nationalism

Tu 2/19 - Tu 2/26 Space, race, and nationalism
Required reading:
Ghassan Hage, White Nation,
For Tu 2/19: Introduction, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4
For Tu 2/26: Chapters 7, 8, 9, and excerpts from Peter Brimelow, Alien Nation: Common Sense about America's immigration disaster, in CR, pp.1-18

Tu 3/4 - Tu 3/18 Case: US
Required reading:
Lieven, American Right or Wrong
Tu 3/4: Intro & Chapters 1-3
Tu 3/18: Chapters 4-5 & Conclusion

Friday 3/21 Proposal for research paper due

Tu 3/25 - Tu 4/1 Case: Rwanda
Required readings:
Human Rights Watch, "Rwanda," from Playing the "Communal Card" in CR, pp.19-27
Lee Ann Fujii, "The Power of Local Ties", pp.28-64
Peter Gourevitch, We wish to inform you...
Tu 3/25: Part I, pp.1-171
Tu 4/1: Part II, pp.177-353

Tu 4/ 8 - Tu 4/22 Case: Yugoslavia (Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia)
Required readings:
Tu 4/8:
Maas, Love Thy Neighbor, Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 6
Tu 4/15: TBA
Tu 4/15 Annotated Bibliography for research paper due
Tu 4/22:
V.P. Gagnon, "Ethnic Nationalism and International Conflict: The Case of Serbia," in CR, pp.65-83
Gagnon, "Ethnic Conflict as Demobilizer", in CR pp.84-117
John Mueller, "The Banality of 'Ethnic War'" (handed out in class)

Friday 4/25 Literature Review assignment due

Tu 4/29 Presentations on research projects

Tuesday 5/6: Research papers (finals week)