International Conflict The Origins of Global Fury Afghanistan and the Origins of Global Fury - Spring 07 Afghanistan and the Origins of Global Fury - Fall 06 Cuba and Haiti Religious Revolutions and violence Haiti and the Caribbean Contemporary Issues in International Relations Introduction to International Relations South Asia in a Global and Historical Context Politics of the Third World

Seeing "War of the Worlds": Global politics through Popular films Music of the African Diaspora Worlds of Music Musical Meaning in a Global Context Politics and Literature

Global Political Economy of Oil Understanding Capitalism Foundations in the Political Economy

Ideas and Ideology Love, Hate and Sexual Desire Under Colonialism Junior Year Honors Seminar: Cultural Encounters, 1999-2000

Spring 1995
PSC 780.3
Politics of the Third World

I. Starting Assumptions: We might focus on the problem of "thirdworld" states and think about how to fix those problems. Here the 'politics' in the course title suggests discussing both what types of political forms (e.g. elections, bureaucratic reform, open market economy) need to be administered to correct problems, and the types of processes needed to convince agents to administer these forms (e.g. aid, advisors, training of state elites). This would be a course in development studies - usually offered in departments of public administration and economics. Most of the courses I have taken on the third world are of these type.

We might, instead, focus on historical global processes that created the third world. Here 'politics' suggests discussing the transition from feudalism to capitalism, from distant tribute based empires to a unified capitalist global division of labor. It also suggests the simultaneous creation of the first and third worlds; that the development of some and the underdevelopment of the other are part of the same exploitative process. Here politics suggests exposing, arresting, and perhaps transcending this exploitation. This would be a course in international political economy - usually taught by marginalized scholars in the social sciences but, also, these days, in departments of english and religion. I have taken and continue to offer courses of this type.

Finally, we might ask which assumptions allow us to see and emphasize differences in geographic and cultural space such that a distinction between first and third worlds becomes as natural as, say, breathing. That is, what kind of world view, especially what kind of assumptions about the make up of the world (ontology) and how we come to know that world (epistemology), allow us first to divide the world, then to rank it hierarchically, and finally to construct both problems and solutions for those at the bottom of the hierarchy. Here politics implies the power of some to speak for and define others, it suggests that we need to examine how some world views become dominant while others become recessive. Politics means coming to understand how various conceptions, languages, and knowledges directly allow oppressive as well as liberatory practices. Politics implies that before we can fix the problems of the third world we need to un-think and then rethink the world views which allow us to see and act according to "fixes," "problems," and especially "worlds."

Such a course, and this is what I hope ours will be, is a course on "orientalism," "othering," or "eurocentrism." I dare say this type of course is most important for those elements which are least likely to be attracted to it - the policy oriented problem solvers within us. More so, if the world views which make the diagnoses creates those problems in the first place, then it seems to me, we can neither hope to find the right solutions nor frame the appropriate questions for our problems. It will be our goal to explore if the world views which defines the problems of the third world are not really part of a much deeper malaise.

II. Format

The course emphasizes thinking well together. Our weekly discussions, therefore, will be the most important component of the course. While there is no attendance policy regular attendance is assumed as proper etiquette for any seminar. The role of the readings in this course differs from other courses. Readings are meant not to lead us but rather to serve our needs in two ways: First, they will give us common ground helping focus our discussion. Second, they will serve to spark our thinking and discussion. The format is designed to put emphasis on our discussion and our ability to explore, construct, and develop ideas.

III. Evaluation

Evaluations will be based on written work. There are six written assignments. Besides the non-graded "entry" and "exit" papers there are also three "essays" or "thoughtpapers" and a take-home final exam. Please refer to my "Writing suggestions for Essays"andmy"How to Write a Thought Paper." The relative weights and due dates of these assignments will be determined jointly on the first day of class. Note Well: in the past students have suggested that these written exercises are the most difficult and the most worthwhile aspect of the course.

While evaluation can be a rewarding process, no one I know likes to assign grades. In this course, grades serve merely as shorthand for characterizing the immediate evaluation process. They say nothing about your general capacity, your intrinsic worth as a human being, nor do they forecast your ability to grow and learn in the future. Keeping this in mind, here is what the evaluator may mean by assigning the following grades: "C" suggests either that a barely adequate amount of effort is noticeable, or that effort is somewhat mis-focused or mis-targeted; "B" suggests that good effort is coupled with a fairly good understanding of what is being asked; "A" reveals both intense effort and excellent achievement. A non-graded essay is no cause for alarm. It usually suggests that we need to further explore and clarify our expectations.

Finally, keep in mind that the evaluation process is reciprocal, hence the "exit paper." Even before the exit paper, however, you will be informally evaluating my performance. I hope that your informal and formal comments on my performance will become part of a regular process. You should know that your formal evaluation of my efforts at the end of the term is significant in two additional ways. First, it affects my standing within the department and the university both socially and financially. Second, and more important, it is often seen as the best indicator of the effectiveness of my efforts. Your evaluation will directly influence my pedagogical framework.

IV. Readings

All readings are both required and tentative. This means that at the end of each session we will agree on future readings. Agreement makes readings required. From session to session readings not on the syllabus may be suggested by anyone in the seminar. The pace and direction of readings will depend on our needs. We will often do close readings in class, so please bring appropriate texts to class.

Available for purchase at the Orange Book Store:

Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart

K.N. Chaudhuri, Asia Before Europe

Assia Djebar, Sister to Scheherazade

Albert Memmi, The Colonizer and the Colonized

Ashis Nandy, The Intimate Enemy

Ashis Nandy, Traditions, Tyranny and Utopias

Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea

Edward Said, Orientalism

Ella Shohat/ Robert Stam, Unthinking Eurocentrism

Tzvetan Todorov, The Conquest of America

1. Pedagogical and Political Assumptions of the Instructor: (These readings are strictly optional)

Collingwood, R. G. "PhilosophyasaBranchofLiterature," in Collingwood's Essay on Philosophical Method, (Oxford, 1933), pp. 199-226 [ch. X]).

Freire, Paulo Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Continuum, 1970)

Inayatullah, Naeem "CelebratingtheEndoftheColdWar:ASlightlyPolemicalEssay," PARK working paper # 19.

Inayatullah, Naeem "Diversity as Degeneration: The Medieval Origins of Eurocentric Social Theory." Manuscript, 1994.

Inayatullah, Naeem "Statements,etc."

o Teaching Statement

o Research Statement

o Writing Suggestions for Essays

o Writing Suggestions for Thought Papers

o CV

Kariel, Henry "BecomingPolitical," in Van Dyke (ed) Teaching Political Science, (1977) pp. 129-145.

Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson, Metaphors We Live By, (Chicago, 1980), pp. 3-32; 229-237 [Ch. 1-6, 30].

Orwell, George "PoliticsandtheEnglishLanguage"

Shor, Ira and Paulo Freire A Pedagogy of Liberation: Dialogues on Transforming Education (Bergin & Garvey, 1987).

Susan Shapiro and Sydney Smith, "Rhetoric, Culture Critique and Liberatory Pedagogy: A Dialogue, Reflections in Writing (missing date and #; call margaret and get this cite)

Tompkins, Jane "TeachbytheValuesyouPreach," in College English, vol. 52, No. 6. [Also in Harper's Magazine, September 1991, pp. 30-35.]

2. Coming Together

Please Read:

Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (Reserve and Bookstore)

Tariq Banuri, "Development and the Politics of Knowledge: A Critical Interpretation of the Social Role of Modernization Theories in the Development of the Third World," in Apffel Marglin and Marglin (eds.) Dominating Knowledge, (Oxford 1990). (Reserve)

Jan Nederveen Pieterse, "Dilemmas of Development Discourse: The Crisis of Developmentalism and the Comparative Method," Development and Change, 22, 1, January, 1991, pp. 5-29. (Reserve)

Ella Shohat/ Robert Stam, Unthinking Eurocentrism, pp. 13-27.

For Further Consideration: (most of these are on Reserve)

Ian Roxborough, Theories of Underdevelopment

P.W. Preston, Making Sense of Development

P.W. Preston, Rethinking Development

Joseph R. Gusfield, "Traditions and Modernity: Misplaced Polarities in the Study of Social Change," American Journal of Sociology, 72: 4, 1967.

Howard J, Wiarda, "TowardaNon-EthnocentricTheoryofDevelopment," Journal of Developing Areas, 17, July 1983.

Arturo Escobar, "DiscourseandPowerinDevelopment," Alternatives, 10, Winter 1984-5.

Kate Manzo, "ModernistDiscourseandtheCrisisofDevelopmentTheory," Studies in Comparative International Development, Summer 1991, 26: 2, pp. 3-36.

3. Inside/ Outside

Charlote Bronte, Jane Eyre, [we will read selections: chapters 25, 26, 27] (Reserve)

Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea (Reserve and Bookstore)

4. Othering

Tzvetan Todorov, The Conquest of America (Reserve and Bookstore)

Edward Said, Orientalism (Reserve and Bookstore)

Ashis Nandy, The Intimate Enemy (Reserve and Bookstore)

Ashis Nandy, Traditions, Tyranny and Utopias (Reserve and Bookstore)

Albert Memmi, The Colonizer and the Colonized (Reserve and Bookstore)

Linda Alcoff, The Problem of Speaking for Others," Cultural Critique Winter 1991-2. (Reserve)

For Further Consideration: (most of these should be on Reserve)

R.W. Southern Western Views of Islam in the Middle Ages

Margaret Hodgen Early 17th and 18th Century Anthropology

Francis Hutchins The Illusion Of Permanence: British Imperialism in India

Ranna Kabbani Europe's Myths of the Orient

Franz Fannon The Wretched of the Earth

J. Fabian, Time and the Other

Jalal Al-e-Ahmed Gharbzadegi [Westernstruckedness]

Stephen Greenblatt, Marvelous Possessions: The Wonder of the New World

Anthony Padgen, The Fall of Natural Man: The American Indian and the Origins of Comparative Ethnology

5. Women's Voices on Othering(On Reserve)

Assia Djebar, Sister to Scheherazade (Reserve and Bookstore)

Jean Said Makdisi, Beirut Fragments, (Chapter 5)

Sara Suleri, "ExcellentThingsinWomen," in Meatless Days

Fatima Mernissi, Islam and Democracy, "Introduction," and Conclusion"

Chandra Talpade Mohanty, "Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourse," Feminist Review, 30. 1988.

Mary Lousie Adams, "There is no place Like Home: On the Place of Identity in Feminist Politics," Feminist Review, Spring 1989.

Minnie Bruce Pratt, "Identity:SkinBloodHeart"

Marianne Marchand, "Latin American Voices of Resistance: Women's Movements and Development Debates," in Rossow, Inayatullah, and Rupert, (eds.) The Global Economy as Political Space.

For Further Consideration:

Nawal al-Sadawi, Women and Sexuality in Egypt

Trin Minh Ha, Women, Native, Other

Isabel Allende, House of Spirits

Nadine Gordimer, July's People

Liana Badr, A Compass for the Sunflower (London: The Women's Press, 1979)

6. Alternative World Histories

K.N. Chaudhuri, Asia Before Europe (bookstore and Reserve)

For further consideration:

Janet Abu-Lugod, Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250-1350.

Eric Wolf, Europe and the People Without History

L.S. Stavrianos, Global Rift: The Third World comes of Age

Dee Brown Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

Mary B. Campbell's The Witness and the Other

The Adventures of Marco Polo

Ross E. Dunn, The Travels of Ibn Batuata: A Muslim Traveler of the 14th Century,

Louise Levathes, When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne 1405-1433 (Simon and Schuster: 1994)

7. Beyond Eurocentrism

Ella Shohat/ Robert Stam, Unthinking Eurocentrism

Anne Salmond, "TheoreticalLandscapes:OnCross-CulturalConceptionsofKnowledge" in David Parkin (ed) Semantic Anthropology (Academic Press, 1982), pp. 65-87.

Arjun Appadurai, "DisjunctureandDifferenceintheGlobalCulturalEconomy," Public Culture, 2, (2), Spring 1990, pp. 1-24

Maurice Bazin, "TalesofUnderdevelopment," Race and Class, 28(3), Winter, 1987.

George G. Joseph, "FoundationsofEurocentrisminMathematics," Race and Class, 28(3), Winter 1987, pp. 13-28.

Heinz Dieterich, "FiveCenturiesoftheNewWorldOrder," Latin American Perspectives, 19 (3), Summer, 1992, pp. 48-52.

Naeem Inayatullah, "Diversity as Degeneration: The Medieval Foundations of Eurocentric Social Theory," manuscript, 1994.

Manning Marable, "Beyond Racial Identity Politics: Towards a Liberation theory for Multicultural Democracy," Race and Class, (35 (1), Summer, 1993, pp. 113-130.