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Academic Year 2000/2001

Postcolonialism & Globalization
SOC 291 SP
Crosslistings:
CHUM 291

The emancipatory uprisings and postcolonial challenges of the 20th century have irrevocably unsettled the old Eurocentric colonial order. The potent anticolonial insurrections of the last 50 years have posed serious questions for our global future: What does postcolonialism mean for the colonizer and the colonized? Under what circumstances, if any, can the colonial relation be transcended in ways that do not merely reproduce structures of domination (racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.) within the Third World? Does the term "globalization" signify a simple return to a neocolonial form of capitalist imperialism? Or does it signify First World anxiety about its own decentered status? To examine these and other questions, this course will take an interdisciplinary approach, examining cases and ideas presented in works of sociology, political economy, and cultural studies.

MAJOR READINGS

Saskia Sassen, LOSING CONTROL?:SOVEREIGNTY IN AN AGE OF GLOBALIZATION
Gary Teeple, GLOBALIZATION AND THE DECLINE OF SOCIAL REFORM
Rob Wilson & Wiman Dissanayake, eds., GLOBAL/LOCAL: CULTURAL PRODUCTION AND THE TRANSNATIONAL IMAGINARY
Anthony King, ed., CULTURE, GLOBALIZATION AND THE WORLD-SYSTEM: CONTEMPORARY CONDITIONS FOR THE REPRESENTATION OF IDENTITY
Kim Moody, WORKERS IN A LEAN WORLD: UNIONS IN THE INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY
John Logan and Tom Swanstrom, BEYOND THE CITY LIMITS: URBAN POLICY AND ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
Roger Waldinger, STILL THE PROMISED CITY?: AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND NEW IMMIGRANTS IN POSTINDUSTRIAL NEW YORK

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Reading journal, in-class deliberative presentations, three take-home essays (8-10 pages each), or a major research paper (25-30 pages).

Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS SOC    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: SOC151 Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-26-2001

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