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Syllabus
HIS 227 and PSC 227
Spring 2007
Power and Authority in Non-Western Societies
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José O. Solá
Cleveland State University
Office: Rhodes Tower 1903
Phone: 216-523-7189 or 687-3920
E-mail: j.sola@csuohio.edu
Office Hours: M, W, F 12:15-1:15 pm or by appointment
History Department Homepage: www.csuhio.edu/history
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Forrest Qingshan Tan
Professor, Department Of Political Science
Office: Rhodes Tower (RT) 1705
Office Phone: 216.687.9282
Office Hours: MWF 12:15– 1:15 pm
EMAIL: q.tan@csuohio.edu
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INTRODUCTION: This course seeks to provoke an intellectual examination of issues connected to the concepts of “power” and “authority” as exercised and experienced within nonwestern societies and cultures. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the course will explore notions, types and uses of power and authority through political, historical and cultural case studies drawn from the experiences of the Chinese and Cuban societies.
The variety of social and cultural contexts studied will enable students to examine, among other topics, the impact of westernization and modernization on expressions of power and authority within nonwestern cultural traditions, the manifestations of power and authority in (post)colonial situations, and the nature of power and authority in revolutionary societies.
The course seeks to illuminate answers to the following set of specific related questions:
- What is the nature of power and authority? How do power and authority interact with one another both in theory and in practice? How are the two concepts interrelated?
- Where does power and authority reside? How do standards of power and authority gain legitimacy?
- How do power and authority function in non-western cultural settings? How are they viewed and exercised?
COURSE OBJECTIVES: By the end of course students enrolled in Power and Authority in Nonwestern Societies should be able to:
1. Effectively conceptualize a variety of meanings inherent in usage of the terms “power” and “authority.”
2. Gain a better understanding of power and authority as perceived and exercised in non-western cultures.
CLASS FORMAT: Course content will be delivered through readings, discussion, computer-aided presentations and lectures. Lectures are structured to parallel the readings without, hopefully, unduly repeating information contained in them. It is essential, therefore, that you attend the lectures and complete the required reading assignments. Generally speaking, lectures will provide one or more theoretical and conceptual structures into which the readings can be placed.
REQUIREMENTS: Students will be expected to attend classes, participate in class discussions, and demonstrate mastery of this content through a series of short (2-4 page) essays on assigned topics. The final grade will be constructed as follows:
Class participation 10%
Essay One 30%
Essay Two 30%
Essay Three 30%
BOOKS AND READING MATERIALS:
(The books are available in the CSU bookstore)
Alejandro de la Fuente, A Nation for All. Race, Inequality, and Politics in Twentieth Century Cuba (Univ. North Carolina Press, 2003).
June T. Dreyer, China’s Political System: Modernization and Tradition, 5th Ed. (Longman, 2006).
Readings for the course are available online through Electronic Course Reserve.
COURSE SCHEDULE
UNIT ONE
January 17. Introduction; Course Overview and A Note About Doing the Class Assignments
January 19. . Approaches to the Concepts of “Power” and “Authority”—Distinguishing and Defining the Non-Western.
Reading Assignment: Lucian Pye, Evolution of Asian concept of power (reserve)
January 22. Approaches to the Concepts of “Power” and “Authority”—Distinguishing and Defining the Non-Western. (Cont.)
Reading Assignment: Michel Foucault, “The Subject and Power,” Critical Inquiry, Vol. 8, No. 4. (Summer, 1982), 777-795. (ECR)
January 24. How is the Notion of Non-Western Associate With Other Concepts.
Reading: Peter Moody, Tradition and Modernization (reserve)
January 26. How is the Notion of Non-Western Associate With Other Concepts. (Cont.)
Reading: Steve J. Stern, “Between Tragedy and Promise: The Politics of Writing Latin American History in the Late Twentieth Century,” in Reclaiming the Political in Latin American History. Ed. Gilbert M. Joseph (Duke University Press), 32-77. (reserve)
Power and Authority in China and Cuba: Setting the groundwork.
Part I: China—A model of Culture. January 29
Part II: Cuba—Culture, Power and Colonialism. January 31
EXPLORING ISSUES OF CULTURE
Part I: China (Feb 2-5)
Power and Authority in Non-western Culture
Confucianism and Modernity
Reading: Tu Wei-ming, Confucianism and Modernity—Insights from an Interview (Reserve)
Part II: Cuba: Slavery, Sugar, Colonialism and Revolutions (Feb 7-9)
Readings: Rebecca J. Scott, “Gradual Abolition and the Dynamics of Slave Emancipation in Cuba, 1868-1886,” Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 63, No. 3. (Aug., 1983), 449-477. (ECR)
Louis Pérez Jr., “Insurrection, Intervention, and the Transformation of Land Tenure systems in Cuba, 1895-1902,” Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 65, No. 2 (May, 1985), 229-254. (ECR)
UNIT TWO
“POWER” AND “AUTHORITY” AS A CULTURAL CONSTRUCT IN LATIN AMERICA: CUBA AS A CASE STUDY
Feb. 12 to March 26
February 12 to 16. CONCEPTUALIZING CUBA and The NOTIONS OF FREEDOM IN A COLONIAL SETTING
Reading: Ada Ferrer, “Rustic Men, Civilized Nation: Race, Culture, and Contention on the Eve of the Cuban Independence,” Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 78, No. 4. (Nov., 1998), 663-686. (ECR)
February 16. Movie: Castro
(Monday February 19, Presidents Day, No class)
February 21 to 26. ISSUES OF “POWER,” “ORDER, AND “AUTHORITY” IN THE POST INDEPENCE: CUBA, THE UNITED STATES AND SUBALTERN POLITICS.
Reading: Alejandro de la Fuente, A Nation for All, Chapters 1-2.
February 28 to March 2. REDIFINING FREEDOM, INEQUALITY AND POWER IN THE NEO-COLONY: CUBA AS A PROTECTORATED.
Readings: Alejandro de la Fuente, A Nation for All, Chapters 3-4.
March 5 to 9. CUBANIDAD: INTELLECTUAL DEBATES OVER IDENTITY, POWER AND THE STATE.
Readings: Alejandro de la Fuente, A Nation for All, Chapters 5-6.
March 11 to 18. Spring Recess.
March 19 to 26. A NATION FOR ALL: SOCIALISM AND THE END OF INEQUALITY.
Readings: Alejandro de la Fuente, A Nation for All, Chapters 7-8.
UNIT THREE
CHINA
March 28 April 30
EXPLORING THE EXERCISE OF "POWER" AND "AUTHORITY" AMONG THE CHINESE
March 28 to April 2
EXPLORING THE EXERCISE OF "POWER" AND "AUTHORITY" AMONG THE CHINESE
INTRODUCTION: GEOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL CHINA
Focusing on how geography, history, and tradition shape Chinese concepts of power and authority
Wednesday March 28: Geographical Impact
Reading assignment: Robert E. Gamer, Understanding Contemporary China (Lynne Rienner Publishers; 2nd edition, 2003), Chapters 2.
Friday, March 30: A model of political system and the imperial system
Reading: Dreyer, Chapter 2, pp.23-33.
Monday, April 2: Imperial system (continued)
Reading: Dreyer, Chapter 2, pp. 33-43.
THE IMPACT OF MODERN HISTORY-April 4 to 9
Examining the impact of modern historical events on political discourse and how the Communist party acquired power.
Wednesday, April 4: External invasion and internal decay
Reading assignment: Dreyer, Chapter 3.
Friday, April 6: The rise of communism
Reading: Dreyer, Chapter 4
Monday, April 9: Maoism and New China
Reading: Dreyer, Chapter 5.
THE MEANING OF POWER AND LEGITIMACY-April 11-16
Continuing to examine how legitimacy and authority were established by the Chinese government through ideology and economic development.
Critically examining the socialist myth of dependency as a way to legitimize the system and why the Chinese government initiated reform to boost legitimacy and power.
Wednesday, April 11: Meaning of Legitimacy
Reading assignment: Dreyer, Chapter 6.
Friday, April 13: Economic reform to legitimatize Deng’s regime
Reading: Dreyer, Chapter 7.
Monday, April 16: Traditional social structure, Social dependency and crime control
Reading: Dreyer, Chapter 8.
Politics and Arts:
CHALLENGING POWER AND AUTHORITY-
April 18 to 23
Looking at the role of literature and the arts in reforming China and how artists use the arts to lodge protests against government power and authority
Wednesday, April 18: Arts and politics
Lecture
Friday, April 20: Music and politics
Monday, April 23: Social conformity and counter-culture
Reading: Dreyer, Chapter 10
POWER AND AUTHORITY IN THE RELIGIOUS TRADITION
April 25 to 30
Studying how religion is related to power and authority and the government's new policy toward religion as a way to acquire a new basis of legitimacy for reforming China.
Wednesday, April 25: Chinese Religion and Culture
Reading: Gamer, Chapter 12 (Reserve)
Friday, April 27: Chinese Religion and Culture (Continue)
Monday, April 30: Religious Revival
Lecture
UNIT FOUR
REVIEWING THE COURSE THEMES and Conclusion
May 2-4
May 9. FINAL EXAM 1-3 PM
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