The Future of Democracy: Spring Syllabus 2003
David Peritz, Sarah Lawrence College
Monday and Wednesday, 9:30-11:00
Heimbold 211
Course description
Since at least the time of the American and French revolutions, a peculiar but now familiar entity we call the nation-state has served as the center of political community, legal sovereignty and democracy. Two hundred years prior to these revolutions it seemed inconceivable that the large territorial units we now take for granted could be subject to unified political control, home to cohesive political communities, and governed by popular rule. Two hundred years laterin the political presentit appears that the grand era of the nation-state may be coming to a close. Citizens express growing disaffection with the modes of democratic participation open to them in a nation-state, calling into question the legitimacy of representative democracy as they withdraw in large numbers from political life or search for new forms of participation. We also witness an increased mobility of persons and ideas and a growing reluctance to continue the ‘forgetting’ of differences that seems necessary to ‘imagine’ political communities as expansive as nations. Finally, centralized states appear unable to control many of the main forces that influence the life prospects of those who inhabit their territories, while various international organizations take over important functions of governance. These developments challenge the viability—and the desirability—of the nation-state as the main focus of political identification and community. But are these trends perhaps exaggerated? And if not, should we mourn or celebrate the passing of the nation-state?
In this course we will survey the historical forces responsible for the remarkable coincidence of community, sovereignty and democracy in the improbable form of the nation-state, and the forces that seem to be pulling them apart again. The main focus of the course will be on sustained textual analysis of works of political philosophy, but we will also study these forces in the only way adequate to their tremendous complexity, from diverse methodological and historical perspectives. This term we will explore these questions by examining two main sets of issues. (1) Does the idea of a national community remains a viable referent for the democratic public given the emergence of new and the resurgence of old forms of diversity and difference; and (2) whether the territorially based state is increasingly displaced by social forces and political actors of different scales and scope.
Requirements
There are three main requirements this term: regular informed participation in class discussion and conferences; two short class essays; and completion of a conference paper. Please note that the reading assignments are relatively heavy, averaging around 200 pages per week of texts that require close reading and analysis. My teaching method is mostly Socratic, so you will be called upon to answer specific questions about the texts under consideration and about their broader relevance. Specific due dates are listed below.
Peer-writing Process
As you work on your conference project for this class, you will have the option of participating in ‘peer writing groups’. Groups consist of four to five students whom provide one another with structured feedback at regular intervals during the essay writing process.
Grades
Grades will be recorded but not given out on individual assignments. Students who want to know grades on individual assignments may ask. The conference paper will count for forty percent of the grade, participation for forty, and the class essays for twenty. Note: extensions will only be granted in the case of a genuine emergency. In the absence of an extension, late assignments will be penalized one third of a grade per day late.
Special Needs
I encourage students with disabilities, including invisible disabilities like chronic diseases and learning or psychiatric disabilities, to contact me regarding specific needs.
Texts
Please use the specific editions listed below, available through the Sarah Lawrence Bookstore. They can also be purchased on line, often for a considerable savings. I recommend websites that link independent bookstores, especially since it is often possible to get these texts used in near-new condition. Advanced Book Exchange, Fetchbook, Alabris, and Amazon's used book service offer this service.) Readings will also be drawn from articles and smaller selections from books available on reserve, indicated with a ‘(R)’ below.
Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities (Verso)
Daniele Archibugi, David Held and Martin Kohler, Reimagining Political Community (Stanford)
Nancy Fraser and Axel Honneth, Recognition or Redistribution (Verso)
Amy Gutmann, ed., Multiculturalism and the Politics of Recognition (Princeton)
David Held & Anthony McGrew, The Global Transformation Reader (Polity)
Immanuel Kant, Perpetual peace: A philosophical essay, Ted Humphrey, trans., (Hackett)
J.S. Mill, On Liberty and Other Essays, Grey, ed., (Oxford)
Bhikhu C. Parekh, Rethinking Multiculturalism (Harvard)
John Rawls, The Law of Peoples (Harvard)
Ann-Marie Slaughter, New World Order (Princeton)
Part I: Democracy in an Era of Diversity
Week 1: Creating the Nation
Ernest Renan, “What is a nation?” (R)
Max Weber, “Political Communities,” pp.901-4 & 921-6 (R)
Week 2: Creating the Nation (cont.)
Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities
Homi Bhabha, “DissemiNation: time, Narrative, and the margins of the modern nation”
Week 3: Must Liberal Deliberative Democrats Be Nationalists?
The Case of Mill J.S. Mill, On Representative Government, Chs. 1-4, 6-8, & 14-18.
Week 4: The National Challenged: The Politics of Recognition
Amy Gutmann, ed., Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of
Recognition, essays by Taylor, Habermas and Appiah.
Nancy Fraser and Axel Honneth, Recognition or Redistribution?, Part 1
Week 5: The Politics of Recognition: An Exchange
Nancy Fraser and Axel Honneth, Recognition or Redistribution?, Parts 2-4
Week 6: Multicultural Democracy
Bhikhu C. Parekh, Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory, Introduction, chs. 1 (pp.16-18, 33-49), 2 (pp.76-9), 3 (pp.80-90, 99-113), 4-5,
Week 7: Multicultural Democracy (cont.)
Parekh, Rethinking Multiculturalism, chs. 6 (179-85, 191-95), 7-9, & 11.
First Class Essay Due: Friday, March 4, 5pm
Part II: Democracy in an Age of Empire
Week 9: What is Globalization? Globalization in Several Dimensions
David Held & Anthony McGrew, “The Great Globalization Debate: An Introduction,” in The Global Transformation Reader. (R)
Saskia Sassen, “Introduction” to Globalization and Its Discontents (R)
Anthony King, “Introduction” to Culture, Globalization and the World System. (R)
Aiwa Ong, “Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logic of Transnationality,” from Ong, Flexible Citizenship. (R)
Weeks 10: Kant’s Call for Perpetual Peac
Immanuel Kant, Toward Perpetual Peace
Week 11: Rawls and the Law of Peoples
Rawls, The Law of Peoples
Weeks 12: Political Community Reimagined
Archibugi, Held and Kohler, Reimagining Political Community (Selections)
Jürgen Habermas, “Postnational Constellation” (R)
Week 13: A New Kind of Democracy for a New World Order?
Slaughter, New World Order, Introduction, Chapters 1-3.
Week 14: International Law and the New Europe
Slaughter, New World Order, Chapters 4-6, Conclusion.
Second Class Essay due Friday, May 6, 5 pm