City University of New York Ph.D. Program in Anthropology. Anthropology Spring 2015

Transcription

1 City University of New York Ph.D. Program in Anthropology Anthropology Spring 2015 Transnational Social Movements Marc Edelman Tels (GC) or (Hunter) Office hours: Tues. & Thurs. 11:35am-12:30pm (GC, room ) & Tues. 4:00-5:30pm (Hunter, room 706 North), or by appointment. THE OBJECTIVES of this seminar are: (1) to provide an intensive introduction to recent and not-so-recent scholarship in the field of transnational social movements; (2) to encourage evidence-based critical scrutiny of both that scholarship and of the movements themselves; and (3) to advance participants research projects related to transnational social movements. The reading list is partial in both senses of the word. There is now a copious literature on transnational social movements. We can t even begin to cover the diversity of the movements, the linkages and frictions between movements, the varieties of politics, or the constant eruption of new movements. There are many cases and many important theorists that are not represented in the reading list, not for lack of interest, but simply for lack of time. The task, then, is to pose some key questions and to deepen our understanding and develop future research agendas. COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND EXPLANATIONS FOR THE REQUIREMENTS: (1) Active and informed participation in all class discussions of assigned readings and other participants research projects. We will appoint rapporteurs to report on the assigned readings. Everybody is expected to serve as a rapporteur at least two times.what you learn in this course (and your grade) will depend significantly on how deeply you engage with the material and with the other people in the course. If you are extremely shy or inhibited (as many of us are or once were), use this seminar as an opportunity to get over it, because it will only hold you back. Anthropologists need to be able to interact with people as part of their fieldwork and in academic and other professional settings. If you are not shy, it is very important that you contribute to creating a supportive environment for those who might be. (2) A statement (one page) about a planned research project for the course, to be submitted via no later than (and preferably before) March 12. Include a preliminary list of sources. The best research and writing have long gestation periods. You probably can t produce a really good paper at the last minute. It is important that you begin thinking about a term paper topic early in the semester, that you discuss it with the instructor and with your classmates, and that you begin the research and writing well before the end-of-semester crunch. (3) An oral presentation of approximately minutes that outlines the approach and/or the main findings of the research for the course paper (presenters may assign a rough draft of their paper or other material in advance of the meeting). This will occur toward the end of the 1

2 semester and is an opportunity to share with the rest of the group what you have been doing and to get feedback and suggestions. I understand that presentations will be of works-in-progress, not polished texts. This means that the findings may still be tentative and that some aspects of the planned paper may not be fully fleshed out. That is expected and perfectly okay. And (4) a written course paper due at the end of the semester (by May 21) and submitted by . Writing and publishing excellent, original papers is the key to advancement in academia. Many (not all) term papers in Graduate Center courses are publishable, even if the authors don t always realize that or try to publish them. I always recommend that doctoral students publish something before they obtain the PhD. How else in this lousy job market can they obtain a fulltime position or a post-doc? (See Lennard Davis s article). As much as possible, term papers should be of professional quality in every sense. They should analyze a significant problem, be well organized, carefully proofread, and hopefully of publishable quality and exciting to read. I prefer lucid prose to academic thick writing and data-based arguments to unsupported assertions (this can be helpful in grant proposals too). Length is less important than content and clarity. Any system of citation (AAA, APA, Chicago, etc.) is fine, as long as it is used consistently. I welcome papers that express views or use approaches different than my own. Late papers will be accepted only under unusual circumstances. Papers must be submitted as Word (not pdf) attachments. This will facilitate commenting and editing. We will read the following BOOKS, as well as articles and other documents listed in the schedule below. The books are available at a real brick-and-mortar bookstore just 15 minutes away from the GC on the #6 subway (Shakespeare s, Lexington Ave. between 68 th and 69 th Sts.). Edelman, Marc, and Saturnino M. Borras, Jr. forthcoming Political Dynamics of Transnational Agrarian Movements. Halifax, N.S.: Fernwood (manuscript will be available). Holt-Giménez, Eric Campesino a Campesino: Voices from Latin America s Farmer to Farmer Movement for Sustainable Agriculture. Oakland: Food First Books. Pellow, David N Resisting Global Toxics: Transnational Movements for Environmental Justice. Urban and Industrial Environments. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. Riles, Annelise The Network Inside Out. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Seidman, Gay W Beyond the Boycott : Labor Rights, Human Rights, and Transnational Activism. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Thoreson, Ryan Richard Transnational LGBT Activism: Working for Sexual Rights Worldwide. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. on low, Marisa.. Building Transnational Networks: Civil Society and the Politics of Trade in the Americas. Cambridge Studies in Contentious Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2

3 COURSE SCHEDULE AND READINGS January 29: Introduction and discussion February 4: Student-run discussion and a collective action exercise. Key concepts Agarten, Tuba, Woo-Young Choi, and Tu Huynh The Transformation of the Capitalist World: In Making Waves: Worldwide Social Movements, , William G. Martin, ed. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers, pp Calhoun, Craig New Social Movements of the Early Nineteenth Century. Social Science History 17 (3): Hetland, Gabriel, and Jeff Goodwin. 4. The Strange Disappearance of Capitalism from Social Movement Studies. In Marxism and Social Movements, eds. Colin Barker, Laurence Cox, John Krinsky, and Hobsbawm, Eric J Introduction and The City Mob. In Primitive Rebels: Studies in Archaic Forms of Social Movement in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 1-12, Moghadam, alentine M.. Global Social Movements and Transnational Advocacy. In The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Political Sociology, eds. Edwin Amenta, Kate Nash and Alan Scott. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, pp Tilly, Charles Invention of the Social Movement. In Social Movements, rd ed. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, pp Tilly, Charles Do Unto Others. In Political Altruism? Solidarity Movements in International Perspective, eds. Marco Giugni and Florence Passy. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, pp February 12: NO CLASS. LINCOLN S BIRTHDAY Abraham Lincoln, A reporter once described him as having Wild Republican hair. 3

4 February 19: Transnational movements of the early twentieth century Anderson, Perry.. Internationalism: A reviary. New Left Review 14 (April): Giovannetti, Jorge L The Elusive Organization of Identity : Race, Religion, and Empire Among Caribbean Migrants in Cuba. Small Axe 10 (1): Ottanelli, Fraser Antifascism and the Shaping of National and Ethnic Identity: Italian American Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War. Journal of American Ethnic History 27(1): Rupp, Leila J., and erta Taylor Forging Feminist Identity in an International Movement: a Collective Identity Approach to Twentiethcentury Feminism. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture & Society 24 (2): February 26: Transnational agrarian movements Edelman and Borras, Politics of Transnational Agrarian Movements, entire manuscript. March 5: Resistance to trade liberalization on low, Building Transnational Networks, entire book. March 12: Labor rights and monitoring ONE-PAGE PAPER STATEMENT DUE Seidman, Beyond the Boycott, entire book. 4

5 March 19: Author-meets-readers session with Eric Holt-Giménez Holt-Giménez, Campesino a Campesino, entire book March 26: Claiming new rights transnationally Thoreson, Transnational LGBT Activism, entire book April 2: NGO-ization and network formation Riles, The Network Inside Out, entire book. April 9: NO CLASS. CUNY IS ON VACATION. April 16: Environmental justice Pellow, Resisting Global Toxics, entire book April 23: Student presentations April 30: Student presentations May 7: Student presentations May 14: Student presentations May 21: COURSE PAPERS DUE. 5