Seminar: Transformations of the State Version of April 5

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1 Summer Semester 2018 Tuesday 10-13h, Unicom, (InIIS), room 2210 Master International Relations: Global Governance and Social Theory VAK: MA-IR-B2 Prof. Dr. Klaus Schlichte Klaus Schlichte Universität Bremen Seminar: Transformations of the State Version of April 5 Course description There is general agreement that the world consists of states, politically. What this exactly means, is already contested. Seemingly, theoretical viewpoints play an important role here, but also the dynamics of states. The form of statehood, the tasks states assume, the judgments about states, all this varies over time and between contemporary cases. In this seminar, we will start with a seminal, Eurocentric conception of what states are and how they came into being. We will then look at different conceptions of the state, including attempts of developing different, new states. The third section of this seminar will introduce into current debates on how states change and into what direction. Contact: Prof. Dr. Klaus Schlichte Office hours: TUE 2-4 pm, room 2100 (check website for further time slots) InIIS, Mary-Somerville-Str. 7, Bremen Tel. 0421/ (bilingual secretariat Claudia Herold) kschlich@uni-bremen.de HOW WE PROCEED This seminar has a through-running structure: We will talk about a seminal text first and then contrast it with another author or school, relating to a case. It is recommendable to all students to think of a case they might have an interest in as for the term paper, case studies are required. In the sessions, I will always preside the first, longer part of the session, and we will discuss the reading. A precondition for fruitful discussion is that students note main theses of mandatory reading so that we can start from that. Please do that individually. These notes will be instrumental when writing your term paper. I combine the discussion of mandatory reading with further input from my side. In the second, shorter part of each session, students come in with short presentations on additional reading. For these presentations, students shall form small teams of two in order to prepare respective parts of a session. Here I expect a succinct summary of the additional reading plus X : The presentations should include empirical material of whatever sort. States are very present and pervasive, and there is little doubt that you will find relevant and interesting material for the session s topic. Think of video-clips, newspaper clippings, maps, photographs, statistics, What could help our understanding of the issue or what are interesting further aspects? How could we do research on open questions? Some creativity is necessary here. Please prepare a handout with main points of the text you present and, please, make sure you come along with enough copies. If you send a file to me three days in advance, I can take care of this. Each team is free to design a session along its own ideas and can call me in at any stage and

2 assign me any role. Please consult with me at least a week before the session on what you intend to do. For term papers I have a fixed scheme in this seminar: You should work on a state as a case. This should not be the state of your country of origin or permanent residence. The idea is to force you to develop attention and understanding for differences in political forms and historical developments. You can either write on the trajectory of a state, you can compare the dynamics of policy fields in the same state or deal with a particular problem in the respective case. In any case, the question of change or transformation should be at the center. Assignments and Grading Seminar presentation = 30% of final grade (grade assigned to teams); term paper = 70% of final grade Please observe the MA-IR standards for term papers. Late submission will result in reduction of grades, according to the M.A. program stipulations. Rules for the term paper: text layout: 1.5 spaced, hyphened justification (Blocksatz); font size Late submission will result in reduction of grades, according to the M.A. program stipulations. Term papers are due on August 31, 2018, 8 p.m. MET. Please observe respective guidelines. The max. length of term papers should range between and words. I prefer hard copies. If you will not be in town, please send a document (doc or pdf) to Claudia Herold (herold@uni-bremen.de). You are encouraged to use non-english sources as this is a study program on INTER-national relations. Sources in other languages than English, German, and French should, however, not exceed 50 per cent of all sources. OVERVIEW Session #1, March 13 (I. Aspects of Statehood:) Session #2, March 20 Session #3, March 27 Session # 4, April 3: (II. State theories:) Session # 5, April 10 Session # 6, April 17 Session # 7, April 24 Session # 8, May 8 (III. Recent debates:) Session # 9, May 15 Session # 10, May 22 Session # 11, May 29 Session # 12, June 5 Session # 13, June 12 Brainstorming: What is a state? The state as monopolizer The state as a classifier Welfare a core state function? Trajectories: Social forces and institutions (Migdal) Political economy of the state (Schumpeter) Colonial states (Mamdani) Developmental states (Woo-Cummings) The end of the welfare state? A state of numbers? Intervention or state-building? Is there an alternative to the state? The future of the state (Genschel/Zangl; Schlichte)

3 SESSIONS CONTENT: Session #1, March 13 Brainstorming: What is a state? We start with a brain-storming: What is a state? What do we associate with the term state? This collective effort shall help us structure our pre-understanding and develop some ideas which we can connect to the seminar s content. We will also look at different arguments about what a good definition is (Aristotle, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein). If time allows, we will look at the German example: Where can we see the state? How did it come about? I. Aspects of Statehood Session #2, March 20 The state as monopolizer Starting with Norbert Elias, several authors in historical sociology have stressed the processes of monopolization that constitute the formation of the modern state. Violence and taxation stand out here, and in recent times, the norm of sovereignty. Is the question of violence the core of state theory? In this session, France will be our case of reference, but we will talk about other cases in a comparative perspective. Reading: Tilly 1985; (further reading: Elias [1939] 1985; Bartelson 2014) Presenters: Session #3, March 27 The state as a classifier In all contemporary states, education is one major issue of state activity. How is this reflected in state theory? Pierre Bourdieu thinks so, but what is his argument? We will also look at aggregated numbers on education in OECD countries in order to see what the empirical record of state activity here is. Reading: Bourdieu 2014; (further reading: Martens/Niemann 2013) Presenters: Session # 4, April 3: Welfare a core state function? Even among Western countries, the idea is contested that social security is a core state function. These differences in positions are reflected in different institutional landscapes between Western states, and we will delve into the long debate about what the differences are and how to explain them. In this session, the USA could be used as a case of reference. Mandatory reading: Marshall [1949] Briggs 2006; (complementary: Esping-Andersen 1990) Presenters: Nina Kramer; Alissa Trouillet II. State theories Session # 5, April 10 Trajectories: Social forces and institutions How do we explain how states develop over time? Again, historical sociology has made strong claims on that question: some features persist, some events matter for long periods. Theda Skocpol is a prominent author of this strand. In this session, we could take Russia as a case of reference and compare it to what we know about others. Mandatory reading: Migdal 1994, (further reading: Hanson 1997; Maier 1999) Presenters: Meghan Furrie, Hiba Asim Session # 6, April 17 The political economy of the state Any form of political rule needs resources. The ways in which states fund their personnel and the tasks they assume vary, however, both over time and between cases. What forms of

4 revenue collection do states have? What do they depend on, and what effects does taxation have? Is there currently change going on? In this session we will focus on political economic theories of the state. Mandatory reading: Schumpeter [1918] 1991; (further reading: Genschel/Seelkopf 2015) Presenters: Jasmine Heldt-Hernandez; Thomas Otto. Session # 7, April 24 Colonial states Even if there is some debate how deep and in what regard colonial rule affected the subdued political orders, there is no doubt that there was such an impact. That is why we talk about postcolonial states. We cannot cover all forms and dynamics of colonial states in this session but will pick a prominent author from the Global South and his view on South Africa and Uganda. The session shall also allow us to throw a comparative glance at other cases. Is the colonial state a form of statehood of its own? Mandatory reading: Mamdani 1996, chap.1-2; (further reading: Balandier [1951] 1966) Presenters: Lukas Utz (no session on May 1: Labor Day!) Session # 8, May 8 Developmental states The developmental state was a prominent model for newly independent countries in ther 1950s and 1960s. It came into crisis in the 1980s, but is back now. We will look into this concept and its historical development. Prussia if often mentioned as the first model, Meiji- Japan as the next. Currently, Singapore but also the People s Republic of China have gained a renewed image as strong developmental states. Further reference cases could be Rwanda, Ethiopia or Kazachstan. Mandatory reading:: Woo-Cummings 1999 (further reading: on Singapur/Japan to be determined) Presenters: Bushra Rahman, Yu Zhu [Japan] Oguz Can Mermut [Singapore] III. Current debates Session # 9, May 15 The end of the welfare state? Is the welfare state in a crisis? Some argue that since it lost its competitor the socialist state cuts in welfare provision and downsizing the social sector has become the norm. Other challenge this view. Great Britain and Sweden could be reference cases here, but we should look into general tendencies here too. Mandatory reading: Obinger/Starke 2015; (further reading on cases) Presenters: Dogachan Dagi [Sweden] Caroline König [United Kingdom] Session # 10, May 22 A state of numbers? The state is not only a classifier, but statistics as a technology of observing and governing societies are closely linked to the history of the state. These connections were for a long time ignored, but currently there is a lively debate about the quantification of politics. But is it really the state that is behind this or can we have other guesses on how to explain these dynamics? Mandatory reading:: Porter 1995, intro + chap.8 (further reading: Rottenburg/Engle Merry 2015) Presenters: Nino Manizhashvili; Zeynep Tugce Ozdemir

5 Session # 11, May 29 Intervention or state-building? Since the early 1990s we have observed a growing activity of external intervention into civil wars, humanitarian crises or cases of state-failure. Seemingly, states that do not conform to functional standards are perceived as a problem by other states. International organizations and a host of NGOs are active in this field as well. But can states be build by external actors? Opinions are divided here. We can look single cases like Haiti, DR Congo or Afghanistan, but we should also try to get a general picture here. Mandatory reading: Goetze 2016; Krasner/Risse 2014 (further reading on cases) Presenters: Aileen Schlens Braun, Naad-e-Ali Sulehria (cases???) Session # 12, June 5, Is there an alternative to the state? We decided to devote this session to discuss the question whether there could be alternatives to the state. Anarchism is perhaps an extreme position, but theoretically (perhaps practically?) not so uninteresting. We will discuss a seminal text of that school of thought, and will then see what James Scott, aprominent anthropologist has to say about it. Mandatory reading: Kropotkin 1898 (further reading: Scott 2009) Presenters: Zsolt Szabo Session # 13, June 12 The future of the state We will address in this discussion the still neglected question whether there is really a difference between states of the OECD and the rest, which is actually the majority of cases. What can we expect about the future of the state? Are there overall tendencies or is there just endless variation? We shall use this session also for a short look back on the seminar. Mandatory reading: Schlichte 2018 (further reading: Genschel/Zangl 2014). Presenters: Augustine Okeke READING: Balandier, Georges [1951] 1966: The Colonial Situation: A Theoretical Approach, in: Wallerstein, Immanuel: Social change : the colonial situation, New York, Bartelson, Jens 2014: Sovereignty as Symbolic Form, London: Routledge. Bourdieu, Pierre 2012: Sur l État. Cours auf Collège de France , cours du 7 février 1991, Paris: Raison d Agir, (engl. Version Cambridge: Polity 2014) Briggs, Asa 2006: The Welfare State in Historical Perspective, in: Christopher Pierson / Francis G. Castles (eds.), The Welfare State Reader, London: Polity, Elias, Norbert [1939] 1985: Power and Civility: The civilizing process, New York: Blackwell. Esping Andersen, Gøsta 1990 : The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, Cambridge: Polity. Genschel, Philipp/Seelkopf, Laura 2015: The Competition State: The Modern State in Global Economy, in: Leibfried et al. (eds.),

6 Genschel, Philipp / Zangl, Bernhard 2014: State Transformations in OECD countries, in: American Political Science Review 17, Goetze, Catherine 2016: Warlords and States: a contemporary myth of the international system, in: Berit Bliesemann (ed.), Myth and Narrative in International Politics, New York: Palgrave, Hanson, Stephen 1997: Time and Revolution. Marxism and the design of Soviet institutions, Chapel Hill NC: University of North Carolina Press. Krasner, Stephen /Risse, Thomas 2014: External Actors, State-Building, and Service Provision in Areas of Limited Statehood: Introduction, in: Governance, 27, 4, Kropotkin, Peter 1898: The State: its historic role, London: Freedom Office Leibfried, Stephan / Huber, Evelyne / Lange, Matthew / Levy, Jonah D. / Nullmeier, Frank / Stephens, John D. (eds.): The Oxford Handbook on the Transformations of the State, Oxford: OUP. Maier, Charles 1991: Dissolution. The crisis of communism and the end of the East Germany, Princeton NJ: Princeton UP. Mamdani, Mahmood 1996: Citizen and Subject. Contemporary Africa and the legacy of late colonialism, Princeton NJ: Princeton UP. (chap. 1-2) Marshall, T. H. [1949] 2006: Citizenship and Social Class, in: Christopher Pierson / Francis G. Castles (eds.), The Welfare State Reader, London: Polity, Martens, Kerstin / Niemann, Dennis 2013: When Do Numbers Count? The differential impact of the PISA rating and ranking on education policy in Germany and the US, in: German Politics, 22, 3, Migdal, Joel S. 1994: The State in Society. An approach to struggles for domination, in: Migdal, Joel S. / Kohli, Atul / Shue, Vivienne (eds.) 1994: State Power and Social Forces. Domination and transformation in the Third World, Cambridge, Mass.: CUP, Mkandawire, Thandika 2001: Thinking about Developmental States in Africa, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 25, 3, Obinger, Herbert / Starke, Peter 2015: Welfare State Transformation: Convergence and the Rise of the Supply-Side Model, in: Leibfried et al. (eds.), Porter, Theodore M. 1995: Trust in Numbers. The pursuit of objectivity in science and public life, Princeton NJ: Princeton UP. (intro+chap. 8) Rottenburg, Richard/Engle Merry, Sally 2015: A World of Indicators: The Making of Governmental Knowledge Through Quantification, in: Rottenburg, Richard/Engle Merry, Sally (Hg.), The World of Indicators. The Making of Governmental Knowledge Through Quantification, Cambridge, Mass., 1-33.

7 Schumpeter, Joseph [1918] 1991: The Crisis of the Tax State, in: Swedberg, Richard (ed.), Joseph Schumpeter. The economics and sociology of capitalism, Princeton, NJ.: Princeton UP. Scott, James 2009: The Art of Not Being Governed. An anarchist history of upland Southeast Asia, New Haven, CT: Yale UP. Skocpol, Theda 1979: State and Revolution. Old regimes and revolutionary crises in France, Russia, and China, in: Theory and Society, 7, 1-2, Tilly, Charles 1985: War Making and State Making as Organized Crime, in : Peter Evans, Dietrich Rueschemeyer, Theda Skocpol (eds.), Bringing the State Back In, Cambridge: CUP, Woo-Cummings, Meredith 1999: Introduction: Chalmers Johnston and the Politics of Nationalism and Development, in: Woo-Cummings (ed.) The Developmental State, Ithaca, Cornell UP, 1-30.