Political Geography Geography 407

Transcription

1 Political Geography Geography 407 Course Description: The world patterns of nations; geographic factors affecting the background and present development of countries. Course Objectives: 1. To understand the development of group identities such as nations and examine the linkages between these identities and the political organization of territory. 2. To examine the functional approach to states with an emphasis on how internal and external forces work centripetally and centripetally on the integrity of state territories. 3. To develop an appreciation for the effects of boundaries on economic, political, and social processes. 4. To achieve an understanding of the ideas that legitimize the governance of particular territories by certain groups and/or individuals. 5. To trace the evolution of geopolitical ideas. 6. To identity the political, economic, and environmental forces that are undermining the modern nationstate system. Instructor: Dr. George W. White 217 Fine Arts, ; Secretary Office Hours: Readings: Found on reserve in the library. Evaluation: Midterm and Final Examinations: This course has three midterm examinations and one final examination. The exams primarily will consist of short answer questions and essays. Expect questions from the lectures and readings. It is also important to pay close attention to any statements that your fellow students make during class discussions. Information that students contribute to class discussions may be helpful in formulating good answers on the exams. When you study for the exams, you should focus your efforts on understanding broad concepts and processes. Then you should work at filling in all the details that demonstrate your understanding of broad concepts and processes. The use of examples is a good way of demonstrating your knowledge. You, however, will not do well on the exams if you simply list examples without putting them into proper context. Projects: Two projects must be completed in this course. A special packet explaining the course projects will be distributed to you. Due dates will be announced in class, with late assignments having 7 points subtracted for each day of lateness; Saturdays and Sundays count as individual days. You should share the information that you gain from the projects at appropriate times during class lectures as part of your class participation. Class Participation: Class participation includes class attendance. You cannot contribute to class discussions if you do not attend class. Therefore, you are expected to be in class each class meeting. Do not bother bringing

2 documentation of your absence unless you were absent on a day of an examination or on a day that a project was due. In such cases, you must have documentation of a legitimate excuse. Evaluation Summary: Points Actual Points Received Examination Examination Examination Project Project Final Examination 100 Total Points Possible 600 Grading Scale: Percentages Points Letter Grade % A 80-89% B 70-79% C 60-69% D < 60% < 359 F Policies: If you are unable to attend a session you still are held accountable for the information presented. If illness or other extenuating circumstances prevent you from taking any of the exams, or submitting the projects as scheduled, you are responsible for contacting the instructor prior to the deadline in question. If you fail to contact the instructor in a reasonable and timely manner, the instructor has the right to fail you for that particular test or project. "Reasonable and timely" contact is considered to be the time when you resume attending class following an absence from an illness or extenuating circumstance. Any make-up material must be submitted by the last day of classes. Any special arrangements for the final exam must be made by the last day of classes as well. No make-ups or special arrangements for the final exam will be made during finals week. If you need help, seek help early, do not wait until the last minute! The University will not tolerate disorderly or disruptive conduct which substantially threatens, harms, or interferes with university personnel or orderly university processes and functions. A faculty member may require a student to leave the classroom when his/her behavior disrupts the learning environment of the class. A student found responsible for disruptive behavior in the classroom may be administratively withdrawn from the course. Academic honesty is expected in all matters relating to the course. Please consult Pathfinder. Academic dishonesty on any exam will lead to course failure.

3 Lecture and Reading Schedule Chapters/Readings* Introduction Defining Political-Geographic Regions Group Identities: Peoples Murphy a ; Heppen b Symmons-Symonolewicz c ; Connor d ; Connor e Examination 1 Territoriality, the State, and the Nation-State Ideal The Functional Approach to States: Internal and External Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces Frontiers and Boundaries: Internationally and Internally Electoral Geography Anderson f ; Hirsman g ; Wellens h Hartshorne i Morrill j Examination 2 Legitimacy of Territorial Sovereignty Significance of Territory National Constructions of Territory Murphy k White l Examination 3 Early Geopolitics Modern Geopolitics The Break-Down of the Nation-State: International Organizations (IGOs) and Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) Alliances: Global Political Economy Global Environmental Issues Glassner m Cohen n Murphy o ; Drake p Agnew q ; Corbridge r Porter and Brown s Endnotes on next page

4 List of Readings (endnotes) Found at the Reserve Desk in the FSU Library a Alexander B. Murphy Regions as social constructs: The gap between theory and practice. Progress in Human Geography 15 (1): b John Heppen The nine geopolitical regions of the South: Southern political and historical regionalism. Baton Rouge, La.: Unpublished paper. c Konstantin Symmons-Symonolewicz The concept of nationhood: Towards a theoretical clarification. Canadian Review of Studies in Nationalism 12 (Fall): d Walker Connor A nation is a nation, is a state, is an ethnic group is a... Chap. 5 in Nationalism, edited by John Hutchinson and Anthony D. Smith. New York: Oxford University Press. e Walker Connor When is a nation? ("From tribe to nation"). Chap. 9 in Ethnonationalism: The quest for understanding. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. f Benedict Anderson Census, Map, Museum. Chap. 10 in Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. New York: Verso. g Charles Hirschman The meaning and measurement of ethnicity in Malaysia: An analysis of census classifications. The Journal of Asian Studies 46 (3/August): h Koen Wellens What's in a name? The Premi in southwest China and the consequences of defining ethnic identity. Nations and Nationalism 4 (1): i Richard Hartshorne The functional approach in political geography. In The structure of political geography, edited by Roger E. Kasperson and Julian V. Minghi. Chicago, Ill.: Aldine Publishing Company. (read only pages ) j Richard Morrill Electoral Geography and Gerrymandering: Space and Politics. Chap. 6 in Reordering the world: Geopolitical perspectives on the twenty-first century, edited by George J. Demko and k Alexander B. Murphy Historical justifications for territorial claims. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 80 (December): l George W. White Transylvania: Hungarian, Romanian, or Neither? Chap. 12 in Nested Identities: Nationalism, Territory and Scale. Edited by Guntram Herb and David Kaplan. Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. m Martin Ira Glassner Historical concepts in geopolitics. Chap. 18 in Political geography. New York: John Wiley and Sons. n Saul B. Cohen Geopolitics in the New World Era: A new perspective on an old discipline. Chap. 2 in Reordering the world: Geopolitical perspectives on the twenty-first century, edited by George J. Demko and o Alexander B. Murphy International law and the sovereign state: Challenges to the status quo. Chap. 12 in Reordering the world: Geopolitical perspectives on the twenty-first century, edited by George J. Demko and p Christine Drake The United Nations and NGOs: Future Roles. Chap. 14 in Reordering the world:

5 Geopolitical perspectives on the twenty-first century, edited by George J. Demko and William B. Wood. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press. q John Agnew Global Hegemony versus national economy: The United States in the New World Order. Chap. 15 in Reordering the world: Geopolitical perspectives on the twenty-first century, edited by George J. Demko and r Stuart Corbridge Maximizing entropy? New geopolitical orders and the internationalization of business. Chap. 16 in Reordering the world: Geopolitical perspectives on the twenty-first century, edited by George J. Demko and s Gareth Porter, and Janet Welsh Brown The development of environmental regimes: Nine case studies. Chap. 3 in Global Environmental Politics. 2d ed. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.