The Politics of Race, Ethnicity and Immigration POLI SCI 415-001 Spring 2017 T/TH 12:30-1:45pm Curtain 124 Prof. Paru Shah TA: Amanda Heideman BOL 676 BOL 664 shahp@uwm.edu heidem24@uwm.edu Office Hours: T 2-3pm or by appointment M 2-3pm Course Overview This course brings together several disciplines history, sociology, and political science. The topics range from individual attitudes, political behavior, demographic stratification, historical development, contemporary institutions, public policy, and normative goals. Most importantly, the course brings into direct contact with one another several robust academic literatures that have largely developed independently of one another studies of American racial dynamics, American ethnic and immigration politics, and some comparative ethnic and immigration politics. We will begin examining the history and theory of the American racial order. Next, we will look at contemporary racial and ethnic politics, particularly as it relates to identity and representation. The last third of the class will focus how the dynamics of immigration influence racial identities and politics. Questions we will consider include: What is the overall historical trajectory of different racial groups? How do small minorities operate in a majoritarian political system? What institutions shape, maintain, constrain, or destroy racial hierarchy? Why do some observers see increasing equality among groups while others see persistent stratification? Where are the crucial political dividing lines? Course Learning Objectives Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Identify the major theories and arguments of racial categories and hierarchies in the US. Analyze critically evidence of political difference and commonality among the largest racial groups in the US. Understand how immigration has shaped and continues to shape racial and ethnic politics in the US. This course fulfills the research requirement for L&S degree: 1) Students will conduct independent and original research on a substantive question on the politics of race, ethnicity and immigration; 2) Students to review and evaluate the relevant scholarly work in order to show the importance of their own research; 3) Students will share their research with their colleagues by various means including, but not limited to, oral presentation in class, author-discussant pairing, and online discussion. Readings: All readings will be available on D2L.
Course Requirements Participation and Discussion (25pts) Each class meeting will involve in-class discussion of assigned readings. The discussions are an opportunity for you to clarify uncertainties and synthesize your understanding of concepts and ideas presented in the lectures and readings. The discussions also provide a forum in which to examine critically concepts and policy issues that are relevant to the course. Discussions thus present important learning opportunities in the class. You will of course need to be present to participate in discussion, but beyond this you will be evaluated for your ability to: (a) add content and insight into the discussion, and (b) pose relevant questions that contribute to the discussion. Reaction Essays (80pts) Reaction essays are brief responses to a prompt regarding one or more assigned readings (350-400 words). These are opportunities for you to reflect on the readings, and ensure you are prepared to discuss them in class. Reaction essays must be typed in 12 point font and free of grammatical and spelling errors. The essays are due by the start of class and MUST be uploaded into D2L. You are required to complete eight (8) essays and will have ten (10) opportunities to write them. I will not accept any reaction essays that are submitted late. Quizzes/Exams (200 pts) There will be two (2) quizzes (50pts each) during the term that serve as checkpoints for course readings, and include multiple choice, short answer and essay questions. Students will be asked questions that require them to define major critical terms and connect various facets of the course including lectures, readings, films, and class discussion. The final exam (100pts) during finals week will cover material from the full course. Final Research Paper and Presentation (100 pts) Students will write a research proposal, 15 to 18 pages in length, outlining a research agenda on some topic related to the course. The research proposal should include a brief literature review and some set of hypotheses to be explored. In other words, it would include all the elements of a published article, except for the empirical section. Students should meet with me early in the semester to discuss the research proposal. Information on the individual components and presentation requirements will be provided in class. Professionalism and Late Work You will be expected to behave professionally in this class. That is to say, you will be expected to arrive on time and to attend all meetings. You will be prepared for each class and actively participate in discussion. I will not tolerate disruptive behavior, including, but not limited to, reading newspapers, conversing during lectures, insulting classmates or the instructor, or leaving early. I also will not tolerate students who do not put forth every effort. Late work will not be accepted for credit (unless there is a major and substantiated complication which prevents completion of which I am aware immediately and prior to the due date, and the determination about whether or it is major and substantiated will be made solely at the discretion of the instructor.) I know all the excuses, so please do not test me. Do note that full documentation of illness or death in the family is necessary for excused absences and extensions. To repeat, I require notification BEFORE the missed assignment/exam unless that is impossible due to documented emergency. Sincerely held religious beliefs are exempt from the
documentation policy, though I still require advance notification of absence/conflict with a religious observance. Work Load This is a three-credit course, and as such you should average about nine hours of work per week to achieve the learning goals of this course. Obviously, you will work more in some weeks than in others, but you should average about nine work hours per week. Special Needs Any students with special needs due to a physical or learning disability should see me as soon as possible. Every effort will be made to accommodate your needs. Other University Policies Other University guidelines (including policies on sexual harassment, grade appeals, incompletes, and military call-ups) can be found here: http://www4.uwm.edu/secu/syllabuslinks.pdf. Grading Scale A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D D- 100-93% 92-90% 89-88% 87-82% 81-80% 79-78% 77-72% 71-70% 69-68% 67-62% 61-60% Students are encouraged to keep track of their progress in the course and consult with me in person should they have questions or concerns about their performance. Please note I will not discuss grades via email or telephone.
Topics and Readings Part 1: THE HISTORY AND THEORY OF THE AMERICAN RACIAL ORDER Week 1: Jan 24-26 What Is Race, and What Is Racism? T: Introductions and Overview TH: (1) Samson, Frank, and Lawrence Bobo. 2014. Ethno-Racial Attitudes and Social Inequality. In Handbook of Social Psychology of Inequality, JD McLeod et al (eds). (2) Sen, Maya and Omar Wasow. 2016. Race as a Bundle of Sticks: Designs that Estimate Effects of Seemingly Immutable Characteristics. Annual Review of Political Science, 19: 499-522. Week 2: Jan 31-Feb 2 Origins and the American Racial Order T: Rogers Smith, Beyond Tocqueville, Myrdal, and Hartz: The Multiple Traditions in America, American Political Science Review, September 1993, pp. 549-566. Reaction Essay #1 Due TH: Hochschild, Jennifer, Velsa Weaver, and Traci Burch. 2012. Creating a new racial order: how immigration, multiracialism, genomics and the young can remake race in America. Chapters 1 and 7. Week 3: Feb 7-9 Immigration and Whiteness; Bringing Indians, Asians, and Latinos into the American Picture T: (1) Daniel Tichenor, Dividing Lines, chapter 1; (2) Matthew Frye Jacobson, Whiteness of a Different Color, chapters 3, 8 Reaction Essay # 2 Due TH: Hing, Bill. 1997. To Be An American: Cultural Pluralism and the Rhetoric of Assimilation. New York: NYU Press. Chapters 1,2 and 10. Research Topic Due Week 4: Feb 14-16 T: Presentation by Political Science Librarian TH: Quiz 1
Part 2: CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN RACIAL AND ETHNIC POLITICS Week 5: Feb 21-23 Identity and Interests T: Michael Dawson, Behind the Mule, chapters 3 and 4. Reaction Essay #3 Due TH: (1) Zoltan Hajnal and Taeku Lee, Why Americans Don t Join the Party, chapter 4; (2) Robert Putnam, E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty-first Century, Scandinavian Political Studies, 2007, v. 30 (2): 137-174. Week 6: Feb 28-March 2 Identity and Interests (cont) T: Jacob Rugh and Jessica Trounstine, The Provision of Local Public Goods in Diverse Communities: Analyzing Municipal Bond Elections, Journal of Politics, October 2011, 73(4): 1038-1050. Reaction Essay #4 Due TH: Thierry Devos and Mahzarin Banaji, American=White? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2005, pp. 447-466. Annotated Bibliography Due Week 7: March 7-9 Representation and Empowerment T: (1) Suzanne Dovi. Preferable Descriptive Representation: Will Just Any Woman, Black, or Latino Do? American Political Science Review. 2002. pp. 729-43; (2) Michael James, "The Priority of Racial Constituency over Descriptive Representation" Journal Of Politics, July 2011, 73 (3): 899-914. Reaction Essay #5 Due TH: (1) John Griffin and Brian Newman. 2008. Minority Report. University of Chicago Press, chapters 5, 7 (pp. 143-171) full text available online; (2) Daniel Gillion. 2013. The Political Power of Protest. Chapters 1, 3 - full text available online. Week 8: March 14-16 Obama: Cause and Effect T: Stephen Ansolabehere, Nathaniel Persily, and Charles Stewart III, Race, Region, and Vote Choice in the 2008 Election: Implications for the Future of the Voting Rights Act, Harvard Law Review, Vol. 123, 2010. Reaction Essay #6 Due
TH: (1) Michael Tesler, The Spillover of Racialization into Health Care: How President Obama Polarized Public Opinion by Race and Racial Attitudes, American Journal of Political Science. 2012; (2) TBD. Literature Review Draft Due Week 9: Spring Break! Week 10: March 28-30 Responses to Ethnic and Racial Change T: (1) Helen Marrow, New Destination Dreaming: Immigration, Race and Legal Status in the Rural American South. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2011, chapters 5, 6; (2) Karthick Ramakrishnan and Tom Wong, Partisanship, Not Spanish: Explaining Municipal Ordinances Affecting Undocumented Immigrants, in Taking Local Control: Immigration Policy Activism in U.S. Cities and States ed. Monica Varsanyi (Stanford University Press, 2010), pg.73-93. Reaction Essay #7 Due TH: (1) Daniel Hopkins, Politicized Places: Where and When Immigrants Provoke Local Opposition, American Political Science Review, February 2010, 104(1): 40-60; (2) Shaun Bowler et al, Earthquakes and Aftershocks, American Journal of Political Science, Jan. 2006, pp. 146-59. Hypotheses and Data Description Due Week 11: April 4-6 How Institutions Shape Race and Ethnicity, and Vice Versa T: (1) Paul Frymer, Racism Revised, American Political Science Review, 2005, pp. 373-387; (2) Cybelle Fox, Three Worlds of Relief: Race, Immigration, and Public and Private Social Welfare Spending in American Cities, American Journal of Sociology, 116 (2), 2010: 453-502. TH: Quiz 2 Part 3: POLITICS OF RACE, ETHNICITY, AND IMMIGRATION Week 12: April 11-13 Comparing National Dynamics of Race and Immigration T: Nancy Foner and Richard Alba, Immigrant Religion in the U.S. and Western Europe: Bridge or Barrier to Inclusion? International Migration Review, 42 (2), 2008: 360-392. Reaction Essay #8 Due TH: Christopher Bail. The Configuration of Symbolic Boundaries Against Immigrants in Europe. American Sociological Review February 2008, pp. 37-59. Week 13: April 17-19 Individual Research Project Meetings
Week 14: April 25-27 Political Structures and Racial Contestation T: Kanchan Chandra, Ethnic Parties and Democratic Stability, Perspectives on Politics, 2005, pp. 235-252. Reaction Essay #9 Due TH: Mala Htun, Is Gender Like Ethnicity? Perspectives on Politics, September 2004, pp. 439-458 Rough Draft of Research Paper Due Week 15: May 2-4 Coming Constructions of Race and Ethnicity T: (1) Jennifer Hochschild and Vesla Weaver. There s No One as Irish as Barack O Bama : The Politics and Policy of Multiracialism in the United States, Perspective on Politics, 2010; (2) Richard Alba, Blurring the Color Line: The New Chance for an Integrated America, chapters 3, 4. Reaction Essay #10 Due TH: Peter Schuck. Immigrants Incorporation in the United States after 9/11: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back. in Jennifer Hochschild and John Mollenkopf, ed. Bringing Outsiders In, pp.158-175. Available on-line. Week 16: May 9-11 Final Research Paper presentations Final: Monday, May 15, 12:30-2:30pm