Sociology 251:

Current Research on Political Economy and Global Social Change

Ellen Reese and Chris Chase-Dunn Winter 2012

Wednesday, 4:10-7:00 p.m. Watkins 2240

v. 1-10-12

            This is a research seminar that focuses on two current research topics that are germane to political economy and global social change. The first five weeks (Part 1) will focus on theorizing about and empirically determining support for, or opposition to, a democratic world government in global civil society. The second five weeks (Part 2) will focus on transnational feminism, feminists and the social forum process and feminists and the global justice movement.

Required readings should be completed before the session in which the works are discussed. All the required works are on reserve in the Rivera Library or on the course Ilearn web site.

If you have not had any exposure to the world-systems perspective we would recommend giving Thomas R. Shannon, An Introduction to the World-Systems Perspective (Westview 1996) a quick read.

Books available in the Campus store and on Reserve:

Jackie Smith, Marina Karides, Marc Becker, Dorval Brunelle, Christopher Chase-Dunn, Donatella della Porta, Rosalba Icaza Garza, Jeffrey S. Juris, Lorenzo Mosca, Ellen Reese, Peter Jay Smith and Rolando Vazquez 2007 Global Democracy and the World Social Forums. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers

Moghadam, Valentine 2005 Globalizing Women. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press

Myra Marx Ferree and Aili Mari Tripp 2006 (eds.) Global Feminism: Transnational Women’s Activism, Organizing, and Human Rights, New York: New York University Press,

Catherine Eschle, and Bice Maiguashca. 2011. Making Feminist Sense of the Global Justice Movement Lanham, MA: Rowman and Littlefield.

Class Schedule and Readings: **Those marked with an asterisk (*) are required.** Others are suggested.

Part 1: Who is for and who is against a democratic global government?

Grades for Part 1 will be based on attendance (15%), participation (15%), the annotated bibliography (30%)[due January 25] and the analysis paper (40%)[due February 3. The two parts of the course will be graded separately and will each count for half of the final grade.

January 11: the evolution of global governance in the modern world-system; global civil society, global state formation and democratizing global governance

* Chapters 1-3 of Jackie Smith et al Global Democracy and the World Social Forums.

* Christopher Chase-Dunn, Hiroko Inoue, Alexis Alvarez and Paul Peterson, “Global State Formation and Democracy: Legitimacy, Capacity and Security for the Governance of the Global Settlement System” https://irows.ucr.edu/papers/irows69/irows69.htm

January 18: Searching for studies of support for and opposition to existing institutions of global governance and a possible future democratic world government.

*Chapters 4-6 of Jackie Smith et al Global Democracy and the World Social Forums.

* Gary Coyne, “Shifting Loyalties: How support for a global state is related to support of one’s own nation”

(under Course Materials on the Soc251 Ilearn site)

* C. Chase-Dunn “Mapping global civil society: an unfunded research proposal” (under Course Materials on the Soc251 Ilearn site)

Assignment: search for published studies of knowledge of, and attitudes toward, institutions of global governance and/or attitudes toward the idea of world government. Existing institutions of global governance include: the U.S. government, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, the Group of 8 and the Group of 20. Also look for studies that discuss attitudes toward and opposition to earlier institutions of global governance such as the Concert of Europe and the League of Nations. We will also examine studies of attitudes toward regional international bodies such as the European Union and think about the extent to which these findings may suggest hypotheses about attitudes toward global governance. Search issues of the Global Civil Society Yearbook.

Prepare an annotated bibliography of at least 15 relevant published studies with full citations. Send your annotated bibliography by email to Prof. Chase-Dunn chriscd@ucr.edu no later than January 23 at 5 pm.

January 25: looking for evidence regarding support for and opposition to a future democratic world government

Peoples’ knowledge of and attitudes toward existing global governance institutions: the U.S. government, United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Trade Organization, Group of 8, Group of 20. Survey evidence: World Social Forum, European Social Forum and U.S. Social Forum surveys; the World Value Survey, PEW Global Survey, the Eurobarometer, Latinobarometer, etc. (what else?) Web science; content analysis, coding news sources (Lexus/Nexus); focus groups, market research, other? Search issues of the Global Civil Society Yearbook.

Assignment: Pick three of the above sources or other sources that we have located. Discuss how appropriate the evidence is for making inferences about the attitudes toward global governance in global civil society. Analyze the data you have located. Describe whatever findings you can produce that are relevant to the questions of knowledge about and attitudes toward existing institutions of global governance and a possible future democratic world government. Include a complete bibliography of the sources of evidence. Write this up and send a first draft by email to Prof. Chase-Dunn chriscd@ucr.edu no later than January 30 at 5 pm.

February 1: We will discuss the drafts of your papers in class. The final version is due on Friday February 3 at 5pm. Send in by email to Prof. Chase-Dunn.

Part 2: Transnational feminism, feminists and the social forum process and feminists and the global justice movement

Ellen Reese Mail room: Watkins Hall 1211

Department of Sociology Phone: 951-827-2930

University of California, Riverside E-mail: ellen.reese@ucr.edu

Office: Watkins Hall 1217 Office Hours: Mon/Wed 3-4pm; Fri 11-12

Assignments for Weeks 6-10 & Grading Basis:

Attendance/Participation: 10%

Weekly reflection papers on assigned readings: 15%

Weekly oral presentations of assigned readings in class: 15%

Review of the literature (individual): 25%

Group project (WSF survey analysis): 30%

Oral presentation on group project: 5%

Grading Scale:

100-98: A+ 87-89: B+ 77-79: C+ 67-69: D+ >60: F

93-97: A 83-86: B 73-76: C 63-66: D

90-92: A- 80-82: B- 70-72: C- 60-62: D-

Assignments

Attendance & Participation: You are expected to do the reading each week and to participate actively in class discussions. If you must miss a class because of an illness or personal emergency, you must discuss this with the professor as soon as possible.

Weekly Reflection Papers: To facilitate discussions, you are required to write and post on-line a 2-page reflection paper responding to your assigned readings (including the reading you selected from the ‘independent reading list’) for each week to the professor and other students in the class at least one day before each week’s class. Your paper should briefly summarize and critically evaluate the readings. You should post your reflection paper on the “discussion board” on UCR’s Ilearn website for Soc. 251 (http://www.ilearn.ucr.edu; see instructions below).

Weekly oral presentations: Each student is expected to help facilitate and lead discussion during the quarter by orally presenting at least one assigned reading each week. Oral presentations should be about 5 minutes long and include both a summary of the main points (arguments, methods/data, evidence, etc.) and a critical evaluation of the reading.

Literature Review: A detailed description of this group assignment will be passed out during class. The final paper should provide a coherent and synthetic overview and critical evaluation of both the collective and individual readings assignments that you completed during Weeks 6-10 along with a bibliography (using ASA format). The paper include an introduction and conclusion and should be about 5-7 pages in length, excluding the bibliography (12 point font, double-sided).

Group research paper: A detailed description of this group assignment will be passed out during class. The final research paper will be written as a group and will include the following sections: (1) Introduction; (2) Data/methods; (3) Findings; (4) Conclusion. The paper should be 15-20 pages in length, including tables but excluding the bibliography (12 point font, double-sided).

Oral presentation of group project: On the last day of class, you will be expected to each contribute to a group oral presentation on your research project (about 5 minutes each person).

Late Assignments: No late assignments will be accepted unless you receive permission from the professor before the deadline. Unless excused by the professor, late papers will be penalized. Only medical or personal emergencies, verified with a doctor’s note or other documentation, will be considered grounds for granting an extension on paper deadlines.

Other course information

Independent reading list: This is a list of relevant journal articles that will be provided to you by Prof. Reese by Week 5 of the course.

Students with disabilities: If you need accommodations because of a disability, if you have emergency medical information to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please inform me immediately. Please see each me privately after class or in my office. To request academic accommodations (for example, a note taker), students must register with the campus office called “Services for Students with Disabilities” (125 Castro Hall, 951-827-4538). This office is responsible for reviewing documentation provided by students requesting academic accommodations, and for accommodations planning in cooperation with students and instructors, as needed and consistent with course requirements.

Course Web Site (http://ilearn.ucr.edu): To use this website, you must use your student account. Unless you changed them, your password usually is your student identification number and your login is usually your campus e-mail name (before @student.ucr.edu) or the first five letters of your last name plus your first initial. If you need help with using this website, you can contact the help desk (helpdesk@student.ucr.edu or 951-827-6495).

Reading Schedule

Week 6: February 15:

Moghadam, Valentine 2005 Globalizing Women. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN: 9780801880247