Political Economy 160
Ideologies of Social Justice in
the Twentieth Century
Professor Patrick Iber
Spring 2015 / MW 4-5:30 / 56 Barrows
Office Hours: Stephens 140; Friday 12-2
The twentieth century has been called the “century of the
intellectual” because of the important role that men and women of letters
played in debating, creating, and legitimizing the intense ideological conflict
that defined the era. This course will use their writings to examine the
ideological foundations of the century’s major political movements: from
Communism, fascism, and libertarianism to feminism and anti-colonialism. How
did each movement define social justice and injustice? What historical circumstances
created and shaped their beliefs? And what should we learn from the bloody
twentieth century’s debates about political economy when thinking about what we
should do in the twenty-first?
Course texts:
Terry Eagleton, Ideology:
An Introduction, Verso, 2007, ISBN 1844671437,
978-1844671434, $25.
Csezlaw Milosz, The
Captive Mind, Vintage, 1990, ISBN 0679728562,
978-0679728566, $13.
Clayborne Carson (ed.), The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Warner Books, 2001, ISBN 0446676500,
978-0446676502, $16.
Aimé Césaire, Discourse
on Colonialism, Monthly Review Press, 2001, ISBN 1583670254,
978-1583670255, $10.
James C. Scott, Two
Cheers for Anarchism, Princeton University Press, 2014, ISBN 0691161038, 978-0691161037,
$13.
Week 1: Introduction
W, January 21:
Introduction to the class
Week 2: What is Ideology?
M, Jan. 26: No class meeting
W, Jan. 28: What is
ideology?: discussion of Eagleton’s book
Terry Eagleton, Ideology: A Very Brief Introduction
Week 3: Major Ideas in
Political Economy I: Communism
M Feb. 2: Lecture:
Communism and the Beginning of the Short Twentieth Century
W Feb. 4: Discussion
Lenin, The State and Revolution, Chapter 5, http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/staterev/ch05.htm
Rosa Luxemburg, The Russian Revolution, Chapter 6, “The
Problem of Dictatorship,” http://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1918/russian-revolution/ch06.htm
Stalin’s conversation with
H.G. Wells, 1934:
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/04/h-g-wells-it-seems-me-i-am-more-left-you-mr-stalin
Week 4: Major Ideas in
Political Economy II: Fascism
M Feb. 9: Lecture: The
Logic of Fascism’s Rise
W Feb. 11: Discussion
Giovanni Gentile and Benito
Mussolini, “The Doctrine of Fascism”
http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/Reading/Germany/mussolini.htm
F.T. Marinetti, “The
Futurist Manifesto” http://vserver1.cscs.lsa.umich.edu/~crshalizi/T4PM/futurist-manifesto.html
Week 5: Major Ideas in
Political Economy III: Anti-fascism
M Feb. 16: UNIVERSITY
HOLIDAY
W, Feb. 18: Ken Loach, Land and Freedom [film in class]
Week 6: Major Ideas in
Political Economy IV: Market Fundamentalism / Conservative Libertarianism
M, Feb. 23: Lecture: What
does conservatism seek to conserve?
W, Feb. 25: Discussion
Friedrich Von Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, [condensed version,
pdf available], pp. 39-89
Ayn Rand, Anthem, http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1250/1250-h/1250-h.htm
Week 7: Major Ideas in
Political Economy V: Liberalism
M, March 2: Lecture: What
is liberal about liberalism?
W, March 4: Discussion
Isaiah Berlin, “Two
Concepts of Liberty”
Edward Shils, “The End of
Ideology?,” http://www.unz.org/Pub/Encounter-1955nov-00052
Michael Sandel, Justice, Chapter 6 on John Rawls, pp. 140-166
Week 8: The Self and the
Global I: Ex-Communism
M, March 9: Lecture:
Ideologies and the Cold War
W, March 11: Discussion
Czeslaw Milosz, The Captive Mind
Week 9: The Self and the
Global II: Feminism
M, March 16: Lecture: The
Gender Line
W, March 18: Discussion
Woolf, A Room of One’s Own
[especially chapters 3 and 6]
Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, Introduction and Chapter
1, http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/ethics/de-beauvoir/2nd-sex/
SPRING BREAK, March 23-27
Week 10: The Self and the
Global III: Decolonization and Third World Liberation
M, March 30: Lecture: The
Core and the Periphery
W, April 1: Discussion
Aimé Césaire, Discourse on Colonialism
Week 11: The Self and the
Global IV: Civil rights and anti-racism
M, April 6: Lecture: The
Color Line
W, April 8: Discussion
Carson (ed.), Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Week 12: Ideas Shaping the
Contemporary World I: Late Neoconservatism
M, April 13: Film: Arguing the World
W April 15: Discussion
Jeane Kirkpatrick,
“Dictatorships and Double Standards”
William Kristol and Robert
Kagan, “Toward a Neo-Reaganite Foreign Policy,” Foreign Affairs, July/August 1996, http://carnegieendowment.org/1996/07/01/toward-neo-reaganite-foreign-policy
National Security Strategy
of the United States of America, 2002, http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/63562.pdf
Week 13: Ideas Shaping the
Contemporary World II: Environmentalism
M, April 20: Lecture: The
Idea of Environmental Justice
W, April 22: Discussion
Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, pp. 1-37
Garrett Hardin, “The
Tragedy of the Commons,” Science 162
(13 December 1968): 1243-1248.
Naomi Klein, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/23/climate-change-fight-of-our-lives-naomi-klein
Chris Hayes, “The New
Abolitionism,” http://www.thenation.com/article/179461/new-abolitionism
Week 14: Ideas Shaping the Contemporary World
III: Post-libertarianism
M April 27: Lecture: The
State and the Legacy of the Short Twentieth Century
W April 29: Discussion
James C. Scott, Two Cheers for Anarchism
RRR Week, May 4-8
Final paper due: May
15
Insofar as grades interfere with your learning, you should
ignore them. The most important thing you can do in a semester is to work to
improve as a reader, writer, and thinker. But since we must do grades, this is
how they will be determined:
1) Participation: 24%. Good participation is thoughtful and considerate
of your role within a community of learners.
2) 11%: discussion document. Once during the semester, you
will sign up to bring in a primary document relevant to that week’s readings.
It could be a piece of art, music, or a document, but it should be carefully
chosen to illuminate a significant debate or dilemma regarding the ideology
under examination that week. You can send it to me to be displayed on screen,
or you can make copies, depending on what would be appropriate. You will
briefly explain your object to the class (just two or three minutes, please!)
and pose a question for brief discussion. One presentation will take place at
the end of Monday’s class, and one at the beginning of discussion on Wednesday.
3) 32%: two short papers. Twice during the semester, you
will write a short paper of approximately 4 pages (1000 words). At least one of
the papers needs to be done by week seven of the class. The short paper should
imagine what that week’s thinkers would identify as one of the major problems
facing the world today, and how they would want to respond to that challenge. I
will comment on your first paper and grade it on a credit/no credit basis. The
second paper will be given a letter grade.
4) 33% final project. Your final should be a medium-length
research project. You can present it either as a traditional paper, as a web
site, or as an art project. Written projects should be about 12-15 pages or the
online equivalent. One possible final project would involve finding an
intellectual or literary review. Examine it in its most important year(s). What was its project, politically and
aesthetically? How did it expect to
achieve its goals? Who contributed to it
and why? As a useful exercise, I would
encourage you to do this without
consulting the secondary literature. An alternative final paper structure would
involve writing a short intellectual biography of a person of interest to you.
An art project or performance is a riskier final and would have to be connected
directly to the themes of the class. Whatever you choose, please make the time
to visit me at least briefly during office hours to talk about your plans.
