Sociology 512 ‑ Global Sociology

 

State University of New York ‑ Stony Brook

Spring 2001

 

Graduate Seminar:        Monday 4:00 ‑ 7:00 PM

SBS N‑403

 

Professor:                     Ian Roxborough

Office: SBS S‑445

Phone: 631.632.7718

631-474-3167 (home)

212-535-7086 (home)

e‑mail: iroxborough@notes.cc.sunysb.edu

FAX 631-632-8203

________________________________________________________________________

 

Course Description:

            In the last decade or so, the notion of “globalization” has increasingly been used to define the epoch in which we live. The central proposition is simply this: we now live in a qualitatively new era of human history, marked by such unprecedented trans- or supra-national social processes that we can no longer assume that sociology is the study of social processes “contained” by nation-states. This course will, accordingly, address three questions: (1) is this true? Are we entering in to a “new age” of globalization? (2) If so, what are the implications for social processes? (3) How can we, as professional sociologists, evaluate these propositions? Is there empirical evidence that we can bring to bear on these claims?

            A rather different perspective than the “new age” globalization theories is represented by a loose body of sociological work variously labeled “world systems theory”, “international political economy” or “state formation” theory. Roughly, this body of sociological work argues that there is a world system which possesses a definable structure and is composed of specifiable processes. This world system has been several centuries in the making and, while we may currently be witnessing a new stage of development in the world system, there is nothing new about the process of globalization as such. From this perspective, the task for sociologists is less to conceptualize the nature of a historical unique “new age,” than to explain the long-term historical dynamics of the development of the capitalist world system and the roles of states, nations, organizations, households, classes, and publics within it. The course is organized so as to constantly play off “new age” globalization theories against theories of the historical development of the world system, hopefully in a productive manner.

            Some part of this course will be devoted to addressing the question of exactly what is meant by “globalization” and what is comprised under the heading of “global sociology.” What is the relationship of “global sociology” to, for example, comparative and historical sociology, the sociology of the world system, theories of underdevelopment and dependency, general theories of social change and modernization, discussions of the relationships between “internal” and “external” or “domestic” and “foreign” factors, the sociology of transnational flows of people, capital, ideas, etc.? Are we looking at processes of “globalization” or “Westernization?” Or “Americanization?” Is global sociology the same as “macro-comparative” sociology? Must it necessarily be “historical?” How do we integrate micro and maco perspectives? The faculty at Stony Brook don’t necessarily have the answers to these questions; nor do we all share the same approach to the topic. We do, however, all believe that there are certain social processes that are, in some sense, “global” and that these require important reconceptualizations of how sociologists should analyze contemporary society. This course will introduce you to some of the main issues and debates in this burgeoning field.

 

            The course is set up as an intensive reading (and thinking) course. It is designed to introduce you to some of the main issues in the field.

 

Formal Requirements:

            Obviously, class attendance and pre‑seminar preparation is mandatory and necessary.  We are a community of learners, and you owe it to the rest of us to be intellectually committed.  Discussions will constitute a major part of the course, and the quality of these discussions will depend on the degree of your engagement.  The class needs your contributions!

            Evaluation will be based on your informed and active participation in class, and on some relatively easy writing assignments:

 

1) Each week you are to prepare a short document that contains 3‑4 questions that could be used to lead class discussion, and a hypothesis derived from your reading of the literature.  The purpose of the questions is to get you to think critically about both the particular contribution of the work, and its place in a larger theoretical and empirical discourse.  Hypotheses allow you think in terms of sociologically testable statements, providing ideas to develop or contribute to a research agenda.  Please have these to me by early Monday afternoon so I can anticipate the directions you want the seminar to go when we meet.

 

2) Four short critical book reports.

 

3) Attendance: There are 13 sessions. I expect you to attend all sessions, having done the reading and prepared to contribute to the discussion. If you consistently miss sessions, I will reduce your grade for non-attendance.

 

Course Schedule and Reading

 

 

1. Mon Jan 29   Introduction

 

2.       Mon Feb 5  Some visions of globalization:

 

Reading: Patrick O’Meara et al, (eds) Globalization and the Challenges of a New Century, 2000

Sections 1, 2, 5

 

3. Mon Feb 12   State Formation and the Rise of the Interstate System

 

Reading: C. Tilly, Coercion, Capital, and European States, AD 990‑1992 (1995).              

 

4. Mon Feb 19   Modes of Accumulation and the Rise of the Capitalist World‑Economy

 

Reading: G. Arrighi, The Long Twentieth Century (1994).

 

5. Mon Feb 26  The hypothesis of a “new age” of globalization.

 

Reading: Martin Albrow, The Global Age, 1996

 

6. Mon March 5              The State and the Global Economy

 

Reading: O’Meara sections 3, 6

           

7. Mon March 12

Tim Moran        Economic Institutions and Global Inequality

 

Reading:

 

D. North, Structure and Change in Economic History (1981).

 

R.P. Korzeniewicz and T.P. Moran, “World‑Economic Trends in the Distribution of Income, 1965‑1992,” American Journal of Sociology (1997).                

 

8. Mon March 26

Daniel Levy      Citizenship and the State

 

Reading:

 

Gershon Shafir, “Introduction: the Evolving Tradition of Citizenship” in The Citizenship Debates (Gershon Shafir ed, 1998)

 

Rogers Brubaker, “Immigration, Citizenship, and the Nation-State in France and Germany” in The Citizenship Debates (Gershon Shafir ed, 1998)

 

Yasemin Nuholu Soysal, “Postnational Citizenship” in The Blackwell Companion to Political Sociology, (Kate Nash and Alan Scott eds, 2000)

 

9. Mon April 2   Transnational social movements       

 

Reading:

 

J. Smith, C. Chatfield, and R. Pagnucco (eds.), Transnational Social Movements and Global Politics: Solidarity Beyond the State (1997), Especially Chapters 2‑5, 9, 11, 13.

 

J.W. Meyer, J. Boli, G.M. Thomas, and F.O. Ramirez, “World Society and the Nation‑State,”  American Journal of Sociology (1997).                    

 

10. Mon April 16   War and the World System

 

Reading:

 

O’Meara section 4

           

P. Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers (1988), pages xxii‑xxiv.

 

D.C. Copeland, “Economic Interdependence and War: A Theory of Trade Expectations,” International Security (1996), skip pages 8‑23.

 

E. Mansfield and J. Snyder, “Democratization and the Dangers of War,” International Security (1995).

 

11. Mon April 23

Hermann Kurthen   International Immigration

 

Reading:

 

D. Massey, Worlds in Motion: Understanding International Migration at the End of the Millennium (1998), Chapters 1,2, and 10.

 

12. Mon April 30  Global Class Dynamics

 

Reading: S. Sassen, Global Cities (1990).

 

13. Mon May 7   Culture

 

Reading: O’Meara section 10