TEXTBOOKS

• Thomas R. Shannon. 1996. An Introduction to the World-System Perspective. 2nd. edition. Westview Press.
• Giovanni Arrighi. 1994. The Long Twentieth Century. Verso.
• Sing C. Chew & Robert A. Denemark, eds.. 1996. The Underdevelopment of Development. Sage.
  

COURSE CONTENT

This course is an overview of some of the theories and of the actual life-experience of the modern world, from the perspective of historical sociology, that is, from the perspective of long-term, large-scale social change. We first explore the basic tenets and insights of the world-system's perspective, as developed originally by Immanuel Wallerstein as a critical alternative to liberal thought, especially structural functionalism and modernization theory, in the last quarter of the XXth Century. For that we will use the Shannon book, which follows the typical college textbook format. Then, we will analyze more deeply the history of the modern world, from the quite singular perspective of one of the most prominent world-system's theorists, Giovanni Arrighi. We will use his book on the "Long XXth Century." Finally, we will explore some of the most important debates within the world-system's perspective, especially on the concepts of development, culture, and the historical and theoretical boundaries of world-systems. For that purpose, we will read selected articles from the anthology edited by Chew and Denemark.

COURSE STRUCTURE

Classes: The course will be run as a seminar. All students are expected to come fully prepared to discuss the assigned readings for the day, but two students will make critical presentations on the assigned readings each time. Attendance is mandatory. Unauthorized absences (especially when scheduled to present), tardiness, and/or early departures, as well as lack of preparation, will be noted and penalized.

Exams: There will be three take-home exams due on February 10, March 3, and March 20. All the exams will be essay questions based on the lectures and the readings. Students can re-submit corrected and improved versions of their first and second exams on March 20.

Grading: Each exam is worth 25 points. Class participation is worth 25 points. The final letter grade will be assigned, on a scale of 0 to 100, as follows:

94-100 = A ..........84-86 = B ............74-76 = C

90-93 = A- ............80-83 = B- ..........70-73 = C-

87-89 = B+ ..........77-79 = C+ .........65-69 = D .......... < 65 = F

Office Hours: All students are encouraged to visit the instructor regularly, especially to make sure their individual research papers are well focused, or to discuss any question they may have from the class lectures, the textbooks, or their group interactions.