horizontal rule
Advanced Theories of Race, Nation & Ethnicity

SOC 527                                  Fall 2004

Dr. Gonzalo Santos

Office:         DDH - AA205 

Office Hrs:  2:00 - 4:00 pm,
                      Tue./Thurs.,
                      or by appointment

Phone:         (661) 664-2191

Web Site & Email:

Image of the workd

            http://www.csub.edu/~gsantos/


Email button

         santos_class@csub.edu

painting

horizontal rule

Textbooks

horizontal rule

Course Description

This course attempts to advance our understanding of the historical trajectories of, and the analytical relationships among, the social constructs of race, nation, and ethnicity in the modern world-system. There are many ways to do this. In our case, we will first broadly explore the historical origins and evolution of racism in the modern world, with emphasis on two of its most significant varieties - white supremacy and antisemitism (the Fredrickson book). We will then take a critical look at the origins and evolution of nation-states and nationalism, with emphasis on the European classical experience since the French Revolution to the recent denouement and demise of historical socialisms in the U.S.S.R and Eastern Europe (the Hobsbawm book). Then, we will take up as a case study the perplexing interplay of race, nation, and ethnicity manifested in the history of Mexico-U.S. Southwest conquest, migation flows, and ethnogenesis (the Gutiérrez book). Lastly, we will take a comparative look at a few recent theoretical writings on race, nation, and ethnicity in the post Cold War era (the web readings).

Course Structure

Class Presentations: The course will be run as a seminar: at every session one student will prepare and make -- on a rotational basis -- a formal class presentation on the assigned readings, followed by Dr. Santos comments and open discussion. The individual presentations will be critical thinking assessments of the texts, ideally 20 to 30 minutes long. A one-to-two page outline of each presentation will be distributed in class. Although at each particular session the assigned student will carry the major responsibility for presenting and leading the discussions, Dr. Santos will expect everyone to come to class fully prepared to discuss the assigned texts. Please be on time, especially the presenters. Presenters should bring enough copies of their presentation outlines to hand out to all in class.

Research Papers: Students will write two research papers, to be  turned in on Thursday, October 21, in class, and Wednesday, December 1, before noon at Dr. Santos' office, respectively. The topics of these papers can vary widely by content, geography, and time frame, from the long-term, large-scale, focusing on theoretical or historical subjects as diverse as racialization, nation-building, and ethnotransformations. Students must meet and discuss with Dr. Santos the potential topics for their papers, and obtain his approval in a timely fashion. Each group volume should be bound (stappled), and contain a title page, a table of contents listing each section, and the actual paper with a bibliography appended at the end. Each paper should be between 15 and 20 pages long (aside from the bibliography and any data appendix), double-spaced, font 10 or 12, one-inch margins. For the guidelines on how to write a good research term paper go directly to: http://www.csub.edu/~gsantos/Guide-Paper.html. Students will be allowed to submit rewrites of their first papers, if they so wish, on December 1, to improve their grades.

Grading: Each research paper is worth 30 points. The class presentations are worth 30 points as a whole (10 points per presentation). Active participation in the discussions is worth 10 points overall. The final letter grade will be assigned, on a scale of 0 to 100, as follows:
 

94-100 = A 87-89 = B+ 77-79 = C+ 65-69 = D
90-93 = A- 84-86 = B 74-76 = C < 65 = F

80-83 = B- 70-73 = C-

Office Hours/E-Mail to Dr. Santos: All students are encouraged to visit Dr. Santos regularly during his posted office hours (see above) or by appointment, especially to ensure their individual presentation outlines are good and their research topics are well chosen and organized, or to discuss any question they may have from the seminar or the texts.

Private but brief and to the point e-mail messages to Dr. Santos (NOT a substitute for office visits, please) may be sent to: santos_class@csub.edu. Finally, students may leave messages at Dr. Santos' phone if for any reason they will be absent or have any urgent need to communicate with him.

horizontal rule

Schedule of Reading & Presentation Assignments

Week & Days
Assigned Readings
Student Presenter
Assigned Readings
Student Presenter
1

Sept. 14, 16



INTRODUCTION

   Fredrickson's Introduction and Chapter 1

Intro., Religion and the invention of Racism


2

Sept. 21, 23


Fredrickson's Chapter 2

The Rise of Modern Racism(s) in the 18th & 19th Centuries


Fredrickson's Chapter 3


Climax & Retreat: Racism in the 20th Century


3

Sept. 28, 30

Fredrickson's Epilogue & Appendix

Racism at the Dawn of the 21st Century; the Concept of Racism in Historical Discourse



 

Hobsbawm's Introduction


4

Oct. 5, 7

Hobsbawm's Chapter 1 & 2

The nation as novelty: from revolution to liberalism
Popular proto-nationalism


Hobsbawm's Chapter 3 & 4

The government perspective
The transformation of nationalism, 1870-1918


5

Oct. 12, 14


Hobsbawm's Chapter 5 & 6

The apogee of nationalism, 1918-1950
Nationalism in the late 20th century



Gutiérrez's Intro., Chapter 1


Intro., Legacies of Conquest


6

Oct 19, 21

[First paper due on Thurs. the 21st.]


Gutiérrez's Chapters 2 & 3

Eco. Development and Migration, 1890-1920
Ethnic Politics in the Interwar Years


Gutiérrez's Chapters 4 & 5

Ethnic Politics 1940-50
Ethnic Politics, Immigration Policy, and the Cold War

7

Oct. 26, 28


Gutiérrez's Chapter 6 & Epilogue

Sin Fronteras?
Epilogue

Web Readings on Race, Nation, & Ethnicity


Race, Ethnicity, and the Weberian Legacy - John Stone

8

Nov. 2, 4

Web Readings on Race, Nation, & Ethnicity




Marxism, Racism, and Ethnicity - John Solomos and Les Back

Web Readings on Race, Nation, & Ethnicity

a. Symbolic Interaction Theories - Barbara Ballis Lal

b. Pluralism: The Evolution of a Nebulous Concept - Jacqueline Simpson

9

Nov. 9, 11

Web Readings on Race, Nation, & Ethnicity

a. Resource Competition Theories - Joane Nagel

b. Rational Choice Theories - Michael Banton


Holiday

10

Nov. 16, 18

Web Readings on Race, Nation, & Ethnicity

a. The Modern World System, Selections from Vol. I - Immanuel Wallerstein

b. Ideological Tensions of Capitalism: Universalism versus Racism and Sexism - Immanuel Wallerstein





11

Nov. 23

Web Readings on Race, Nation, & Ethnicity

Global Singularities, Repetitive Diversities: The Conundrum of Peoplehood in the XXI-Century World-System - Gonzalo Santos


2nd. research paper due on
Wednesday, Dec. 1, noon at Dr. Santos office

horizontal rule