ABOUT THIS COURSE
What do Iraq, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Kenya, and Saudi Arabia have in common? Not one of these entities is a modern nation-state. The first two are engulfed in civil war; the second two could be; and the last is likely to dissolve within five years.
The goal of this course is to reflect upon the emergence of a novel form of political organization---the modern nation-state. To this end I will introduce you to two concepts: "modernity" and "nation-state." By modernity, I refer to a revolutionary social development that is based upon skeptical attitudes, individualistic roles, formal routines, and distinct social realms. By nation-state, I mean a "symbolic community to which people voluntarily devote their primary political loyalties despite the many particularistic identities--religious, ethnic, political, social, economic--that otherwise divide them."
There is nothing natural about the modern nation-state. It is a human invention. The principal political drama of the last 400 years is the emergence of this form of organization. To assume that this development has been the result of rational calculation, savvy judgment, and seasoned wisdom it to be profoundly ahistorical. Rather the primary political vessel that we inhabit in the western world is at least in part the product of some of the worst aspects of the human condition---war, genocide, revolution, terrorism, oppression, hatred, poverty, inhumanity, and unfathomable stupidity.
This course is divided into five interlocking parts. First, I introduce you to some basic concepts about the modern nation-state. Second, we travel down the road the West has taken toward this political identity: liberalism. Third, we consider an initially credible but ultimately failed path: Marxism-Leninism. Fourth, we confront the pathos and anger of that vast residual entity known misleadingly as the "Third World." Finally, we return to our starting point to examine the fate of nation-state in our age. Depending on what happens outside Notre Dame during the semester, I will refer to whatever events, developments, and spectacles seem useful to our journey.
If you don't read decent newspapers and news magazines on a regular basis--such as, The New York Times and The Economist--now is the time to start. The following site claims to present nonpartisan views of the US from different regions of the world: Watching America
We meet three times a week. I lecture on Mondays and Wednesdays. Each of the lectures flows from the one preceding it. They all add up to a simple story (see the Course Flow Chart here). On Fridays, the class is divided into 8 discussion sections led by our teaching assistants. Because you are Notre Dame students and not subway alums or tourists, your TAs and I expect you to live up to high standards. Regular attendance at both lectures and discussion sections is required to pass this course. We intend to make you work hard in this class, and as a result, learn a lot.
My office hours are Tuesdays, 10:45 - 11:45 and Wednesdays 2:00 - 4:00
My office is in the Nanovic Institute for European Studies
211 Brownson Hall (right behind the Main Building)
It would be illogical for you to fail to visit me.You do not need to have a specific agenda.
Advice for First-Year Students at Notre Dame
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