American University
School of International Service
SISU 260:002; Room – SIS 233
Tuesdays and Fridays 11:45 a.m.-1:00 p.m..
Prof. R.B. Persaud
Office – SIS 335(A); phone 202-885-1757; email persaud@american.edu
Office Hours – Fridays 9:30-11:00
______________________________________________________________________________
Course Description
Issues of identity, whether avowed or ascribed, fundamentally shape people’s lives and the life of society. In particular, race, gender, class, religion, and nationality are determinate identities for many though they are often in conflict with each other. These identities are also dynamic and changing although they often appear to be static and fixed from the outside. This course examines the nature of these identities in a world in transition. The course approaches these identities in their own right but also in an intersectional manner that explores the relationship among them. Culture is critical in the construction and re-construction of identities made more complex in the contemporary era by processes of economic, political, and cultural globalization. The digital age, in particular, introduces new variables in shaping identity that brings together local, national, regional and global actors leading to multiple configurations of self and community. SISU 260: 02 takes a comparative approach to the study of race, gender, culture and identity.

Learning Objectives
There are several objectives to this course:
Examine the numerous ways that the United States and the world look at, experience, and respond to the issues of race, gender, culture, and identity
Develop a critical appreciation of how these differences are significant in our understanding of International Affairs
Examine these issues through an inter-sectional analysis, i.e., analyze how these issues interact with each other.
Learning Outcomes
1. Students will be able to demonstrate significant understanding major theories and concepts used to in the fields of gender, cultural, and ethnic/racial studies
2. Students will be able to articulate the impact of the themes of race, gender, and culture on intercultural relations
3. Students will be able to cite numerous examples of the ways in which these issues impact their lives and communities
4. Students will gain more skills in conducting group-based research and delivering public presentations
5. Students will gain new skills at analyzing texts using theoretical and analytical tools discussed in class
6. Students will acquire significant knowledge of the variation of race, gender, and cultural identities through comparative analysis.
Academic Integrity Code
Standards of academic conduct are set forth in the University’s Academic Integrity Code. By registering, you have acknowledged your awareness of the Academic Integrity Code, and you are obliged to become familiar with your rights and responsibilities as defined by the Code. Violations of the Academic Integrity Code will not be treated lightly, and disciplinary actions will be taken should such violations occur. Please see me if you have any questions about the academic violations described in the Code in general or as they relate to particular requirements for this course. The document is on the University’s website, and a link to it is below.
http://www.american.edu/academics/integrity/code.cfm

Emergency Preparedness
In the event of an emergency, American University will implement a plan for meeting the needs of all members of the university community. Should the university be required to close for a period of time, we are committed to ensuring that all aspects of our educational programs will be delivered to our students. These may include altering and extending the duration of the traditional term schedule to complete essential instruction in the traditional format and/or use of distance instructional methods. Specific strategies will vary from class to class, depending on the format of the course and the timing of the emergency. Faculty will communicate class-specific information to students via AU e-mail and Blackboard, while students must inform their faculty immediately of any absence. Students are responsible for checking their AU e-mail regularly and keeping themselves informed of emergencies. In the event of an emergency, students should refer to the AU Student Portal, the AU Web site (www.prepared.american.edu) and the AU information line at (202) 885-1100 for general university-wide information, as well as contact their faculty and/or respective dean’s office for course and school/college-specific information. Please click on link below for more information.
http://www.american.edu/emergency/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&pageid=598967

Assignments and Evaluation
Assignment Due Length Value
Concept paper Sept 24 5 pages d-spaced 20%
Annotated Bibliography October 15 See instruction below 20%

Writing response Nov 5 2 pages, d-spaced 10%
Group term paper December 6 15 pages d-spaced 30%
Participation Frequent ————————— 20%

Instructions for the annotated bibliography
The annotated bibliography is a bibliography with brief descriptions of each source, how the different sources relate to each other, and how they relate to your paper topic. The assignment will allow you to have a clear sense of the relevant literature, and after review, what may be missing in terms of data or materials for literature review. It will also facilitate an early start to your term paper. The paper must draw on at least two books, and at least fourteen other sources of which at ten must be from academic journals articles (with a limit of two from required class readings). The paper must also make use of the literature from the course.
Required Course Text
Robert J.C. Young, Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introdcution. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Suggested Readings
Barbara Harlow and Mia Carter, eds., Archives of Empire, Vols. I and II. Durhan: Duke University Press, 2003.
Kathryn Manzo, Creating Boundaries: The Politics of Race and Nation. Boulder, Lynne Rienner, 1995.

Jill Steans, Gender and International Relations: Issues, Debates, and Future Directions. New York: Polity Press, 2012

Ira Katznelson, When Affirmative Action was White. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005
Kennan Malik, The Meaning of Race. New York: New York University Press, 1996
Zygmunt Bauman and Lydia Bauman, Culture in a Liquid Modern World. Polity Press, 2011.
Geeta Chowdhry and Sheila Nair, eds., Power, Postcolonialism and International Relations: Reading race, gender and class. New York: Routledge, 2004.
Aug. 27 – Introdcution
Introduction and overview of the course. Distribution of assignments.
(When brown people think they are white)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KICo9xPLV8w (Bob Marley Rat Race)

Aug. 30 – Race and Education
Geeta Chowdhry and Shirin M. Rai, “The Geographies of Exclusion and the Politics of Inclusion: Race-based Exclusion in the Teaching of International Relations,” International Studies Perspectives, Vol. 10, 2009, pp. 84-91

Michelle Jay, “Critical Race Theory, Multicultural Education, and the Hidden Curriculum of Hegemony,” Multicultural Perspectives, Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 3-9
Recommended
George Lipsitz, “The Racialization of Space and the Spatialization of Race: Theorizing the Hidden Architecture of Landscape,” Landscape Journal, 26-1, 2007.
Mara Loveman, “Is ‘race’ essential?” American Sociological Review, 64.6, December 1999, pp. 891-898.
Sept. 03 – Race and Gender, in International Affairs
J.A. Tickner, “Hans Morgenthau’s principles of political realism: A feminist reformulation,” Millennium, 17 (3), 1988
J.H. Mittelman, “The Salience of Race,” International Studies Perspectives,” vol. 10, 2009, pp. 99-107.

Recommended
Randolph B. Persaud, “Frantz Fanon, race and world order,” in J.H. Mittelman and Stephen R. Gill, (eds.) Innovation and Transformation in International Studies,” Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Sept. 06 – Gender, Race and the Politics of Identity
Kwame A. Appiah, “The politics of identity,” Daedalus, Fall 2006, 135; 4.

Christine Delphy, “Rethinking Sex and Gender,” Women’s Studies Int. Forum, vol. 16, no. 1, 1993, p. 1-9

Recommended
M. Lamont and V. Molnár, “The Study of Boundaries in the Social Sciences,” Annual Rev. of Sociology, vol. 28, 2002, pp. 167-195
Joan W. Scott, Gender: Still a Useful Category of Historical Analysis?” Diogenes (English ed) vol. 57, no. 1, 2010, pp. 7-14
Sept. 10 – Race and the Politics of Identity

Randolph B. Persaud, “Situating Race in International Relations: the dialectics of civilizational security in American immigration,” in G. Chowdhry and S. Nair, eds. Power, Postcolonialism and International Relations: Reading race, gender and class. London: Routledge, 2004, pp. 56-81

Recommended
J.M. Hobson, “Is critical theory always for the white West and for Western imperialism? Beyond Westphalian towards a post-racist critical IR,” Review of International Studies, 33, 1, p. 91

Sept. 13 – Gender and the politics of Identity
Homa Hoodfar, “The viel in their minds and our heads: the persistence of colonial images of Muslim women,” Resource for Feminist Research, 22. ¾, Fall 1992/Winter 1993, 5-18

Sheryl Wu Dunn, Global Oppression of Women (Ted Talks, 2010) (15 mins)

Sept. 17- United States
Samuel Huntington, “The Hispanic Challenge,” Foreign Policy, March/April, 2004

Henry A. Giroux, “Rewriting the Discourse of Racial Identity: Towards a pedagogy and Politics of Whiteness,” Harvard Educational Review, Summer 1997, 67. 2, 285

Recommended
Manning Marable, “The divided mind of Black America: Ideology, and politics in the post Civil Rights era,” Race & Class, 1994, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 61-72,
H.L. Barajas and J.L. Pierce, “The Significance of Race and Gender in School Success among Latinas and Latinos in College,” Gender and Society, Vol. 15, No. 6, Dec, 2001, pp. 859-878

Yen Le Espirtu, “We Don’t Sleep around like White Girls Do”: Family, Culture, and Gender in Filipina American Lives,” Signs, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Winter, 2001), pp. 415-440
R. Persaud and C. Lusane, “The new economy, globalization and the impact on African Americans,” Race and Class, vol. 42, no. 1, 2000, pp. 21-34

Ian F. Haney-Lopez, “Nation of Minorities: Race, Ethnicity, and Reactionary Colorblindness, Stanford Law Review, 2006, p. 985
Edward Said, “The Clash of Ignorance,” The Nation, October 4, 2001

Paulette M. Caldwell, “A Hair Piece: Perspectives on the Intersection of Race and Gender,” Duke Law Journal, 1991.
Sept. 20 – Monica McDermott and Frank L. Samson, “White Racial and Ethnic Identity in the United States,” Annual Review of Sociology, 31, 2005, pp. 245-61.
Sept. 24 – Latin America
Michael Hanchard, “Black Cinderella?: Race and the Public Sphere in Brazil,” Public Culture, vol. 7, 1994, pp 165-85
Felipe Arocena, “Multiculturalism in Brazil, Bolivia and Peru,” Race and Class, vol. 49, No. 1, 2008, pp. 1-21.
Recommended
Peter Fry, “Politics, nationality, and the meaning of “race” in Brazil, Daedalus, 129.2, Spring 2000, 83-118.
C.A. Smith, “Race-class-gender ideology in Guatemala: Modern and anti-modern forms,” Comparative studies in society and history,” vol. 37, no. 4

Sept. 27 – Africa
Deborah Gaitskell, “Class, race and gender: domestic workers in South Africa,” Review of African political economy, vol. 10, nos. 27-28, pp. 86-108.
M.M. Kolawole, “Transcending incongruities: rethinking feminism and the dynamics of identity in Africa,” Agenda (Durban) vol. 17, no. 54, 2002.

Film (Youtube) Congo, The Brutal History http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx2Sj1fhSso

Recommended
Branwen Gruffydd Jones, “Africa and the Poverty of International Relations,” Third World Quarterly, Vol 26, issue 6, Sept. 2005, pp. 987-1003

Oct. 01- Europe
Alastair Bonnett, “Who was white? The disappearance of non-European white identities and the formation of European racial whiteness,” Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 21, no. 6, Nov. 1998. pp. 1029-1055.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNF8Qut0epU (Golden Dawn backed up by police)
A Simple Question – Racism in Europe 01/07/2011 (Part I) (8 mins)

Oct. 04 – Japan
Nicola Piper, “International marriage in Japan: ‘race’ and ‘gender’ perspectives,” Gender, Place and Culture, 4.3, Nov. 1997, pp. 321-338.
Kinhide Mushakoji, “State and Immigrant Diaspora Identity in Contemporary Japan: From a Developmentalist national Ethic towards a Multicultural Development Ethic of Common Human Security,” in T-D Troung and D. Gasper, ed., Transnational Migration and Human Security, Hexagon Series on Human and Environmental Security and Peace. Springer-Verlag Heidelberg, 20011. (link below)
http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-12757-1_22#page-2
Oct. 11 (NO CLASS)
Oct. 15 – Caribbean
O Christopher A.D. Charles, “Skin Bleachers’ Representations of Skin Color in Jamaica,” Journal of Black Studies, vol. 40, No. 2, Nov. 2009, pp. 153-170.ct. 08
Ralph Premdas, “Ethnicity and Identity in the Caribbean,” Kellogg Institute, Working Paper #234, 1996

Oct. 18 – India
Zaheer Baber, “Race’, Religion and Riots: The ‘Racialization’ of Communal Identity and Conflict in India,” Sociology, vol. 38 2004, pp. 701-718
India’s Deadly Secret
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28jQdTNuM2c (13 minutes)
Oct. 22 – Middle East
Edward Said, On Orientalism. (Youtube) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwCOSkXR_Cw
Ray Jureidini and Nayla Moukarbel, “Female Sri Lankan Domestic Workers in Lebanon: A Case of ‘Contract Slavery,” Journal of Ethnic and Racial Studies,” vol. 30, no. 4, July 2004, pp. 581-607.
Recommended
Edward Said, Orientalism. New York: Vintage, 1979.

Oct. 25 – Southeast Asia
Walter H. Persaud, “Gender, Race and Global Modernity: A Perspective from Thailand,” Globalizations, vol. 2, no. 2, 2005, pp. 210-227
Nehginpao Kipgen, “Conflict in Rakhine State in Myanmar: Rohingya Muslims’ Conundrum,” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2013, pp. 1-13
Recommended
Ann Stoler, “Sexual Affronts and Racial Frontiers: European Identities and the Cultural Politics of Exclusion in Colonial Southeast Asia,” Comparative Studies in Society and History,” vol. 34, no. 3, July 1992, pp. 514-551.

Oct. 29 – Subaltern knowledge, history and power
Robert J.C. Young, Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Introduction, chapters 1 and 2 (pp. 1-44)

Nov. 01 – Space, land and hybridity
Robert J.C. Young, Postcolonialism. 2003, Chapters 3 and 4 (45-92)

Nov. 05 – Postcolonial feminism and globalization
Robert J.C. Young, Postcolonialism. Chapters 5, 6, and 7 (93-147)
Nov. 08 – Presentation no. 1
Nov. 12 – Presentation No. 2
Nov. 15 – Presentation No. 3
Nov. 19 – Presentation No. 4
Nov. 22 – Presentation No. 5
Nov. 26 – Presentation No. 6
Dec. 03 – Presentation No. 7
Dec. 06 – Review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoDY8ce_3zk (WE are

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIb6AZdTr-A (Cindy L)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rKpeqHHLkM (G-Dawn)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkWhkKVvqHU (Dean Volari)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_cOP8y6sWs&list=PL3164B0A454DDBA9C (Amore)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVmd5gXx35s (Fred)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgOHOHKBEqE (Arizona Song)
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/08/201382010224534566.html (Head Scarves Sweden)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3wef_F_xvg (Arabic song)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSx-R7KjrV4 (Bikini Afghan)

American University, School of International Service
Spring 2013 – SIS 419:036
Nationalism, Populism, and Nativism in the Global Era.
Prof. Randolph Persaud
Mondays – 11:45-2:25 p.m.
Prerequisite: SIS-308 or SIS-337 or SIS-382 or SIS-385 or SIS-388.

Benito Mussolini to Antonio Gramsci “…The readers of newspapers don’t count. They have never made a revolution. The readers of newspapers are regularly wrong!” (Italian Parliament, May 16, 1925)

Nationalism, populism and nativism are three of the most pervasive but complex phenomena in modern societies. They are also among the most difficult to understand, and many scholars see them as real threats to democracy. Generally speaking, these phenomena are the products of historically grounded social construction that are used to mobilize the ‘masses’ in order to realize political outcomes. Nationalist, populism, and nativist politics almost always involve commitment to a group or to the state, and almost always involve dividing up the world (or society) on the basis of identities. These forms of mass politics are associated with political violence including war, ethnic conflict, civil war, racism, anti-immigrant violence, anti-globalization, and even revolution. It is vitally important to understand that there are both ‘right-wing’ and ‘left-wing’ forms of nationalism and populism, and that nativism is pervasive on a global scale, rather than confided to the ‘West’. This course will examine these phenomena through case studies drawn from several countries including, but not limited to – Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, United States of America, Western Europe, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Australia.

Academic Integrity Code
All students are governed by American University’s Academic Integrity Code. The Academic Integrity Code details specific violations of ethical conduct that relate to academic integrity. By registering, you have acknowledged your awareness of the Academic Integrity Code, and you are obliged to become familiar with your rights and responsibilities as defined by the code. All of your work (whether oral or written) in this class is governed by the provisions of the Academic Integrity Code. Academic violations include but are not limited to: plagiarism, inappropriate collaboration, dishonesty in examinations whether in class or take-home, dishonesty in papers, work done for one course and submitted to another, deliberate falsification of data, interference with other students’ work, and copyright violations. The adjudication process and possible penalties are listed in American University’s Academic Integrity Code booklet, which is also available on the American University website. Being a member of this academic community entitles each of us to a wide degree of freedom and the pursuit of scholarly interests; with that freedom, however, comes a responsibility to uphold the high ethical standards of scholarly conduct.

Books
Philip Spencer and Howard Wollman, Nationalism: A Critical Introduction. London: Sage Publications, 2002.
Recommended Books
J. Hutchinson and Anthony D. Smith, Nationalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Ernest Gellner (with an Introduction by John Breuilly), Nations and Nationalism. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009.
Eric Hobsbawm, Nations and Nationalism Since 1870: Programme, Myth, Reality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
P. Chatterjee, The Nation and Its Fragments: Colonial and Post Colonial Histories. New York: Princeton University Press, 1983.
Ernesto Laclau, On Populist Reason. London: Verso, 2005.
M.A. Cameron and Eric Hershberg, Latin America’s Left Turns. Boulder, Lynne Rienner Press, 2010.
A, Milner, The Invention of Politics in Colonial Malaysia: Contesting Nationalism and the Expansion of the Public Sphere.
Stuart Hall, ed., Representations: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices, London: Sage, 1997. Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History. Boston: Beacon Press, 1995. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
Basil Davidson, The Black Man’s Burden: Africa and the Curse of the Nation State. Three Rivers Press, 1993.
William H. Thornton, Fire on the Rim: The Cultural Dynamics of East/West Power Politics. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2002.
Barrington Moore, Jr., Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. Boston: Beacon Press, 1966.
David Slater, ed., New social movements and the state in Latin America. Amsterdam: FORIS Publications Holland, 1985.
Barbara Ward, Nationalism and Ideology. New York: W.W. Norton, 1966.
William Engdahl, A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order. London: Pluto Press, 1992.

Key Articles
Slavoj Žižek, “Against the Populist Temptation,” Critical Inquiry, Vol. 32, No. 3, (Spring 2006) 551-574.
E. Laclau, “Why Constructing a People is the Main Task of Radical Politics,” Critical Inquiry, Vol. 32, No. 4, (Summer 2006), pp. 646-680.

Relevant Journals
Alternatives
Asian Ethnicity
Ethnic and Racial Studies
Race and Class
Nations and Nationalism
Nationalism and Ethnic Politics
National Identities
Space and Polity
Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism
Journal of Democracy

Assignments

Assignment Due Date Length Value
Short Paper Feb. 18th 8 pages 20%
Annotated Bibliography March 26th 3 books and 12 articles 20%
Term Paper April 23 15-18 pages 25%
Attendance As per schedule – 5%
Participation Frequent – 10%
Final Exam (Take home) Schedule 1 day 20
Jan. 14 – Introduction and discussion of work plan

Jan. 28 – Approaches to Nationalism
Spencer and Wollman, Nationalism: A Critical Introduction, pp. 1-56.

Feb. 04 – Good and Bad Nationalism
Spencer and Wollman, Nationalism: A Critical Introduction, pp. 57-120.

Recommended
Duncan Brown, “National Belonging and Cultural Difference: South Africa and the Global Imaginary,” Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol. 27, No. 4, Dec. 2001.

Feb. 11 – Developmentalist Nationalism and State Formation
Ana María Alonso, The Politics of Space, Time and Substance: State Formation, nationalism and Ethnicity,” Annual Rev. of Anthropology, Vol. 23, 1994, 379-405.
John Campbell, Nationalism, ethnicity, and religion: fundamental conflicts and the politics of identity in Tanzania,” Nations and Nationalism, (5) 1, 1999, 105-25.

Feb. 18 – Nationalism, Democracy, and Fascism
Spencer and Wollman, Nationalism: A Critical Introduction, pp. 121-156.

Recommended
Antonio Gramsci, Speech to the Italian Parliament. May 16, 1925. http://www.marxists.org/archive/gramsci/1925/05/speech.htm

Feb. 25 – Nationalism, Religion and Modernity
Catarina Kinnvall, Globalization and Religious Nationalism: Self, Identity, and the Search for Ontological Security,” Political Psychology, Vol. 25, No. 5, (Oct. 2004), pp. 741-767.
Ashis Nandy, The Twilight of Certitudes: Secularism, Hindu Nationalism, and Other Masks of Deculturation,” Alternatives, Vol. 22, No. 2, (April-June 1997) 157-176.

March 4 – Race, Nativism, and the Nation – The United States
R. Persaud, “Situating race in international relations: the dialectics of civilizational security in American immigration,” in G. Chowdary and S. Nair, (eds.) Power, Postcolonialism and International Relations: Reading race, gender and class. London: Routledge, 2004, pp. 56-81.

Gary Gerstle, “Theodore Roosevelt and the Divided Character of American Nationalism,” The Journal of American History, 86:3, December 1999, pp. 1280-1307.

March 18 – Exclusion and National Identity – South Africa, Australia, Russia
Michael Neocosmos, “The Politics of Fear and the Fear of Politics: Reflections on the Xenophobic Violence in South Africa,” Journal of Asian and African Studies, 43(6) 2008, pp. 586-594.
Pal Ahluwalia and Greg McCarthy, “Political Correctness’: Pauline Hansen and the Construction of Australian Identity,” Australian Journal of Public Administration, 57(3) Sept. 1998, pp. 79-85.
Mihai Varga, “How Political Opportunities Strengthen the Far Right: Understanding the Rise in Far-Right Militancy in Russia,” EUROPE-ASIA STUDIES, Vol. 60, No. 4, June 2008, pp. 561-579.

March 25 – Politics of ‘Minority’ Identity in Malaysia and Indonesia
Heng Pek Koon, “Chinese Responses to Malay Hegemony in Peninsular Malaysia, 1957-96,” South East Asian Studies, Vol. 34, No. 3, Dec. 1996, pp. 501-523.
Eugene, K.B. Tan, “From Sojourners to citizens: managing the ethnic Chinese Minority in Indonesia and Malaysia,” Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 24, No. 6, Nov. 2001, pp. 949-978.

April 01 – What is Populism?
Margaret Canovan, “Two Strategies for the Study of Populism,” Political Studies, Vol. XXX, No. 4, pp. 544-552.
Koen Abts and Stefan Rummens, “Populism versus Democracy,” Political Studies, Vol. 55, 2007, pp. 205-224.

April 08 – Varieties of Populism in Latin America – Venezuela and Peru.
David Doyle, “The Legitimacy of Political Institutions: Explaining Contemporary Populism in Latin America,” Comparative Political Studies, Vol. 44 (11), 2011, pp. 1447-1473.
Steve Ellner, “The Constrasting Variants of the Populism of Hugo Chávez and Alberto Fujimori,” Journal of Latin American Studies, Vol. 35, No. 1, Feb. 2003, pp. 139-162

April 15 – Authoritarian Populism in Thailand
Pasuk Phongpaichit and Chris Baker, “Thaksin’s Populism,” Journal of Contemporary Asia.Vol. 38, No. 1, Feb. 2008, pp. 62-83

April 22 – Right-Wing Populism in Western Europe
Duane Swank and Hans-Georg Betz, “Globalization, the welfare state and right-wing populism in Western Europe,” Socio-Economic Review, 2003, 1, 215-45.

April 29 – Review

Two Positions on Environmental Security
Randolph B. Persaud
Environmental security is a contentious subject matter. The dispute is not so much about the existence or even causes of rapid environmental change on a global level, but about the ways in which these changes should be subsumed under security studies. One school of thought suggests that issues such as climate change have been brought under the rubric of security through a process of securitization, meaning that the label of security has been attached to invest greater legitimacy in the analyses of these issues. One way out this dilemma has been suggested by Peter Stoett who made a distinction between minimalist and maximalist versions of environmental degradation. The minimalist version emerged during the Vietnam War where “…the term ecocide clearly referred to the destruction of ecological systems by deliberate force” (Stoett, 1999, 51). The maximalist definition “now encompasses the economic forces that destroy rainforests and clog city highways and pollute mountain regions…” (Stoett, 1999, 51). Consistent with the maximalist definition, scholars such as Thomas Homer-Dixon and Jessica Matthews claim that the structural changes in climate change will produce an amalgam of deprivations – such as depletion of economic resources – which in turn will aggravate old problems, such as poverty, disease, ethnic conflicts and refugees, and produce new ones such as interstate conflict over water rights (Homer-Dixon 2001). All told, the maximalists argue that fundamental strategies of mitigation should be immediately embarked upon through both domestic and multilateral policies. The latter is principally housed in the Kyoto Protocol.
Eddie maps out the emergence of environmental degradation as a security issue and shows how it moved from a geopolitical set of concerns in international relations to one of socio-economic. Drawing on the work of Ullam and Butts she posits that geopolitical issues are grounded in concerns over national sovereignty. More specifically, she notes that environmental change can produce violent conflicts and thus impact on national security. Eddie then turns her attention to environmental security defined in terms of the global commons. This approach to environmental degradation shifts the level of analysis from the state to the entire ecological system. Correspondingly, she notes that “[i]nternational environmental protection strategies have also been put into the service of this approach to environmental security” (Eddie 2004, 24). Finally, Eddie points to environmental security defined in terms of the relationship between climate change (broadly defined) and poverty and inequality. The emphasis in the socio-economic approach is on ‘human welfare’, a framing that is strongly grounded in the tradition of human rights. This understanding of environmental security calls for massive investments in environmentally friendly technologies, and broad multilateral strategies to mitigate the worst consequences of climate change. As in most things in international relations and global politics, there is another perspective.
Bjorn Lomborg is one of the most controversial writers on the environment. Notwithstanding the controversies, he is also one of the most skeptical scholars regarding the amplification of dangers posed by environmental degradation. In a recent article (Wall Street Journal 2/1/2015) Lomborg states that – “It is an indisputable fact that carbon emissions are rising-and faster than most scientist predicted. But many climate-change alarmists seem to claim that all climate change is worse than expected. This ignores that much of the data are actually encouraging” (WSJ 2/1/2015). He also notes that “The latest study from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that in the previous years temperatures had risen 0.09 degrees Fahrenheit” which is well below the 0.8 degrees predicted by all models. He concludes that “…we’re seeing about 90% less temperature rise than expected” (WSJ 2/1/2015).
With respect to the threats to human welfare, Lomborg actually presents a simple and straightforward argument. “If our goal is to improve welfare, especially in the developing world, reducing carbon emissions is not the most effective way” (Lomborg, 2002, 1464). He thinks that the opportunity cost is too high regarding the massive expenditures on mitigation and other strategies of combating climate change as outlined in the Kyoto Protocol. Lomberg argues that if the financial commitments of the EU alone were spent differently, “…we could provide every person in the world with access to basic health, education, family planning, and water and sanitation services” (Lomberg 2002, 1464). His more general argument is that the sense of doom usually associated globalization is not well grounded in reality. He presents data which demonstrate that a longer term analysis shows that there have been step-level improvements in global health, food, and clean energy supplies.
References
Eddy, Elizabeth (2004) “Environmental Security: Security What For Whom?” Social Alternatives, Vol. 23, No. 4, Fourth Quarter, pp. 23-28.
Homer-Dixon, Thomas F. (2001) Environment, Scarcity, and Violence. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Lomborg, Bjorn (2002) Source: “How Healthy is the World?” BMJ: British Medical Journal, Vol. 325, No. 7378 (Dec. 21-28), pp. 1461-1464.
Lomborg, Bjorn (2015) “The Alarming Thing About Climate Alarmism: Exaggerated, worst-case claims result in bad policy and they ignore a wealth of encouraging data,” Wall Street Journal, Feb 1, 2015.
Stoett, Peter (1999) Human and Global Security: An Exploration in Terms. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

The Relevance of Defensive and Offensive Realism for China
by Randolph B. Persaud

The debate between offensive and defensive realism has been one of the most engaging in international relations scholarship for some time now. While both variants belong to what has been described as a pessimistic view of international politics in the tradition of Thucydides, Hobbes, Machiavelli, Morgenthau, and Waltz, offensive realism offers a more self-interested and power-grabbing perspective compared to defensive realism. Accordingly, offensive realists argue that states are ineluctably pushed by the anarchic nature of the international system towards ‘endless’ expansion, even if such expansion might incur short-term costs. For these thinkers, all states, and especially Great Powers, are always interested in a drive towards hegemony, that is, a position where the hegemonic state has primacy in the international system. Defensive realists accept the basic assumptions of anarchy, fear, and survival, but argue that expansion, and certainly hegemony, are not inevitable policies necessary to ensure national security. For these theorists, expansionism will invariably run up against the systemic constraints of the security dilemma. Consequently, moderation and restraint in the form of cautious expansion and selective engagement are advocated. Maintaining the balance- of-power is the essential policy position of defensive realists. In an excellenton offensive and defensive realism, Jeffrey W. Taliaferro cautions that the debate should be seen as a continuum of positions, rather than one of ‘concrete divisions’ (Taliaferro, 2000-2001: 135). Bear in mind that the defensive version can and has been articulated through neorealism, a theory that is noted for its structural logic. Kenneth Waltz is the most well known defensive neorealist.
John J. Mearhseimer, also a neorealist, has however, made the clearest and most systematic arguments in favor of offensive realism. The basic argument is that in an anarchic system there is no central authority that can underwrite security. The consequence of this is that since states are rational actors and fear for their survival, they will seek to acquire as much power as possible, since security is dependent on power. Moreover, states that have extraordinary military and economic capabilities, that is to say Great Powers, will use those capabilities to achieve a preponderant position in the international system. In other words, states want absolute gains. This is so because power is a zero-sum game, and no concession should be made to other states, save for alliances that serve self-interest. Meahsheimer argues that the system always presents opportunities for expansion and those should be and would be grabbed up by rational states. The surest way of ensuring security is to become a hegemon. He makes the point for the quest for hegemony in simple language as the passage below indicates.

Only a misguided state would pass up an opportunity to be the hegemon in the system because it thought it already had sufficient power to survive. But even if a great power does not have the wherewithal to achieve hegemony in the system…it will still act offensively to amass as much power as it can, because states are almost always better off with more rather than less power. In short, states do not become status quo powers until they completely dominate the system (Mearsheimer, 2001:35, emphasis mine).
Mearsheimer’s arguments here comes remarkably close to naturalizing power in the international system, if not more broadly. In this simplistic (no-fault logic) anything that China, or for that matter any state, can be read as a part of a gambit for hegemony.
A number of writers have noted that if the theory of offensive realism is correct, then its core assumptions must be upheld, a proposition that Mearsheimer himself accepts. Moreover, since the number of Great Powers in the system is limited, one can make the case that a single case in the current international system that goes against Mearheimer’s thesis, must give pause regarding the claims and propositions of offensive realism. Nathan Heller (2003) demonstrates that Chinese security and foreign policies are grounded in the strategic notion jing gho, meaning the construction and maintenance of a defensive zone. He argues that in contradistinction to the offensive realist insistence that hegemony is the inevitable logic of a Great Power, China has been principally concerned with the perimeter around it as evidenced its policies viz a vis Taiwan, the South China Sea, and of course, Mainland China. Heller draws on data from the Correlates of War project to show that China’s projection of power in the form of war belies the offensive thesis because only in a limited number of cases has it been an initiator of war. Further, China’s military capability is well below what offensive realists would predict for a state that is seeking hegemony. Its nuclear capability is below parity with the US and Russia, and its Blue Water strength is even less so. The combined force structure of the Chinese military – including land, sea, air, and nuclear capabilities are perimeter specific. “The result has been the creation of a military force posture geared to defending a defensive zone that still retains significant Chinese loss-of-strength gradient outside this perimeter” (Heller 2003). Could it be that (a) defensive realism explains the strategy of China better than offensive realism; or (b) that neither defensive nor offensive realism is adequate to the task?

While Neo-Gramscian (Neo-G) international theory has made a real contribution to the study global politics it needs to broadened and deepened. Specifically, Neo-Gramscian needs to study and use post-colonial theory to deepen its theoretical analysis and widen its empirical horizons. Most Neo-Gramscians tend to write about hegemony as consensus, a move though on solid grounds, is as ambiguous as it is constructive. The key point is that while there is consensus in I.R. it is mostly so the among the Anglosphere countries. See Vucetic’s book on the Anglosphere. Instead of consensus, for the past 100 year the ‘West’ has ruled the world  mostly through force, especially through serial wars, covert operations, etc. The use of force has been the principal method used to achieve the desired strategic and economic goals in the Third World.  Almost always, the  USA and UK are at the leading edge of various forms of physical coercion. the US and UK have the highest level of consensus among any two nations, and especially so when intervention is needed in undertaken in the Third World. The Eurocentric character of Neo-Gramscian  is anchored in neo-colonial type paternalism, a formulation best developed in the writings of by John Hobson.