| Appendix A: Annotated Bibliography |
The following bibliography has been adapted from a semester-long, interdisciplinary
course taught at Syracuse University. Some of the readings are used
in the module and others can be selected at the instructor’s discretion
to supplement the module materials.
| Citizenship and Community |
De Tocqueville, Alexis. 1945. Democracy in America. New
York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf
Born of a noble French family, De Tocqueville spent his early career
as an assistant magistrate in the French government. In 1831 he journeyed
to America in order to study its penal system. Following this trip,
he wrote the classic, Democracy in America (1835), a much heralded
commentary on the condition of the new American state and its people.
In it, he analyzes the role of "associations" and money in American life,
as well as American beliefs in liberty, equality, and individualism.
Mueller, John. 1992. Democracy and Ralph’s Pretty Good
Grocery. American Journal of Political Science 36(4): 983-1003.
John Mueller, a professor of political science at the University of
Rochester, is an authority on how public opinion influences and is affected
by foreign affairs. He is author of Retreat from Doomsday: Obsolescence
of Major War (1989) and War, Presidents , and Public Opinion
(1973). He makes three arguments in an effort to help explain the
growth of democracy over the last two centuries. First he argues
the simplicity of the notion of democracy, which does not need elections
to take place. Second, he argues that democracy has little to do with political
equality. Lastly, Mueller suggests that democracy does not challenge
individuals to be more than average human beings.
Parenti, Michael. 1980. The Constitution as an Elitist
Document. In How democratic is the constitution?, eds. Robert A.
Godwin and William A. Schambra, 39-58. Washington, D.C.: AEI Press.
The author questions the notion that the US Constitution was intended
to create an egalitarian democracy. He claims that the framers of
the Constitution wrote a document aimed at protecting the interests of
the elite by focusing on the symbolic trappings of democracy (such as voting)
while leaving to the elite the control of the critically important substantive
political system. The consequence of this, he argues, has been to solidify
economic and social inequalities.
As students read this essay they might ask themselves whether procedures such as elections are simply symbolic in a democracy. Can political procedures be neatly separated from the substance of civic life?
Barber, Benjamin R. 1989. Neither leaders nor followers:
Citizenship under strong democracy. In M. Beschloss and T. Cronin,
eds. Essays in the honor of James MacGregor Burns. Berkeley, CA:
Prentice Hall Publishers, chapter 1.
Barber asks how stronger forms of citizenship and participation might
be reinstilled in the United States. He argues that the current “thin
democracy” practiced in the US is overly concerned with issues of leadership
and representation and, as a consequence, fails to provide an environment
that supports the development of competent citizens. The goal of
a “strong democracy,” which Barber advocates, is to produce democratic
citizens who are as competent in dealing with issues of civic responsibility
as they are in dealing with individual rights.
Held, Virginia. 1987. Non-contractual society: A feminist
view. In M. Hanen and K. Nielsen, eds. Science, morality and feminist
theory. Calgary, Alberta: University of Calgary Press, pp. 111-137.
Virginia Held, a professor of philosophy, is author of The Public
Interest and Individual Interests (1970) and Right and Goods:
Justifying Social Action (1984). She is currently teaching at
the City University of New York, Hunter College. In this essay, she
questions the conceptions of contractual thinking of human relations. Held
looks at society from a different point of view than that of "economic
man." She elaborates on the opinions of women as the basis for trying to
rethink society and its possible goals. She points out that there is no
definitive point of view of women, notes that the opinions of women are
potentially as diverse as men, and argues that the female perspective has
been discounted across the spectrum. In this essay she tries to give voice
to one feminist perspective.
Tussman, Joseph. C. 1960. The office of the citizen. Lecture
given at Syracuse University.
Joseph Tussman is a former professor of philosophy at Syracuse University
and now professor emeritus at University of California, Berkeley.
A student of Alexander Meiklejohn, Tussman has written about citizenship,
political philosophy, and leadership. His works include Obligation
of the Body Politic (1960), Experiment at Berkeley (1969), Government
of the Mind (1977), and The Burden of Office (1989).
In this essay, Tussman argues that the political forum and the economic marketplace are antithetical -- cooperative and competitive processes are not the same; deliberating and bargaining are two different processes; statesmanship and salesmanship are distinct professions; and the art of making decisions is not identical to the art of bargaining. Since there is considerable incompatibility between these two sets of attitudes, they may end up destroying each other. The end result, he argues, could be the end of the deliberative forum called "rational government.”
Alinsky, Saul. 1971. Rules for the radicals. New
York, NY: Random House, pp. 3-47.
These two chapters offer a radical view of democracy. Here
is an excerpt of the reading so you can get a sense of the extremity of
this piece. “In this book we are concerned with how to create mass
organizations to seize power and give it to the people in order to realize
the democratic dream of equality, justice, peace, cooperation, equal and
full opportunities for education, full and useful employment, health, and
the creation of those circumstances in which man can have the chance to
live by values that give meaning to life. We are talking about a
mass power organization which will change the world into a place where
all men and women walk erect, in the spirit of that credo of the Spanish
Civil War, ‘Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.’”
Novak, Michael. 1993. The catholic ethic and the spirit
of capitalism. New York: The Free Press, MacMillian, Inc., pp.
62-88.
Michael Novak held the George Frederick Jewett Chair at the American
Enterprise Institute, a highly regarded and conservatively oriented think-tank.
He served as Professor of Religion at Syracuse University in the early
1970s. He began his career as a student of theology with a liberal
perspective. Since then his writings have increasingly focused on
the interactions among moral, economic, and political systems, and his
views have become more aligned with the modern conservative perspective.
In 1994, he became the 24th recipient of the Templeton Prize for Progress
in Religion for his contributions to the study of religion.
| The American Environmental Crisis: Live for Today or Tomorrow? |
In this chapter from her book, Switzer examines the politics of water quality. A brief explanation of the nature and causes of water pollution is followed by a review of federal legislation regulating surface and ground water pollution. The author concludes by analyzing the successes and failures of federal water policy.
Hall, Bob and Mary Lee Kerr. 1992. Water Pollution. In Green
index. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, pp. 27-41.
Bob Hall and Mary Lee Kerr are researchers at The Institute for Southern
Studies. The Green Index began initially in late 1989 as an assessment
of environmental conditions and policies in the South. It quickly
grew to include an analysis of all 50 states. Its first release,
prior to Earth Day 1990, received immediate and extensive media attention.
The assigned reading is an excerpt from their updated 1991-1992 Green Index.
Hall and Kerr provide an overview of the geography of water quality
in the US. They describe several indicators used to determine water
quality, and they provide thematic maps and descriptive statistics which
offer comparisons between the fifty US. states.
Sagoff, Mark. 1995. Zuckerman's dilemma: A plea for environmental
ethics. In Pierce and VanDeVeer, eds. People, penguins, and plastic trees:
Basic issues in environmental ethics. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing
Co., pp. 172-181.
Mark Sagoff is a researcher at the Center for Philosophy and Public
Policy at the University of Maryland who has written extensively in the
area of philosophy, public policy, the environment, and law.
His essays have been published in such journals as the Yale Law Journal
84(1974), Environmental Ethics 84(1981), Ecology Law Quarterly
14(1987), The Minnesota Law Review 71(1986), and The Michigan
Law Review 79(1981).
In this article he outlines three ways in which we value nature. We may value it as an instrumental good, an aesthetic good, and a moral good. He then makes the argument that our motivation for preserving the natural environment is not only based in the instrumental benefit we gain from it but also in the aesthetic and moral worth we place on it. The instrumental value of whales, for instance, has declined since we have found substitutes for whale oil. However, we admire and appreciate the very magnificence of whales. This intrinsic value has no substitute. The notion that the natural environment contains qualities for which there are no substitutes is central to Sagoff’s case that we should stress moral and ethical reasons when arguing for the preservation of healthy ecosystems.
Hardin, Garrett. 1968. The tragedy of the commons. Science
162: 1243-1248.
In this famous essay, Garrett Hardin asks, “Is it rational for us to
maximize our personal gain in our use of the ‘commons’”? The commons
are areas of land, sea, and air to which everyone has access, but which
no one owns. He argues that if commons are used for the maximization
of individual gain, tragedy will result. As populations grow, pressure
on the commons increases, eventually resulting in its destruction.
His solution is a central authority that restricts personal liberties through
such measures as the imposition of private property, pollution taxes, and
limits on human reproduction. Hardin insists that if we are to preserve
the integrity of the natural environment, we must accept the need for coercion.
Caduto, Michael J. and Joseph Bruchac. 1991. Native American stories
told by Joseph Bruchac. Golden, Colorado: Fulcrum Publishing.
Joseph Bruchac is a member of the Abenaki Tribe. He has won national
awards as a storyteller, poet, and novelist, and is the story teller in
residence at the Onondaga Indian School as well as the Akwesasne Mohawk
School.
Like Aesop’s Fables, these Native American stories use parables about the interaction between animals to pass on knowledge and understanding about specific social customs. They offer, therefore, particular insight into Native American culture and attitudes toward nature.
Stiglitz, Joseph E. 1993. Thinking like an economist.
In Economics. New York, NY: W. W. Northon and Co., pp. 27-37.
The reading comes from Chapter 2 of Professor Stiglitz’s new
textbook, Economics. The purpose of this reading is to provide a
brief introduction to the fundamental assumptions that underlie most economic
analysis. Three of these are especially critical: we live in
a world of scarce resources; people make rational decisions; and individual
preferences are important. A simple example surrounding the environment
helps demonstrate these examples.
Gomez-Ibanez, Jose A. and Joseph P. Kalt. 1990. Saving the Tuolomne.
In Cases in Microeconomics. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall,
pp. 189-200.
Gomez-Ibanez and Kalt are professors in the Kennedy School of Government
at Harvard University. This chapter explains the basic elements
of a cost-benefit study to beginning students of economics. It highlights
the difficulty of quantifying the costs and benefits of some environmental
projects. You should consider whether some benefits or costs should
not be quantified as a matter of public policy. If you believe some
are fundamentally nonquantifiable, then consider alternative ways of determining
these costs and benefits.
Schnaiberg, Allan and Kenneth Alan Gould. 1994. Society as the enemy
of the environment: Battle plans for the assault. In A. Schnaiberg,
ed. Environment and society: The enduring conflict. New York,
NY: St. Martin's Press, pp. 22-41.
Allan Schnaiberg and Kenneth Alan Gould are both environmental sociologists
who hold academic positions at Northwestern University and St. Lawrence
University respectively. The following excerpt comes from their book,
Environment and Society: The Enduring Conflict, written as
an undergraduate text.
This piece presents an historical overview of how societies from preindustrial times to the present have lived within or sought to overcome ecological limits. What we understand as the limits imposed by nature has changed considerably over time. While the industrial revolution of the 19th Century appeared to obliterate ecological limits, we are faced in the 20th Century with a new appreciation of these limits as environmental deterioration has global consequences.
Traux, Hawley. 1990. Beyond white environmentalism: Minorities at
risk. Environmental Action Magazine, Jan/Feb, 19-21.
African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans in the US are disproportionately
burdened with the risks associated with environmental pollution.
This article provides evidence to support this statement by focusing on
the three examples, lead poisoning, farm poisoning, and the siting of toxic
facilities. What challenge does this evidence present to prevailing
concepts of social justice?
Hong, Peter and Dori Jones Yang. 1992. Tree-huggers vs. jobs: It’s
not that simple. Business Week, October 19.
This article examines the complexity of measuring the economic impact
of environmental regulations by focusing on how regulations can both encourage
and restrict job creation.
McKee, Bradford. 1992. Environmental price tags. Nation's Business
Magazine (April). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
This article provides evidence that small firms are having a hard time
coping with the mounting costs associated with environmental regulations,
making it tough for them to compete in the market place. Should environmentally
destructive industry be discouraged? If so, how?
Derr, Kenneth T. 1992. Beware the cutting edge. Address delivered
to the American Legislative Exchange Council Annual Conference, Colorado
Springs, Colorado, August 7, 1992.
Kenneth Derr, an executive for Chevron Oil, describes the burden placed
on the US petroleum industry by the Clean Air Act. If we care about
environmental quality, should we reduce our reliance on commodities whose
use and production damage the environment? How can consumer habits
change? What solutions does Derr offer?
| Global Linkages To Citizenship |
The Nation
Kennedy, Paul. 1993. Preparing for the twenty-first century.
New York, NY: Random House Inc., pp. 122-134.
Paul Kennedy is an English-born historian, now teaching at Yale University.
This selection describes the nation “from above,” from the perspective
of its centralized government and its role as an actor in international
affairs. Kennedy points out the current challenges to the nation
from both transnational and subnational developments. His analysis
raises at least two basic questions: (1) is his assessment of the seriousness
of the challenges to the nation correct, and (2) should we conclude that
the nation is outdated and needs to be replaced by other forms of organization?
Spero, Joan. 1990. Introduction: The link between economics
and politics. In The politics of international economic relations.
New York, NY: St. Martin's Press, pp. 1-17.
Joan Spero has been a professor at Columbia University, a US government
official, and a senior vice president at American express Company.
In this article, Joan Spero discusses the relationships between economics
and politics, from both a domestic and an international perspective.
She provides three frameworks for examining this relationship: (1) the
relationship between the political system and the economic system, (2)
the relationship between political concerns and economic policy, and (3)
the inherently political nature of international economic relations.
She continues by looking at three very different subsystems of the global
economy and the interdependence and dependence evident in these three frameworks.
Gilpin, Robert. 1987. The liberal perspective. In The political
economy of international relations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press, pp. 26-31, 43-46, and 245-252.
Robert Gilipin summarizes the "liberal" perspective on economics and
the role of government in economic systems. He points out that “liberal
economic theory is committed to free markets and minimal state intervention”
and contends that a smart system “increases economic efficiency, maximizes
economic growth and thereby improves human welfare.” He argues that
liberals believe that trade and economic intercourse are a source of peaceful
relations among nations. He concludes his discussion of economic
liberalism by looking at several critiques, among them the tendency for
economic liberalism to focus on efficiency and economic growth while ignoring
issues of equity and justice.
The Global Economy
Greider, William. 1995. The global marketplace: A closet dictator.
In R. Nadar et al., eds. Who will tell the people? San Francisco, CA: Earth
Island Press, pp. 195-217.
William Greider is a journalist and author whose recent books include
Secrets of the Temple, which is about the Federal Reserve, and Who
Will Tell the People?, about the corruption of American democracy.
Others have described the world as increasingly integrated by trade, investment,
and technology -- a kind of global community based on norms of private
profit, economic efficiency, and growth. Journalist William Greider
presents an alternative view of global community. If economic globalization
occurs without a corresponding globalization of political democracy, Greider
sees a threat to democratic self-determination. In a world where
the bargaining power of multinational corporations and the competitive
pressures of the market determine what, where, how and by whom products
are produced and consumed, the ability of citizens to determine their own
conditions of work and life democratically will be undermined, thus weakening
democracy through unrestrained economic globalization. Greider suggest
that we ought to think about the possibilities of a global community based
on values of democratic self-determination. How would our thought
and action have to change for Greider's vision of global community to be
possible?
Fallows, James. 1993. How the world works. The Atlantic Monthly
(December): 61-87.
James Fallows is the Washington editor of the Atlantic Monthly, and
he spent five years living and working in Asia. Fallows argues that
crucial lessons about economic development have been forgotten in Britain
and America. In the Anglo-American world, economic theory has long
been based upon the ideas of Adam Smith, especially his concept of the
self-regulating market. From this perspective, it appears that tampering
with the market restricts freedom, hampers efficiency, and increases the
costs to consumers; therefore, the best possible course is to leave the
market alone. But according to Fallows, this is not really "How The
World Works." Finding the ideas of the German economist Friedrich List
at work in some of Asia's rapidly developing countries, Fallows suggest
that government interference in the market continues to be an important
way for societies to pick themselves up by their own bootstraps and to
develop rapidly their economic and industrial capacities. According
to this view often referred to as economic nationalist, in a world of competing
nation-states, a country's power and independence are based on its relative
level of economic and industrial development, which in turn can be influenced
by government policies that manipulate the economy in order to produce
the desired result.
Foster, Catherine. 1995. Footprint around the globe. The Christian
Science Monitor (March 22): 1 and 8.
This is a short piece in which the author discuses how western images
of popular culture have spread throughout the world. The piece focuses
on the impact the popular cable music channel MTV has had on non western
culture.
The Economist. 1993. A survey of multinationals. March 27,
5-20.
The Economist is an informative, conservative, weekly magazine
on economic and political affairs. Multinational corporations (MNCs)
are often thought to be the chief agents of economic globalization.
This article argues that they may not be the monsters they are sometimes
perceived to be. Some MNCs are new; many are small. MNCs are
more regionally oriented than global. Their ownership is dispersed
across far more nation-states than thought, and alliances among them make
it increasingly inaccurate to speak of “US MNCs” or “industrialized-world
MNCs.” Some are even publicly owned.
Mies, Maria. 1986. Housewifization international: Women and
the new international division of labor. In Patriarchy and accumulation
on the world scale: Women and the new international division of labour.
Atlantic Highlands: Zed Books Ltd., pp. 112-135.
Maria Mies is a sociologist and author of several books, including
Indian Women and Patriarchy (1980) and The Lace Makers of Narsapur
(1982). She is currently active in the women's and environmental movements
in Germany. Her most recent book is Women, the Last Colony (1988),
written in collaboration with Claudia von Werlhof and Veronika Bennholdt-Thomsen.
In this article, Mies argues that "housewifization" -- the notion that
women worldwide are supported primarily by a husband (male breadwinner)
while their job is to reproduce the family unit -- is a strategy by capitalists
to blur the role of women in order to maximize profits. She asserts that
poor women in Third World countries perform "informal" and thus invisible
labor to make cheap items for First World women. This link allows capitalists
(i.e., MNCs) to reduce labor costs and gain huge profits. Mies suggests
there is a capitalist conspiracy of "blaming the victim" that sees Third
World women as responsible for their own poverty when they over-reproduce
instead of produce for the world marketplace. In this view, women are breeders
of "human resources" who if "underutilized" (i.e., if they are but surplus,
unemployed labor) are inefficient consumers (extra mouths to feed but not
contributing to international capitalism).
Reich, Robert. 1990. Who is us? Harvard Business Review (Jan/Feb):
53-64.
Robert Reich is a Harvard professor who was Secretary of Labor in the
first Clinton administration. In these articles, Robert Reich argues
that the world economy is changing in fundamental ways, ways which he thinks
should affect how we think about “us" and "them.” In the increasingly
interdependent global economy, corporations carry out their activities
all around the world and their country of origin is less and less relevant.
It is now common for multinational corporations (MNCs) to have their official
headquarters in the US while having much of their investment, research
and development, and production in other countries . Likewise, foreign
firms do much work in the US. So who is “us”? And why should
we care: what is at stake for “us”?
Reich, Robert. 1991. Who is them? Harvard Business Review (Mar/Apr):
77-88.
In the second article in this series, Reich argues that it is still
possible to think of the world economy as being composed of “us” and “them,”
but that “us” no longer means American corporations and “them” does not
necessarily refer to foreign corporations. So who is “us” and who
is “them?” How can we deal with “them” in such a way that we will
thrive and prosper in the new global economy? How is Reich's prescription
similar to, or different from, that of a "free trader" or and "economic
nationalist"?
Adler, Paul. 1993. Time and motion regained. Harvard Business
Review (Jan/Feb): 97-108.
Adler describes the case of an automobile manufacturing plant in Fremont,
California, which was built and run by General Motors (GM) until 1982,
when GM closed the plant. Until that time, it had been plagued by
labor problems and had performed badly in terms of both productivity and
quality. After the plant was closed, GM joined with Toyota to reorganize
and reopen the plant as a joint venture called New United Motor Manufacturing
Incorporated, or NUMMI. NUMMI is an example of direct foreign investment
in the US.
| The Western Pacific Rim |
Rozman, Gilbert. 1991. The East Asian region in comparative perspective.
In G. Rozman, ed. The East Asian region: Confucian heritage and its
modern adaptation. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press,
pp. 15-19.
Gilbert Rozman is professor of Sociology at Princeton University.
His research and writing cover world politics, the history of China
and Japan, Sino-Soviet and Soviet-Japan relations, and former communist
countries, especially the former Soviet Union.
The Western Pacific Rim has been Confucianized for centuries. The author reviews the central concepts in the Confucian world view and makes intra-regional comparison. He considers what is essential to Confucianism in China, Japan, and other East Asian countries and traces some outstanding differences among them. Rozman notes that over many centuries, this regional Confucian tradition interacted with distinct national traditions and responded to outside challenges.
Creel, H.G. 1953. Confucius and the struggle for human happiness.
Chinese thought from Confucius to Mao Tse-Tung. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, pp. 25-45.
H.G. Creel is emeritus professor for East Asian Languages and Civilizations
at the University of Chicago. He has written widely on Confucius
and ancient Chinese society.
The philosophy of Confucianism has provided the bedrock for Chinese institutions and behavior for the past 2500 years, and continues to do so. This selection examines Confucius and his philosophy in the context of 500 BC China. The Addendum for the Analects by Confucius provides examples of his philosophy in his own world. What kind if insight into Chinese society do you gain from these articles?
Shichihei, Yamamoto. 1992. A protestant ethic in a non-Christian
context. In The spirit of Japanese capitalism and selected essays.
Lanham, MD: Pacific Basin Institute.
In this piece of writing, the author provides an inside-out perspective
of Japanese-style capitalism. Yamamoto Shichihei, argues that Japanese
capitalism is different from that of the West. Several unique characteristics
of Japanese-style capitalism have been singled out to support his argument.
What are these characteristics? Why does the author claim that the
American capitalist system and the policies that have been formulated are
not applicable in Japan? What, according to the author, motivates
apprentices in Japan to work hard and learn their trade well?
Teng, Ssu-yu and John K. Fairbank. 1954. Commissioner Lin’s program
for meeting British aggression. In China's response to the West.
Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, pp. 23-28.
This is an introduction and partial translation of China's official
response to the threat of Western imperial penetration in the middle of
the nineteenth century.
Barnet, Richard and John Cavanah. 1994. Marlboro country. In
Global dreams: Imperial corporations and the new world order. Touchstone
Books, pp. 198-204.
Richard J. Barnet is the author of Global Reach and ten other books.
His articles have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, The
New York Times, and numerous other periodicals. John Cavanagh
is the co-author of seven books on the world economy and is currently a
Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and the Transnational Institute
in Washington, D.C..
This is a short piece on the global marketing practices of US. tobacco companies. Do you see any parallels between the practices of US firms (and the US. government) and the Opium Wars of the nineteenth century? How might Commissioner Lin respond to this form of "economic aggression"?
Richie, Donald. 1991. Japan: A description. In A lateral
view: Essays on contemporary Japan, Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press,
pp.11-19.
Donald Richie, who has lived in Japan since 1952, was a member of the
American occupation forces following WWII and now writes on popular Japanese
culture for the Japan Times. These three short pieces touch
upon the aesthetic in Japan (which incorporates a simple form and an underlying
social pattern), Confucian heritage, regularity, and the importance of
the group. To make his point, Richie describes the relationship between
living space and nature and how nature (trees, bushes, carved wood) and
society (the place of the individual in the group, relationship to outsider)
are shaped by culture. He examines the Japanese penchant for archetypal
pattern, which is repeated everywhere, even in modern copies of the old.
Finally, he writes of the patterns of time, how it is used, how it is related
to status. Do time and space carry the same meaning for Japanese
as they do for American?
Earl, David, M. 1964. Chinese thought and Japanese tradition (1964).
In Emperor and nation in Japan. Seattle, WA: University of Washington
Press, pp. 3-6.
In this selection, a leading American scholar of Japanese thought explains
how the Tokugawa shougunate, which ruled Japan from 1600 to 1868, adopted
Confucian philosophy from China as the regime's official ideology.
The author also explains the Confucian ethic of five fundamental human
relationships, the fulfillment of which led to a noble human life and re-enforced
the idea of the group rather than the individual as the basis of Japanese
society.
Longji, Sun. 1989. The deep structure of Chinese culture. In Geremie,
Barme, and John, eds. Seeds of fire: Chinese voices of conscience.
New York, NY: Noonday Press, pp. 32-34.
These excerpts are from the Chinese writer Sun Longji's book The
Deep Structure of Chinese Culture (“The Network of Sodality,” “Inner
and Outer Circles,” “The Chinese Concept of Man,” “Identity,” and “The
Chinese Outsider”). Following a Confucianist line, Longhi focuses
upon the importance of the social network and the fact that the Chinese
person is defined as a person by his/her relationship with others.
What is the place of the individual in this society? Does on deal with
everyone in society equally?
Theroux, Paul. 1993. Going to see the dragon. Harper's Magazine
(October): 33-56.
Paul Theroux is a writer particularly known for his travel books.
In 1989 he published Riding the Iron Rooster, a book chronicling his train
travels in China. In his return visit to the Peoples Republic of
China in 1993, Theroux spent his time in the new industrial zones of the
south investigating the "Chinese miracle" -- China's overnight emergence
as the world's third largest economy. As Theroux travels through
Guandong Province, we meet his driver Mr. Li and see the juxtaposition
of traditional mud-and-buffalo rice growing villages with cities in the
making; we witness the entrepreneurial spirit that is creating indigenous
millionaires overnight; and we wander through the Chinese trade fair, attended
by representatives of many Western corporations all looking for deals.
We are led to consider the relationship between recent Chinese political
history and the growth of capitalism. Why is manufacturing suddenly
booming in China? Is it a contradiction to have a capitalistic expansion
in this communist country?
Kristoff, Nicholas. 1990. China sees 'market Leninism' as a way to
future and entrepreneurial energy sets off a Chinese boom. The New York
Times (September 6): A1 and A12.
Nicholas Kristoff was the bureau chief for the New York Times
in Beijing. Over the past 15 years, China has transformed its centrally
planned economy into a booming market economy. In 1992 and 1993,
the GNP grew by 12 percent. Like Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore,
and Hong Kong, known as “miracle economies,” China is a Confucian-based
society that emphasizes education. Like some other countries, it
also follows the East Asian tradition of free-market authoritarianism.
Despite this free market, Communist Party rule continues. The disparities
of wealth that Maoism sought to extinguish are returning with a serious
increase in corruption.
Weinstein, Martin, E. 1983. Yotaro Kobayashi, portrait of a Japanese
businessman. In The human face of Japan's leadership: Twelve portraits.
Westport, CT: Praeger, pp. 287-321.
M.E. Weinstein, professor from the University of Illinois, is Japan
Chair at the center for Strategic and International studies (CSIS) in Washington,
D.C. One of the most prevalent and dangerous misperceptions about Japan
is its image as a faceless, impersonal, corporate entity. This reading
looks at a group of Japanese politicians, bureaucrats, and businessmen
who are likely to lead Japan into the 21st century. What about Yotaro
Kobayashi strikes you as distinctively Japanese? What aspects of
his experience could be shared by many American businessmen?
Allinson, Gary D. 1984. Rhythm of urban life. In J. Agnew,
J. Mercer, and D. Sopher, eds. The city in cultural context.
Boston: Allan & Unwin, pp. 172-175.
Gary Allinson is professor of East Asian Studies at the University
of Virginia. This descriptive excerpt reveals Allinson’s familiarity
with life in Tokyo. The first part follows a typical young businessman
through his day. You will observe some differences from American
patterns, among them the primacy of public transportation and the less-than-hectic
but lengthy working day. The lack of any weekday domestic life is
striking also. Allinson moves on to sketch the typical female spouse’s
“sexually segregated existence” confined to home, neighborhood, and child-rearing
activities. Thirdly, Allinson glances at the celebrated lifelong
loyalty of firm to worker and vice-versa. Since this piece describes
life in Japan some time ago, one might ask how much times have changed
in Japan since then.
Chie, Nakane. 1970. Japanese Society. Berkeley,CA: University
of California Press, pp. 2-5, 14-15, 16-17 23, 25-28, 33-36, 42-44, 64-65,
69-70, 143-147, 149-150.
This selection by Nakane Chie, Professor of Social Anthropology at
the Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo, explains the basic
hierarchical group organization of Japanese society. It explains,
from the inside, how Japanese culture works, both within the relatively
small groups that are the basis of society and among groups forming the
intricate "web" often seen as an appropriate metaphor for life in Japan.
Once this group-based pattern is understood, much else about the ethic
and dynamic of life in Japanese society is clarified.
Honig, Emily and Gail Hershatter. 1988. Women and work.
In Honig and Hershatter, eds. Personal voices: Chinese women in the
1980's. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, pp. 243-272.
Emily Honig is professor of Chinese History and women's Studies at
Yale. Gail Hershatter is professor of Chinese Studies at the University
of California, Santa Cruz. Both women were in the People's Republic
of China (PRC) for different projects, but were so struck by the rapidly
changing social environment of women that they decided to write a book
together on contemporary women in the PRC. They each shared a room
with a Chinese woman in a university dormitory and, through conversations
with them and their friends, came to realize that formerly “private” issues
(such as adornment, courtship, marriage, divorce) were becoming topics
of intense public discussion. Their book is based upon these conversations
and an analysis of articles in Chinese language magazines. In this
chapter, the authors discuss the problems that women (especially college
graduates) have faced in entering the workforce and the conflicts they
face because of their responsibility for the home.
Williams, Juan. 1992. West meets east. The Washington Post Magazine,
12-28.
Juan Williams went to Japan on a 10-week fellowship to study
prejudice. As an African American, he is sensitive to the way discrimination
operates in the United States. Is it the same in Japan? Interviewing
several Americans, including African-Americans and European-Americans,
and men and women, he is told that a foreigner in Japan is never quite
sure if he or she is experiencing prejudice because of nationality (non-Japanese),
race (black/white), or gender (he/she). To be non-Japanese in Japan
is to be an outsider. Williams examines discrimination in Japan further
by interviewing people from the three major minority groups in Japan, including
Koreans, Ainu, and Burakumin.
| Local Communities |
Gandhi, M. K. 1959. Swaraj, socialism, and communism.
In Economic and industrial life and relations. Ahmebadad, India:
Navajivan House, pp. 3-17.
This readings shows the important role that the self-sufficient village
played in Gandhi's social philosophy. Gandhi was one of the most
influential moral thinkers of the 20th century. Yet some basic aspects
of his moral teaching have not won widespread support even in his home
state of India. Can you account (1) for the extent of Gandhi's influence
and (2) for its limits? Is he teaching relevant today?
Oommen, T.K. 1981. Gandhi and village: Toward a critical appraisal.
In S. Kumar Lal, ed. Gandhi and Village. New Delhi, India: Agricole
Publishing Academy, pp. 1-11.
T.K. Oommen is a professor of sociology at Jawaharlal Nehru University
in New Delhi, India. While not entirely uncritical, Oommen attempts to
uphold as much as he can of Gandhi's social philosophy, particularly with
regard to the village. How successful is Oommen's defense of Gandhi's
views? And how applicable are they to your world?
Barber, Benjamin R. 1992. Jihad vs. McWorld. The Atlantic Monthly,
March, 53-55 and 58-63. (See also Barber, Benjamin. 1995.
Jihad vs. McWorld: How globalism and tribalism are reshaping the world.
New York, NY: Ballantine Books.)
Benjamin Barber is professor of Political Science at Rutgers University
where he developed a research center on the culture and politics of democracy.
In this essay, he argues that the world is being pulled in opposite directions
by two forces -- parochial hatreds and universalizing markets. Are
these forces, as Barber suggest, anti-democratic? Do you agree with
the remedy he proposes (borrowing form the Green movement), "Think globally,
act locally"?
Stavrianos, L.S. 1981. Multinational corporations and the Green Revolution
in the Third World. In Global rift: The Third World comes of age.
New York, NY: William Morrow, Inc., pp. 446-450.
The Green Revolution involved the transformation of agriculture
in Third World countries by using new strains of food crops, along with
chemical fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation and other more capital-intensive
agricultural technologies developed in the laboratories of first world
corporations and research centers. While this is sometimes presented
as a beneficial use of science and technology in order to feed the world's
poor, historian L.S. Stavrianos takes a more critical view. Stavrianos
sees the Green Revolution as creating international markets for US. multinationals
interested in selling agricultural machines and chemicals. Within
Third world countries, Stavrianos claims, the Green Revolution has benefited
the minority of larger and wealthier landowners, who can afford the machinery,
chemicals, and irrigation that allow them to get the most out of the new
seed varieties. These farmers tend to grow cash crops for export
in order to make a profit on the world market. As they have expanded,
they have displaced small-scale peasant farmers who grow subsistence crops
in order to feed their families. These farmers are often forced off
the land and into urban slums and shanty towns where they join the increasing
masses of the impoverished and unemployed. Was the Green revolution
a good thing for the Third World?
Dak, T.M. 1989. Green revolution and social change. Delhi,
India: Ajanta Publications, pp. 65-77.
T.M. Dak is an associate professor of Sociology at Haraa Agricultural
University in Hisar, India. Dak provides an account of the history
of the Green revolution in India. He also discusses associated social
changes and evaluates the results.
Gupta, Ashis. 1991. Bhopal, the forgotten tragedy. Malka Ganj,
Delhi, India: Ajanta Pub.
Gupta provides us with a description and analysis of the 1984 Bhopal
gas disaster from a "local" Indian and a recent updated (1991) perspective.
Can Bhopal be viewed as a local community “victim”? What is the connection
between Bhopal and the Green Revolution in international agricultural production?
Has this tragedy been so soon forgotten that it represents a failure
of the predominant international economic system?
Morse, Bradford and Thomas R. Berger. 1992. The report of the
Independent Review. Ottawa: Sardar Sarovar Projects Independent
Review, pp. xi-xxv, 3-7, and 61-79.
The members of this review included Bradford Morse, a former US Congressman
and the former Administrator of the United Nations Development Program;
Thomas Berger, a Canadian lawyer known for his work on human rights, indigenous
peoples, and the environment; Donald Gamble, a Canadian engineer with expertise
in environmental policy and water development issues; and Hugh Brody, a
British-educated anthropologist now living in Canada, who has done studies
of indigenous peoples and land use areas in northern North America including
an impact study on the Alaska pipeline.
This reading consists of three chapters from the book. The first, the letter to the President of the World Bank, represents the actual document provided to the World Bank administration summarizing and highlighting the conclusions of this review. Chapter 1 details the origins of the Sardar Sarovar project. Pay special attention to the roots and the escalation of this conflict. Finally, Chapter 5 is about the indigenous (tribal) people in this valley. Reflect upon the views and dreams of Gandhi and Nehru in relation to Sardar Sarovar.
Thukral, Enakshi G. and Machindra D. Sakate. 1992. Baliraja: A people's
alternative. In G. Thukral, ed. Big dams, displaced people: Rivers of
sorrow, rivers of change. New Delhi, India: Sage Publications,
pp. 143-154
This chapter is based on a study done by Sakate, a member of
the faculty at Rajshri Shahu college in Kolhapur, India. Thukral,
the co-author, is the project coordinator at the Multiple Action Research
Group (MARG, New Delhi, India). This reading presents a contrast to the
case of Sardar Sarovar. In the case of Baliraja, the local people
initiated the project based upon the farmers' need for water, which had
become scarce from recurring droughts. This project differed from
Sardar Sarovar by involving local initiative, participation, and use and
because it was smaller in scale and included a provision for equal distribution
of water.
Berreman, Gerald. 1985. Chipko: Nonviolent direct action to save
the Himalayas. South Asian Bulletin 5(2): 8-13.
Gerald Berreman is an anthropologist at the University of California
at Berkeley. Chipko is an environmental movement in which women are
usually prominent. It originated in Himalayan regions of India and
is largely made up of indigenous, subsistence farming families. According
to Berreman what caused the split within the Chipko movement? The
author considers Chipko to be a Gandhian model.
Weber, Thomas. 1994. Is there still a Chipko Andolan? Pacific
Affairs 67(1): 615-628.
Thomas Weber is a professor at La Trobe University, Australia, and
has written extensively about the Chipko Andolan. Weber traces the development
and the divergence of the ideologies associated with the leaders of the
Chipko movement. What is the connection between Chipko and Gandhi?
Is the Chipko movement still rooted in local communities? What is
its current relationship to local communities?
Kamaluddin, S. 1993. Lender with a mission. Far Eastern Economic
Review, March 18, pp. 38-40.
S. Kamaluddin is the bureau chief in Dhaka, Bangladesh for the Far
Eastern Economic Review. This is a brief description of a program
claimed to have the potential to benefit materially poor people not only
in South Asia but throughout the world. Adaptations of Mohammed Yunus'
ideas have been applied in Arkansas, Chicago, Los Angeles after the 1992
riot, and El Salvador. The approach of micro-lending to support micro
enterprise has proponents in the Clinton administration for use in inner-city
and depressed rural areas in the US. Others urge that this approach
should become the cornerstone of US international aid. Why might
such programs succeed? Do you see any problems or shortcomings?
| Futures |
Kaslow, Amy and George Moffett. 1995. Refugees without a refuge:
U.S. starts to pull up drawbridge. The Christian Science Monitor
(March 1): 1 and 10-11.
In this piece, the authors discuss how the United States, a nation
which once opened its arms to refugees, is now keeping them at arm’s length.
Does this change in policy dilute our understanding of democracy?
Kaplan, Robert D. 1994. The Coming Anarchy. The Atlantic Monthly
(February): 44-76.
This is a rather depressing piece that previews the first few decades
of the 21st Century. Even though our borders may be crumbling
via free trade, another type of boundary has been erected -- “a wall of
disease.” Wars are fought over scarce resources, especially water,
and war itself becomes continuous with crime, as armed bands of stateless
marauders clash with the private security forces of the elites.
French, Hilary, F. 1995. Forging a new global partnership. In Schmidt,
ed. The state of the world. Worldwatch Institute. London:
Earthscan, pp. 170-189.
Although more positive than the Kaplan piece, French argues that global
partnerships are floundering because of a failure of political will;
we need to examine the complex interconnections among population growth,
deteriorating social conditions, gender inequity, environmental degradation,
and a range of other issues. A sustainable future cannot be secured
without an aggressive effort to combat poverty and meet basic social needs
for all the citizens of the world.