PSCI 250
Theories of Comparative Politics Spring 2010
Division II
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

This course will deal with the debate between Karl Marx and Max Weber that organizes much of the contemporary study of comparative politics. The course is divided into four sections. First, it begins with a close reading of Marx and Weber and a comparison of their modes of political analysis. It will engage the debate between them about the source and nature of power. What is it, and where does it come from? Is it primarily “material” in content or largely “ideal”? What does each think about the origins of capitalism, and what is at stake theoretically in their respective interpretations? Second, the course will consider how Marx and Weber have influenced 20th century thinking about the relationship between capitalism and modernity. Is modernity intimately linked with capitalism, as Marx would argue, or is it separate from it, as Weber would have it? To get at this question, we will read Karl Polanyi and Barrington Moore in this section. Third, the course will address Marxist and Weberian treatments of states. What are they? Where do states come from? Do they originate in consent? In war? Are they autonomous from or captured by social forces? In this section, we will read Charles Tilly, Theda Skocpol, Alfred Stephan, and Karl Schmitter. Finally, the course will consider what Marx and Weber have to say about the nature and origins of collective political identities (national, ethnic, cultural). What are they and where do they come from? Are they artifacts of the economy, as Marxists suggest, or do they come from states and religions, as Weber has it? To engage these questions, we will read Samuel Huntington, among others.
The Class: Format: lecture/discussion
Limit: 25
Expected: 23
Class#: 3162
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: three papers
Prerequisites: none
Enrollment Preferences: Political Science majors
Distributions: Division II
Attributes: CRAAS Critical Reasoning + Analytical Skills
PSCI Comparative Politics Courses

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