Identity in International Relations

PSC 780.002, Spring 2007

Prof. Audie Klotz

Thursdays 9:30-12:15 in Maxwell Hall 315

office hours: Tu/Th 2:30-4:00 (Eggers 330)

The field of International Relations has taken a cultural turn in the past decade, focusing especially on identity issues. This course covers contending theoretical approaches to identity – both its definitions and its potential roles in world politics. The readings sample a plurality of epistemological and ontological perspectives, as well as regions of the world and topics. 

In addition to completing the assigned readings, students are responsible for writing reviews of three of the assigned books. These papers are due at the start of class and will be circulated to the other participants. Each student will also be responsible for leading off discussion once, possibly (depending on enrollment) as part of a group. The final assignment is a research paper that builds on one of your reviews. In the last weeks of the semester, we will critique drafts of these papers, through presentations, in order to strengthen the final versions.

The books can be purchased at the campus bookstore. For those who do not wish to buy (all of) them, a copy of each will be on overnight reserve at Bird library. Assigned articles are accessible on-line through Blackboard (blackboard.syr.edu) or the library's e-journals (library.syr.edu). Course grades will be calculated based on: book reviews = 10% each, participation (including a research presentation) = 20%, and a research paper = 50%. Assignments and grades will be posted on Blackboard.

Jan 18: Introduction

No Class – I will be out of the country (for work) until next week. Browse International Studies Review and Perspective on Politics for a review of one of the assigned books. Be sure you can access Blackboard, where you will find guidelines for writing book reviews. Based on those guidelines, briefly evaluate (in one paragraph), the quality of the review you selected. Bring both the original review and your assessment to class next week.

Jan 25: What is Identity?

Bring a list of the three books you will review (along with your sample review and assessment), so that we can allocate responsibilities for leading discussion in future weeks. Read:

o       Samuel Huntington, "The Clash of Civilizations?" Foreign Affairs 72 (3), Summer 1993, pp. 22-49.

o       James Fearon and David Laitin, "Violence and the Social Construction of Ethnic Identity," International Organization 54 (4), Autumn 2000, pp. 845-877.

o       Alexander Wendt, "Collective Identity Formation and the International State," American Political Science Review 88 (2), June 1994, pp. 384-396.

o       Rogers Brubaker and Frederick Cooper, "Beyond 'Identity,'" Theory and Society 29 (1), February 2000, pp. 1-47.

Feb 1: Nationalism

Read: Jack Snyder, From Voting to Violence (Norton 2000).

Feb 8: Ethnicity

Read: Samuel Huntington, Who are We? (Simon & Schuster 2005).

Feb 15: Race

Read: Azza Layton, International Politics and Civil Rights Policies in the United States, 1941-1960 (Cambridge 2000).

Feb 22: Religion

Read: Olivier Roy, Globalized Islam (Columbia 2004).

Mar 1: No Class – ISA  

I will be at the International Studies Association annual meeting. Check the program on the web (www.isanet.org). Find one panel on the theme of identity that relates to your research interests. Bring the list of participants and paper titles to class next week. Also get started on next week's reading, and peruse the books for after break to see if you're likely to use one of them for your own research project.

Mar 8: Gender

Read: Joshua Goldstein, War and Gender (Cambridge 2001).

[Mar 15: Spring Break]

Mar 22: Class

Read: Ted Hopf, Social Construction of International Politics (Cornell 2002).

Mar 29: Culture

Read: William Callahan, Contingent States (Minnesota 2004).

Apr 5, Apr 12, Apr 19, Apr 26: Research Presentations

Schedule to be determined.

Papers due no later than Thursday, May 3^rd.