Department of Sociology-Anthropology Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, Pennsylvania 15705 SOCIOLOGY 237 WORLD SOCIETIES AND WORLD SYSTEMS Fall, 1992 COURSE SYLLABUS I. General Information Professor: Dr. Stephen Sanderson Office & Hours: 120 Keith Hall, phone 357-2732 TR, 11:30-12:30 AM; Wed., 9:30-12:30 II. Reading Materials 1. Stephen K. Sanderson, Macrosociology: An Introduction to Human Societies. 2nd edition. New York: Harper- Collins, 1991. 2. Thomas Richard Shannon, An Introduction to the World-System Perspective. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1989. 3. Peter L. Berger, The Capitalist Revolution: Fifty Propositions about Prosperity, Equality, and Liberty. New York: Basic Books, 1986. III-A. Course Content The aim of this course is to understand something about the evolution of human societies throughout world history, with a particular focus on the modern world capitalist economy that began to develop in Europe in the 16th century and that has subsequently expanded to cover the entire globe. The course will be a mixture of theoretical analysis and description. A great deal of attention will be given to theory early in the course. The main line of theorizing to which you will be introduced is what is known as "world-system theory." Once the leading concepts and principles of this theoretical approach have been established, we will begin using them to understand the evolution of the modern world, and the way in which many diverse societies are interrelated within this world, especially in the 20th century. Apart from one introductory and two concluding lectures, the course is divided intro three main segments. The first segment (about 2 weeks) will discuss so-called preindustrial or precapitalist societies: hunting and gathering bands, horticultural and pastoral tribes and chiefdoms, and agrarian states and civilizations. These are societies that have traditionally been studied by anthropologists and historians. The second part of the course (about 3 weeks) will focus on the basic concepts and principles of world-system theory and will look at the evolution of the capitalist world-economy in Western Europe from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. It will also attempt to understand why this type of economic system originally arose when and where it did. The third part of the course will take up slightly more than half the semester. As already noted, it will apply world-system theory to understanding the modern world in the 20th century, focusing in particular on questions of political economy, class stratification, and other forms of inequality. Considerable attention will be given to how various nation-states are tied together into a web of economic and political interdependence. The analysis will proceed to a large extent through the detailed examination of selected nation-states. We will look at several advanced industrial capitalist societies (the United States, England, and Japan), the former Soviet Union and the Eastern European state socialist societies, two semi-industrialized capitalist countries (South Africa and Brazil), and several very poor countries (especially in Africa). Of special interest will be the so-called Newly Industrialized Countries, or NIC's -- South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore -- and the reasons for the spectacular development they have experienced in recent decades. The course will conclude with a discussion of the pros and cons of capitalism as an economic and social system, and a lecture that focuses on the relationship between capitalism, ecological degradation, and warfare. This lecture asks whether the human species is likely to survive much longer and, if so, under what circumstances. III-B. Course Structure I will plan to lecture most of the time, but I also hope that we will have a fair amount of class discussion, and perhaps some debate. A course like this, focused as it is on topics of immense relevance to the lives of each and every one of us, should certainly be able to provoke a lot of discussion, debate, and controversy. IV. Examinations There will be three essay exams, the final included. Each will count 25% of the final grade. V. Written Paper Assignment You are to write an analytical paper of 8-10 double-spaced typewritten pages on Peter Berger's The Capitalist Revolution. The paper should highlight Berger's main arguments and contrast them with the ideas presented in lectures and in the other reading materials. Further instructions for preparing this paper are contained in the large document of guidelines for papers that has been provided to you. It is desirable to get an early start on this paper; in any event, the document of guidelines contains the due dates for the first and final drafts of this paper. VI. Grading Your three examinations and your term paper each count as 25% of your final grade. I use a straight percentage system of grading as follows: 85% and above = A; 75-84% = B; 65-74% = C; 50-64% = D; below 50% = F. VII. Course Outline and Reading Assignments Class Topic Reading Assignment Meeting 1 Course Introduction 2 Background Concepts & Theories Sanderson, chs.1-3 3 Preindustrial Societies Sanderson, ch. 4 4 Precapitalist Economic Systems Sanderson, ch. 5 5 Social Stratification in Preindustrial Societies Sanderson, ch. 6 6 A. Stateless Societies & the Rise of the State Sanderson, ch. 11 B. Social Change in Agrarian Societies 7 Marx on Capitalism Sanderson, pp. 183-85 8 World-System Theory Shannon, chs. 1-2 9 World-System Theory (cont'd) Shannon, chs. 5-7 10 A. Emergence and Expansion of the Shannon, ch. 3; Capitalist World-Economy, 1500-1900 Sanderson, ch. 7 & pp. 159-70; Sanderson, Social Transforma- tions, pp. 156-73 B. The Development of Capitalism in Japan Sanderson, Social Trans- formations, pp. 173-85 11 Explaining the Transition to Sanderson, pp. 147-54; Capitalism in Europe and Japan Sanderson, Social Trans- formations, pp. 185-214 12 EXAM I 13 [The Capitalist World-Economy in the Shannon, ch. 4; 20th Century: Overview (no lecture)] Noneconomic aspects of the rise of capitalism: stratification & politics Sanderson, chs. 10 & 12 14 Noneconomic aspects of the rise of capitalism: science, religion, and Sanderson, ch. 16 & family pp. 448-55, 464-70 15 Noneconomic aspects of the rise of capitalism: slavery, racism, and racial stratification Sanderson, ch. 13 16 The Core: The United States, From Semiperipheral State to Hegemonic Power to Reaganism 17 The Core: England, From "Workshop of the World" to Thatcherism 18 The Core: Japan, Eastern Capitalist Giant 19 Theories of Underdevelopment reread Shannon, pp. 2-8, 11-13, 15-18, 130-33; Sanderson, ch. 9 20 The Semiperiphery: South Africa -- Ndabezitha Gold, Class Struggle, and Apartheid and Sanderson, "Racial Antagonism and the Origins of Apartheid in the South African Gold Mining Industry" 21 EXAM II 22 The Semiperiphery: Latin America 23 The Semiperiphery: The East reread Sanderson, Asian NIC's pp. 214-17 24 The Periphery: Africa 25 The Soviet Union & Eastern Europe: reread Shannon, pp. Socialism or Semiperipheral Capitalism? 107-11, 157-60; Sanderson, pp. 173-83 26 The Soviet Union & Eastern Europe reread Sanderson, pp. (cont'd) 231-35, 284-88 27 Capitalism: What is the Balance Sheet? (discussion of Berger) 28 Retrospect and Prospect: The Sanderson, ch. 20 Question of Progress and the Future of the World