Hi all,
The class has arrived at the ninth week of the term having lost a few more points after some political turmoil. The group of people responsible for EBPs managed to discuss all the readings (great coordination job!) but other events prevented the class from consolidating its democratic gains. Most importantly, I set aside the results of the democratic process through a coup, and only scattered resistance was found. Plus, there was an inexplicably large number of violations of the censorship laws. So the class has gone down from 60 points to 50 points.
The censorship list has changed - the word “Asian” (and related terms, as in “Asian values”) is now in it, in accordance with Nik's motion. The list still contains the words “Western” (and related words), “legitimacy” (and related words), “stability” (and related words), and “brainwashing” (and related words). Mention of George Orwell's “1984” will continue to be penalized.
This week we will continue with the simulation game we started on Thursday, and examine ideas both about why regimes change or remain stable, and about how people actually do revolt. The simulation game will help us come to grip with these ideas. Come prepared to overthrow Nik's reign of terror!
It is again the turn of people whose IDs end in 2 and 7 to do the explanatory blog posts/reading reviews. Remember you can do an EBP on any of the required or recommended readings, but the set of people that is doing the EBPs should try to cover all readings. You can also choose a reading that was recommended but was not discussed in previous week.
According to my trusty spreadsheet, the following people must post their explanatory blog posts on Tuesday before the lecture (ids ending in 2):
| First name | Last name |
|---|---|
| Bethany | A R |
| Sebastiaan | B |
| Cassandra | B |
| Elizabeth | B |
| Thomas | C |
| Sirapob | C |
| Adrian | C |
| Nikolaus | C |
| Jason | F |
| Bethen | G |
| Olivia | J |
| Mitchell | K |
| Piera | M |
| Jordan | M |
| Allan | M |
| Jessica | M |
| My | N V |
| Adele | R |
| Annie | R |
And the following people must submit their explanatory blog posts on Thursday before the lecture (ids ending in 7):
| First name | Last name |
|---|---|
| Victoria | B |
| Kushani | G |
| Samantha | L |
| Julia | R |
| Alexandra | S |
| Jessica | T |
| Nicolaas | T |
| Zach | V |
The essential readings for this week mostly focus on the changing ways in which people rebel against oppressive regimes or simply express grievances (against dictatorships as much as against democracies). How do people actually rebel? What tactics do they use? Is violent revolution effective? Have the kinds of revolutions we see in the modern world changed over the years? The key readings are:
Essential reading:
- Tilly, Charles, and Sidney Tarrow. 2006. Contentious Politics: Paradigm Publishers. Chapter 1, pp. 1-23, chapter 3,pp. 45-67. (Partially on Blackboard - entire selection in course notes). This reading discusses the basic ways in which people “contest” the state: the tactics they use, the conditions that allow them to use some tactics rather than others, etc. It's illustrated with a variety of examples from countries we have discussed so far, and countries we will discuss later.
- Ash, Timothy. 2009. “Velvet Revolution: The Prospects.” The New York Review of Books no. 56 (19). (http://www.nybooks.com/articles/23437, also on Blackboard). This short piece discusses how revolutions have changed in the course of the 20th century, and speculates about possible causes of this shift.
- Stephan, Maria, and Erica Chenoweth. 2008. “Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict.” International Security no. 33 (1):7-44. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/isec.2008.33.1.7, also on Blackboard) This reading argues that non-violent rebelions have actually tended to succeed more often than violent ones, even under highly repressive conditions.
- See also Randall Collins on tipping point versus state collapse revolutions here: http://sociological-eye.blogspot.co.nz/2013/06/tipping-point-revolutions-and-state.html. This relatively informal piece by an eminent sociologist argues that there are two basic kinds of revolutions, and that they have very different impacts on states. What kind of “revolution” are we seeing today in the Arab states, according to Collins?
Recommended:
- Either chapter 2 or chapter 3 of the book “The Arab Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to Know.” Narrative, with some analysis of the events in 2011; this book was recommended at the beginning of the term; this provides good background for some of the things we will be discussing. Choose 1 - no need to cover both.
- Most of part three of “Revolution 1989” (Narrative, mostly - with little analysis). Chapters 45, 47, and 48 are especially recommended; 48 is really gripping. Again, this provides the background information for the cases we will be talking about the most. Choose chapters that focus on one country (there are chapters on each of the main Eastern European countries); try not to duplicate what others are doing if you do this one.
- Goldstone, Jack. 2001. “Toward a Fourth Generation of Revolutionary Theory.” Annual Review of Political Science no. 4 (1):139-187. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.4.1.139. This is a long review of what sociologists and political scinetists think they know about revolution; no need to summarize everything in it if you choose this reading, but focus on the interesting points about how people rebel.
For further reading, see also articles under these tags: http://www.citeulike.org/group/13886/tag/revolution and http://www.citeulike.org/group/13886/tag/contentious_politics
Best,
Xavier
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