DISS140_2015-1

Globalization and Beyond: Culture, Society, Political Economy
Prof. Cuz Potter
Division of International Studies
Korea University
Spring 2015

1 Introduction

Global production chains span the globe. McDonald’s and Starbucks are everywhere. Hallyu has fans all over the globe. Terrorism and disease have no boundaries. Globalization appears to be a fait accompli and is therefore often taken for granted. However, the process itself is contested and ongoing. In this course, we will turn a critical eye to the history and future of globalization, bearing mind that it is a process that involves concrete actors and consequences.

2 Objectives

By the end of this course, students will be knowledgeable on:

1. The relationship between contemporary globalization and the long dur�e of world economies.
2. A broad range of theoretical perspectives on globalization, including both those that are widely accepted and those that are contentious.
3. The wide variety of areas upon which the globalization process acts.
4. How different actors, including governments, international institutions, social movements, and private sector non-profits, make and are made by globalization.

3 Course Requirements

• You are expected to have completed all the readings assigned prior to our class meetings.
• While attendance will be documented, it will not affect your grade. However, you will be responsible for all material in the readings and the lectures. And there will be material unique to the lectures that will appear on the exams.
• There will be midterm and final examinations.

4 Grading

5 Required texts

There is one required text for this course. We will read it in its entirety.

• George Ritzer. Globalization: The Essentials. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, 2011.

All other readings will be available online through cuzproduces.com.

6 Schedule of Topics and Reading

Please note that this schedule may be subject to minor alterations.

Week 1 (March 2 and 4): Introduction and basic concepts

1. Ritzer, pp. 2–17.

Week 2 (March 9 and 11): Origins and history of globalization

1. Ritzer, pp. 2–17.
2. Goran Therborn. Gglobalization: Dimensions, historical waves, regional effects, normative governance. International Sociology, 15(2):151–179, June 2000.

Suggested reading:

1. Fernand Braudel. The perspective of the world. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1992, pp. 21–57.

Week 3 (March 16 and 18): Imperialism and neoliberalism

1. Ritzer, pp. 29–45.
2. David Harvey. Freedom’s just another word…. In George Ritzer and Zeynep Atalay, editors, Readings in Globalization: Key Concepts, pages 101–110. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, 2010.

Week 4 (March 23 and 25): Neo-Marxism and Empire

1. Ritzer, pp. 45–49.
2. Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. Empire. In George Ritzer and Zeynep Atalay, editors, Readings in Globalization: Key Concepts, pages 217–226. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, 2010.

Week 5 (March 30 and April 1): Structuring the Global Economy

1. Ritzer, ch. 3.

Suggested reading:

1. Sarah Babb. Behind the Development Banks: Washington Politics, World Poverty, and the Wealth of Nations. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2009, ch. 1.

Week 6 (April 6 and 8): Global economic flows

1. Ritzer, ch. 4.

Suggested reading:

1. Peter Dicken. Global Shift: Mapping the Changing Contours of the World Economy. SAGE Publications, Singapore, sixth edition, 2011, pp. 109–127.

Week 7 (April 13 and 15): Global political structures and processes

1. Ritzer, ch. 5.

Suggested reading:

1. Neil Brenner. Global cities, glocal states: Global city formation and state territorial restructuring in contemporary Europe. Review of International Political Economy, 5(1):1–37, 1998.

Week 8: (April 20): Midterm exam

Week 9 (April 27 and 29): Global flows and structures

1. Ritzer, ch. 6.

Week 10 (May 4 and 7): Global culture and cultural flows

1. Ritzer, ch. 7.

Suggested reading:

1. Ingyu Oh and Gil-Sung Park. The globalization of K-Pop: Korea’s place in the global music industry. Hebrew University of Jerusalem, May 2013.

Week 11 (May 11 and 13): Global flows of migrants

1. Ritzer, ch. 8.

Suggested reading:

1. Luis Eduardo Guarnizo. The fluid, multi-scalar, and contradictory construction of citizenship. In Michael Peter Smith and Michael McQuarrie, editors, Remaking Urban Citizenship: Organizations, Institutions, and the Right to the City, pages 11–38. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, 2012.

Week 12 (May 18 and 20): Global environmental flows

1. Ritzer, ch. 9.

Suggested reading:

1. Ulrich Beck. Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. Sage Publications Ltd., Thousand Oaks, 1992, pp. 19–26.

Week 13 (May 27): Negative global flows and processes

1. Ritzer, ch. 10.

Week 14 (June 1 and 3): Inequality

1. Ritzer, ch. 11.

Week 15 (June 8 and 10): Dealing with, resisting, and the future of, globalization

1. Ritzer, ch. 12.

Week 16 (June 15): Final exam