MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY

Chasin Main Page

 

SOCI 220-01                          10:00-11:15                 W – ML 161, F – ML 163

Dr. Barbara H Chasin               Office: DI 309               Phone: 973 665-7224

Office hours: TR 1:30-2:00 and by appointment

e-mail: chasinb@mail.montclair.edu

 

Sociology of Rich and Poor Nations

 This course deals with the characteristics of the richer and poorer nations of the world and the interaction between these nations. We will analyze the causes and consequences of these relationships for both kinds of societies. The goal is to better understand what is happening in the world today.

 

Classroom Policies:

  • Students are expected to attend class regularly. Material will be covered in class that is not in the readings.
  • Students are expected to arrive on time and to remain in class for the entire class period.  Frequent lateness will be counted as absences.
  • If you leave before the end of a class session do not return you will be counted as absent. Arriving late and/or walking in and out once class starts is distracting to fellow students and the instructor.
  • Please do not bring food or drinks too the classroom and be sure phones and/or beepers are turned off.
  • Students should exchange phone numbers or e-mail addresses with at least one other student in case you do miss a class. Do not call the instructor to find out what you have missed.
  • Grades will not be given via-email or telephone.

 

Evaluation:

·        Three exams, each worth 30 points for a total of 90 points.

·        Up to 10 points will be given for attendance, and class participation.

·        Up to 5 extra points will be given for the optional handing in of study questions.

·         Make-up exams are given only for documented reasons. It is the student's responsibility to notify the instructor as soon as possible if an exam has been missed.  There is no make-up work for low grades.

 

Exam Dates: 

Exam 1 – Oct. 5                Exam 2 – Nov.  11          Exam 3 – Dec. 21, 10:15 am        Chasin Main Page

 

 

Final grades will be based on the following cumulative points:

A

A-

B+

B

B-

C+

 

90 and above

88-89

85-87

80-84

78-79

75-77

 

 

C

C-

D+

D

D-

F

 

70-74

68-69

65-67

60-64

51-59

50 and  below

 

 

Required Texts:

Jerry Kloby, Inequality, Power, And Development: The Task of Political Sociology 2nd edition (Amherst, NY: Humanity Books, 2004).

 

Dan Smith, The State of the World Atlas, 7th edition (New York: Penguin Books, 2003)

 

Additional materials will be placed on electronic reserve (ereserve) and handed out in class. To find ereserve readings go to the library’s homepage, click on ereserve, choose Chasin from instructor list or use the course title. The password is chasinb. There may also be video assignments.

 

Topics and Reading Assignments
 
I.  Overview and Comparing Nations

Kloby, 200 -201 (middle); 9-14 (to Understanding Power); 206 (How is Development Measured?) – 209 (to Alternative theories…)

Smith, 121-137, Beliefs (46-47 ),  National Income (84-85), Quality of Life (42-43), Life Expect­ancy (108-109), HIV/AIDS (112-113); Literacy (50-51)

Kloby, 212 (Are Third World Nations Developing?) -213 (to Legacy of Colonialism)

Smith, Rich and Poor (48-49), 107

Smith, 7-9; Political Systems (12-13)

Global Village; Andrew Reding, Baskin-Robbins Voting (handouts)

Eitzen and Leedham, “U.S. Social Problems in Comparative Perspec­tive” (ereserve)

Smith, Human Rights (56-57); Free Speech (58-59); Religious freedom (64-65)

Kloby, 164-183 (to Alternative Development Indexes), 184-186, 196

 

II. The Development of International Inequality: Colonialism and Imperialism

Kloby, 38 (Imperialism) - 42 (to The Expanded Role of Government…); 210 (from Dependency Theory) -212

Kevin Danaher, Getting at Hunger's Roots (ereserve)

Kloby, 213 (from The Legacy of Colonialism)-221 (to the Authoritarian State), 241 (Conclusion)

Smith, Ethnicity (44-45), 41

Kloby, 42 (from The Expanded Role of Government) – 44

 

III. Shaping the Modern World: The Role of Multinational Corporation

 Kloby 14 (Understanding Power) -16 (to Types of Power); 32 (Wealth and Power in the U.S.)-37;

93-95 (to A Case Study); 103-111 (to Conclusion); Kloby 124 (Bottom paragraph)-132; 342 (World Trade Organization)-346; 317-324 (to Hastening Russia’s Demise)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Smith, Transnational Corporations (20-21), Smoking (116-117), Drugs Trade (90-91)

William M. Adler, Job on the Line, (ereserve); Kloby, 85 (The Decline of Unions)-88; 111-115

 

 

IV. International Lending Organizations; Debt and Aid

Kloby, 230 (Neoliberalism)-240 (to Population, Displacement and Urbanization); Smith, 83

Kloby, 194 (from first full paragraph) -197; Smith, Debt and Aid (88-89); Kloby, 358 (Going Global)-366 (to Globalization from Below)

 
V. Intervention, Militarism, Terrorism

Kloby, Chapter 8; Smith, 68-69, 11, Superpower (22-23), Military Spending (74-75),

Kloby, 327-329 (to Economic Conditions in Yugoslavia); 291-316; Smith War (70-71)

Smith, Terrorism (72-73)

Parenti, Rulers of the Planet; Why Did It Happen, Why Do They Hate Us? (ereserve)

Scott L. Plous and Philip G. Zimbardo, How Social Science Can Reduce Terrorism (ereserve)

 

VI. Hunger, Population, and Gender

Smith, Population (26-27), Malnutrition (110-111)

Kloby, 222 (from Hunger and Poverty) - 227 (to Environmental Issues)

Smith, Rights of the Child (60-61)

Kloby 183 (material on GEM), 187-192 (to Energy Consumption and Pollution); Smith, Women’s Rights (66-67); Sexual Freedom (62-63)

Kloby, 83 (From Women’s Progress) – 85 (to Decline of Unions)

 

VII. Movements of People

Kloby 240 (Population Displacement and Urbanization) - 241 (to Conclusion)

Smith, Urbanization (28-29), Refugees, (80-81)

 

VIII. Ecological Issues

Smith, 25; Biodiversity (36-37)

Kloby, 227(Environmental Issues)-230 (to Neoliberalism)

Beatriz Manz, Indians, Land and Poverty in Guatemala (ereserve)

Kloby 95 (from A Case Study) - 99; 192 (from Energy Consumption and Pollution)-194

Smith, Climate Change (34-35), Traffic (30-31), Energy Use (32-33)

 
IX. Strategies for Social Change

Kloby, 347-352; Smith, International Organizations (18-19), 55, Peacekeeping (78-79)

Kloby, 366 (Globalization from Below) -369;

Franke and Chasin, The Kerala Experiment; Power to the (Malayalee) People (ereserve)

 

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