Part I

Development of the contemporary middle ground

Note: D&D = Love, ed., Dogmas and Dreams

Week 1

Aug. 23

Introduction to the course and to each other

Week 2

Aug. 30

Classical liberalism vs. the old, authoritarian regime (Arguments for private property, free markets, and limited government)

Heywood, pp.1-4 and 23-53 (read all of Chapter 1 if you have time); D&D, pp. 21-49 (Locke, Smith, Federalist Papers), 89-111 (Friedman); a bit more from Locke online.

Week 3

Sept. 6

From classical to modern liberalism

(Arguments for government regulation of the market economy and for some degree of collective provision of goods and services; equal rights for women)

Heywood, pp.53-63, 230-233, 242-245; D&D, pp.50-88 (Mill, Green, F. D. Roosevelt), 503-510 (Friedan) Online: Franklin D. Roosevelt on an economic bill of rights;; Tawney on equality of opportunity, the relationship between equality and liberty, and the need for some "communal provision and collective control"

Week 4

Sept. 13

Traditional conservatism

(Arguments for tradition and hierarchy)

Heywood, pp.65-86; D&D, pp.147-185 (Oakeshott, Burke); pp. 511-525 (Schlafly)  Online:  Burke on the need for an aristocracy

Week 5

Sept. 20

From traditional to modern conservatism

(Are today's conservatives just old fashioned, classical liberals or do they have a distinctive political ideology?)

Heywood, pp.86-98 and pp.241-242; D&D, pp.186-200 (Hayek)  pp. 224-245 (Kristol, D'Souza).   The statement of 'core values' from Pat Buchanan's organization, "The American Cause"; Russell Kirk on the essence of conservatism; The Tea Party Contract From America; The Christian Coalition Legislative Agenda

First exam handed out.

Some of the graphs we looked at in class can be found in this Slate series on inequality (look for the slide show).  The interactive graph of income changes is from the Economic Policy Institute. 

Part II

Challenges from left, right and elsewhere

Week 6

Sept. 28

Early socialism and the ideas of Karl Marx

Heywood, pp. 99-126; D&D, pp.255-333 (Fourier, Marx, Engels, Lenin); just a tiny bit more Marx online here.  Priorities:
1. the brief Marx excerpt linked above
2. the first two sections of The Communist Manifesto
3. the selection by Lenin
4. everything else

Video we saw in class:  RSA Animate - Crises of Capitalism

Week 7

Oct. 4

Contemporary democratic socialism

Heywood, pp.126-142 and 245-247; D&D, pp.334-352 (Bobbio, Hayden and Flacks) and 526-545 (Hartmann); Online:  Hayek on the impossibility of central planning; 

Albert and Hahnel on 'Participatory Economics';

Roemer on combining socialism with markets (PDF - feel free to skip the excessively technical discussion of 'feasibility models' that runs from page 14 to page 24, but do read the summary, which starts on page 24.)

Links to lots more material on socialism

Week 8

Oct. 11

Anarchism

Heywood, Chapter 6; D&D, Part 4 (pp.359-407 – Goldman, Thoreau, Kropotkin, Bakunin, Starhawk;) Online:  Engels on Authority

DP:  Engels vs. Anarchism  

First Exam Due

Week 9

Oct. 18

Fascism

Heywood, Chapter 7; D&D, Part 5 (pp.419-483 – Mussolini, Hitler, Macdonald, Wolin); Links to more material on fascism  (read what you can)

Week 10

Oct. 25

Feminism

Heywood, Chapter 8; D&D, pp.546-618 (Lorde, Anzaldua, Baumgardner & Richards, Mohanty)

Week 11

Nov. 1

Environmentalism

Heywood, Chapter 9; D&D, Part 7 (pp.625-698 – Carson, Gore, Kelly, Bookchin and Forman, Shiva, Nordhaus & Shellenberger)

In class videos:

"The Story of Stuff"

Ray Anderson's "The business case for sustainability"

Week 12

Nov. 8

Nationalism, anti-imperialism, anti-colonialism

Heywood, Chapter 5; D&D, pp.707-732 (Mazzini, Anderson, Ohmae -- read Mazzini for sure, Anderson and Ohmae if you have time and interest); "Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism" by Martha Nussbaum ; replies by Charles Taylor and Lee Harris; Chalmers Johnson on the US' empire

Week 13-

Nov. 15

Fundamentalism, modernity, globalization

Heywood, Chapter 10; D&D, pp.733-799 (Khomeini, Said, Huntington , Barber, Appiah); Online:  “Thanks For Nothing” by Joseph Stiglitz; "Globalization: Stiglitz Case" by Benjamin Friedman;  “Do As We Say, Not As We Do” by Jack Beatty

Week 14

Nov. 22

Multiculturalism

Heywood, Chapter 11; Online:  Bikhu Parekh, “Equality in a Multicultural Society,” David Kupelian, "Multicultural Madness," and Amartya Sen, “The Uses and Abuses of Multiculturalism”

Week 15

Nov. 29

Wrap up