Fuji Lozada's Webpage 
- Home :
- Davidson :
- Anthropology :
- Teaching :
- Research :
- Search :
- Email Fuji :
Butler University
AN312 01: Political Anthropology
Fall Term, 1999: Monday, Wednesday 2:30 – 3:45 pm, JH 387
Instructor: Eriberto P. Lozada Jr.
Office: Anthropology Program, JH 349A
Office Hours: M, W, R, F 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Telephone: 940-9270
email: elozada@butler.edu
homepage: http://trevor.butler.edu/~elozada
This course is seminar on political anthropology. As a subfield of anthropology, studies classified as political anthropology have looked at issues of comparative political systems, local level politics, the connections between local and wider political systems, and the cultural and symbolic aspects of power and legitimacy.
In this seminar, we will focus on issues of authority, organization, and power. How do social groups define and set boundaries on themselves? How is authority developed and passed on? How do political leaders and organizations maintain power over other people? These will be the main questions we will examine.
Course Readings
Appadurai, Arjun. 1996. Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. University of Minnesota Press.
Gellner, Ernest 1983. Nations and Nationalism. Cornell University Press. ISBN: 0801492637
Handler, Richard 1988. Nationalism and the Politics of Culture in Quebec. University of Wisconsin Press.
Herzfeld, Michael 1992. The Social Production of Indifference: Exploring the Symbolic Roots of Western Bureaucracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Lansing, Stephen 1991. Priest and Programmers. Princeton University Press.
In addition to the above books, various articles will be required. One set of these articles will be available for students at the library, and another will be available at the History Department office. One additional book will be on reserve that is recommended, but not required: Vincent, Joan 1990. Anthropology and Politics. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Course Requirements
This course is not an introduction to anthropology, and students are expected to have a solid understanding of anthropological theory and methodology.
Each student will write six (6) response papers, one page and double-spaced. Response papers are worth 15% of the final grade. They are individually ungraded and require only timely submission for full credit. There will be a 15 -20 page term-paper worth 50% of the final grade due in class on 8 December 1999. Topics will be selected by each student, but must be discussed with the instructor prior to 13 October 1999. An ethnography outside those assigned in the course, original field research material, or other ethnographic material must form the core of this research paper. Students will also make an in-class presentation of their term-paper research. Student presentations are worth 15% of the final grade. Participation in classroom discussions will be worth 20% of the final grade. Active participation requires that each student come to class prepared, having read the assigned material before class.
"Plagiarism is the fraudulent misrepresentation of any part of another person's work as one's own. Submitting any writing, including take-home exams, that does not properly acknowledge the quoting or paraphrasing of another person's words, or that fails to give proper credit for another person's ideas, opinion, or theory is plagiarism. Any unacknowledged use of sources to which one is indebted including but not limited to are music, video, audio, theatre projects, compositions, and computer software constitutes plagiarism." -- Butler University Student Handbook 1999-2000, pg. 92.
It is the policy and practice of Butler University to make reasonable accommodations for students with properly documented disabilities. Written notification from Student Disability Services is required. If you are eligible to receive an accommodation and would like to request it for this course, please discuss it with me and allow two weeks notice. Otherwise, it is not guaranteed that the accommodation can be received on a timely basis. If you have questions about Student Disability Services, you may wish to contact Michele Atterson, JH 136, ext. 9308.
Schedule of Class Meetings
|
|
Introduction |
|
30 Aug |
Introduction to Political Anthropology |
|
1 Sep |
Approaches in Political Anthropology Readings: Vincent selection (articles on reserve) |
|
6 Sep |
Weber Reading: Weber selections on charisma and bureaucracy (articles on reserve) |
|
8 Sep |
Discussion: Authority, Charisma, and Social Organization |
|
|
Politics without a State: kinship and politics |
|
13 Sep |
Band Societies Reading: Silberbauer selection (articles on reserve) |
|
15 Sep |
Descent Groups Reading: Evans-Pritchard selection (articles on reserve) |
|
20 Sep |
Chiefs Reading: Barth selection (articles on reserve) |
|
22 Sep |
Discussion: Gellner's Nations and Nationalism Assignment: response paper due |
|
|
Social stratification and power |
|
27 Sep |
Marx: Politics and Economics Reading: Marx selection from Capital (articles) |
|
29 Sep |
Marxism and Anthropology Reading: Bloch selection (articles) |
|
4 Oct |
Discussion: Using Marxist Theory to understand social relations |
|
6 Oct |
Foucault Reading: Foucault selection (articles) |
|
11 Oct |
Discussion: Foucault's Panopticon Reading: Foucault selection (articles) Assignment: response paper due |
|
13 Oct |
Discussion: Lansing's Priests and Programmers |
|
|
Ethnicity and pluralism |
|
18 Oct |
Ethnicity theory Reading: Keyes selection (articles on reserve) |
|
20 Oct |
Discussion: Ethnicity in America |
|
25 Oct |
Objectification of Culture |
|
27 Oct |
Discussion: Handler's Nationalism and the Politics of Culture Assignment: response paper due |
|
|
State, Society, and Globalism |
|
1 Nov |
Social Groups: Reading: M.G. Smith selection (articles on reserve) |
|
3 Nov |
Weber's Iron Cage |
|
8 Nov |
Discussion: Herzfeld's Social Production of Indifference |
|
10 Nov |
Global connections Reading: Wolf selection (articles on reserve) |
|
15 Nov |
Globalism and Transnationalism Reading: Wallerstein selection (articles on reserve) |
|
17 Nov |
No class: annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association |
|
|
Thanksgiving Recess |
|
29 Nov |
Discussion: Appadurai's Modernity at Large Assignment: response paper due |
|
1 Dec |
Student Presentations |
|
6 Dec |
Student Presentations |
|
8 Dec |
Student Presentations |
Davidson College
Box 6969
Davidson, NC 28035 USA
office: Chambers B12
tel. 704-894-2035
fax. 704-894-2842
erlozada@davidson.edu
Right column text