SOC 337:  ETHNIC CONFLICT
10:10-11:10 MWF AH 110
DEPAUW UNIVERSITY
  SPRING 2007 Professor Thomas Hall
  Office: 106 Asbury, x4519, email: thall
  OFFICE HOURS: MWF 11:30-12:30; MW:2:30-4, & by appt
Last Updated 2-2-07
Syllabus

COURSE GOALS:
Genocide in Darfur, recent bombings in Ireland, "ethnic cleansing" in the former Yugoslavia, various conflicts in former Soviet Central Asian Republics, the current difficulties between Israel and Palestine, recent military actions in East Timor, the atrocities in Rwanda, and even aspects of fighting in Afghanistan or Iraq make it all too clear that racial and ethnic conflicts are global problems. This course will begin to examine some of these conflicts and the explanations for them. This course is part of both the Sociology major and Conflict Studies major. [If you are a Conflict studies major or minor there will be some special aspects to some of your assignment.

In this course I want you to "do sociology" as opposed to only reading about it. Those of you who know me will not be surprised by the long-term, global approach I take toward the subject matter. I look at everything through macrosociological lenses. The point of this approach -- besides the obvious point that it is what fascinates me, and what I have fun doing -- is to locate the present day, and potential futures in a sociologically grounded study of historical processes.

Hidden Benefit[s]:  While not the purpose, or goal of this course, it does carry some extra benefits.  Chief among them it will help you learn about how sociological knowledge is generated. This means, among other things, this course should help you -- if you are a sociology or anthropology major especially -- in your theory, methods, and senior seminar courses, or conversely if you have had any of these, they will help you in this one! All of these courses focus on one or more aspects of how sociological knowledge is generated. You will actually do that in this course in your case study.  

SPECIFIC GOALS: This course will address the differences, origins, "life-cycle," and factors promoting and/or attenuating ethnic conflict. Each student will be required to identify, study, and summarize one instance of ethnic conflict. From our first readings we will see that ethnic conflicts have been around since the development of what McNeill calls "civilization," or what I call agrarian states, some 5,000 years ago. Furthermore, conflicts can be sorted into two broad categories:

1) those between different states;

2) those between states and nonstate societies, what McNeill calls "barbarians,"  McNeill also notes, along with many others, that new kinds of states began to appear, first in western Europe, then elsewhere about 500 years ago -- the so-called modern world -- the one in which we all live. In the late 20th and early 21st century this interstate system has been changing rapidly through processes often lumped under the term globalization. These large divisions yield six general settings for ethnic conflicts:

• I.  BEFORE 1500 CE, state-state or state and minority group
• II. BEFORE 1500 CE, state-indigenous group
• III. AFTER 1500 CE, BEFORE 1960s, state-state or state and minority group
• IV. AFTER 1500 CE, BEFORE 1960s, state-indigenous group
• V.  AFTER 1960s, state-state or state and minority group
• VI. AFTER 1960s, state-indigenous group

Obviously, the categories overlap, especially III & V, and IV & VI. Some cases, like some discussed in the Hill volume, overlap 3 categories (II, IV, & VI), and some overlap all six!

Still, this is good, rough guide for sorting out different conflicts. This, then, allows us to ask, are the different types of conflict different in systematic and important ways with respect to either ethnicity or conflict, or are the differences of degree.

Examples:

• [1] French vs English Speakers in Canada; Catholics vs Protestants in Ireland (These start in III continue into V).
• [2] United States vs American Indians (IV & VI).
• [3] Burma/Myanmar vs Hill Tribes (I, III, continuing into V).
• [4] Christians vs Moslems (I [e.g., the Crusades], III, and obviously continuing into V).
• [5] Burmese vs Siamese (I, III, less in V, but some tension).
• [6] Romans vs Germanic Tribes; Aztecs vs "Chichimecas"; Chinese vs Steppe nomads (these are all type II).

It is most interesting if the class samples from all 6 types of ethnic conflict. Thus, there will be some restrictions on choice to insure diversity of cases. Why require such diversity in case studies? So that we will study a variety of cases while we work toward building a theory, that is, an explanation of why ethnic conflict occurs, and how the types and intensities of conflict change in different settings. This may seem abstract, or overwhelming, or confusing, or even all three right now. Relax! These concepts will become clear as we go through the readings.

Some of the topics to be discussed:

• 1. What is ethnic conflict? What are the various manifestations of ethnic conflict?
• 2. How does this relate to war? How, if at all, is ethnic conflict different from war? Are those differences the same in modern & pre-modern eras? Are imperialist expansions and colonizing wars, primarily wars, or a special form of ethnic conflict?
• 3. Are certain zones or regions especially prone to ethnic conflict?  Are certain zones or region especially immune to ethnic conflict?
• 4. Is genocide a limiting form of ethnic conflict? How does "cultural genocide" relate to ethnic conflict?
• 5. What kinds of inter-ethnic contact promote conflict? What kinds of inter-ethnic contact do not promote conflict?
• 6. Does violent contact lead to the formation of new ethnic identities? Under what circumstance?
• 7. Are the processes of globalization changing any of the above processes?
• 8. If globalization is having effects, what are they, and on which processes?
• 9. Is the "ethnicity" (or even "race") in ethnic conflict the real root cause, or is it a convenient mask or rationale for what is really economic and/or political conflict... as Franke Wilmer argues is the case in the former Yugoslavia?

COURSE STRUCTURE: The course will be organized in four parts:

PART I: READINGS:
In this section we will go through the texts in the order listed below. For the first two or three classes I will start most of the discussions, but starting with the second class I will ask each of you to turn in a brief reading report on some of the readings for that class [See Reading Reports]. At other times I will present mini-lectures on relevant topics and lead discussions. 

The point of this part is to gain perspective, develop concepts, theories, and methods for studying ethnic conflict. While we are doing the readings you should decide:

• (1) which type of ethnic conflict you would like to study [by Feb. 5 -- or sooner -- See Picking your Case Study]
• (2) By February 12 we will combine into groups for projects.
• (3) by February 26 at the latest each group must submit an Case Prospectus and an Annotated Bibliography. 
• (4) we will have library orientation in early March

THE BOOKS:

• Darder, Antonia and Rodolfo D. Torres. 2004. After Race: Racism after Multiculturalism. New York: New York University Press.
• Gurr, Ted Robert, ed. 2000. Peoples versus States: Minorities at Risk in the New Century. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press.
• Harff, Barbara and Ted Robert Gurr. 2004. Ethnic Conflict in World Politics, 2nd ed. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
• Hill, Jonathan D.  1996.  History, Power, and Identity:  Ethnogenesis in the Americas, 1492-1992. Iowa City:  University of Iowa Press.
• Wilmer, Franke.  2002.  The Social Construction of Man, the State and War:  Identity, Conflict, and Violence in Former Yugoslavia.  New York:  Routledge.

All books are available at Fine Print Bookstore on the square [See Course Textbooks].  All the texts are, or will be, on reserve at Roy O. West. I will put other items on reserve or on blackboard from time to time [See Course Reserves].

PART II: DOING RESEARCH:
In practice, this will overlap with Part I. Here the focus will be on how to study ethnic conflict. Harff & Gurr have several valuable suggestions, along with several case studies. We will schedule a session sometime in early March on how to use the tools in Roy O. West to study ethnic conflict. We will also spend part of some classes talking about how the research is going. You should always read with an eye to what that reading tells you, or what questions it raises about your own case study, and the converse: what your case study says about the reading. This will eventually become your term paper.

I will say more in class about this. For Parts I & II we will organize in groups [otherwise presentations would take until next May 2008! -- and a small group can do a better job on such complex topic as ethnic conflict than one individual]. I will have separate pages on the Case Study later.  Each group will have three options:
1 large group paper
or
A general introduction, with separately written & graded papers
or
Individual papers entirely separately written and graded, but addressing the same conflict.

PART III: PRESENTATIONS:
Starting in April students will give a presentations on their findings. Once we have determined the number of cases and the groups we will schedule the presentations in Weeks 11, 12, & 13. I will give you further instructions on how to do this later: for now, see How to present case studies to the class. Also, listeners to each presentation will be required to turn in a brief commentary on each presentation. I will have separate instructions on that later.

Obviously, those who go early, will not be as far along as those who go later. BUT, by going early you will have more time to incorporate comments and suggestions the final version of your paper. You should think of the presentation as a progress report on your term paper, not a finished project. The final version will make use of the discussion from your presentation, and the discussions in Part IV.

PART IV: SYNTHESIZING FINDINGS:
This will take place in two phases. The first phase will begin with student presentations on the case studies. The second  phase will continue during the last two weeks of the semester. We will use class sessions to brainstorm on all the cases, trying to develop our own theory of ethnic conflict. During this time you will use the feedback from your presentation to prepare a final version of your case study, including a section on what we learn about ethnic conflict from your study. We will also take some class time during the last week to evaluate the course and make suggestions for improving its structure and readings.

OPTIONAL DRAFTS: You will have the option of turning in a draft of your paper shortly after presentation [the deadlines will follow the order of presentations]. I will read those drafts and give you instructions on how to improve the paper. In order to have time to read them and get comments back to you so you can make your final revisions these must be turned in on time. For drafts that are sufficiently complete, I will give a provisional grade. If you are satisfied with that grade on the draft, you need not revise.

Final drafts will be due at the final.

Because of the complexity of ethnic conflicts and the size of this class these will be group projects. We will organize groups AFTER you have individually picked a general type of conflict. Organizing into groups will take some negotiation and compromises. The issues will be getting groups of with closely shared interests and getting a range of cases across the six types of ethnic conflict. 

Groups can be as small as 2 people, as large as 4 people. Once these are organized, we can develop the final schedule.

I will post guidelines for group work later.

CLASS ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION:
I reserve the right to lower grades for poor attendance and/or late papers. I view this as a participation course. Discussions are only as good as you make them.  Obviously, you can not contribute if you are not there. The same goes for presentations on research.  Because these are on various projects there is no way to make up missing these.

There are only a few types of excused absence from class:  to attend a university sponsored event [and even there, I as instructor have the right to decide that my class, test, or whatever is more important than the event], legitimate religious obligations, and emergencies. For the first two, university sponsored events, or religious obligations, when I am notified in advance IN WRITING OR BY EMAIL -- from you [which does NOT include letters from coaches -- those need to be supplemented by a note from you].

The following are NOT legitimate reasons for missing class, nor are they emergencies:

• job interviews
• graduate school interviews
• your roommate's dog had heart attack and you had to comfort your roommate
• weddings
• travel tickets bought in advance
• little 5

Real emergencies will be handled on a case-by-case basis. I suggest in the case of a real emergency you contact the registrar's office, because they can contact all your professors and your advisor, and save you the trouble of explaining your emergency 4 or 5 times. You can then follow up with me when the emergency has passed.

If you miss for other reasons, you do NOT need to call, write, or email me about it. You are still absent. If absences exceed the equivalent of a week of class, I reserve the right to lower grades. A missed exam will receive zero points, and may not be made up.

These are the penalties; make your choices accordingly.

Communicatons with prof Hall: I urge all of you to use email for minor communications. That is the most efficient way to communicate, AND it provides us both with a record. Do not phone to tell me you are going to be absent. Similarly, do not "mention" it to me just before or after class. Write it down! (or send email). For extended discussions, such as working on case studies, or understanding complex issue in class, come to office hours, or make an appointment. Sometimes I will suggest such a meeting if an email question is too complex.

EXPECTATIONS:
See DePauw University's official statement of academic expectations for students and
Professor Hall's Expectations for Students and himself.

Send comments or questions to thall@depauw.edu
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