Problems in Democratic Theory (468-0-20)

Instructors

Jacqueline Stevens
847/467-2093
2001 Sheridan Road, 3162
Office Hours: By appointment only

Meeting Info

2001 Sheridan POLI SCI 3228: Wed 9:00AM - 11:50AM

Overview of class

This course will re-visit debates in selected texts of political theory for purposes of elucidating insights relevant to theorizing competing meanings and objectives of democracy. We will focus on texts that speak in particular to democratic theorists' aspirations for equality and the rule of law in the context of particularist solidarities, especially those of family, nation, and race. Readings and class meetings will highlight for discussion tensions between attachments to a seemingly given, ontological community and intuitions about justice and the healthy politeia. Selected texts by Plato, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, G.W.F. Hegel, W.E.B. Du Bois, Hannah Arendt, and Jurgen Habermas will be read in conversation with works by Seyla Benhabib, Wendy Brown, Glen Coulthard, Bonnie Honig, Engin Isin and others. Themes highlighted will include competing conceptions of the family, violence, inequality, and political membership, with special attention to theories of sovereignty, intergenerational attachments, and the politics of recognition, including reparations.

Registration Requirements

Mandatory first-class attendance

Learning Objectives

The objective is for students to identify tensions among democratic theories as the speak to solidarities of citizenship and the rule of law, and to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of competing political values and priorities.

Teaching Method

Seminar

Evaluation Method

Students will be evaluated based on in-class assessments crediting completion of the weekly readings, a presentation, and a final paper.

Class Materials (Required)

Plato, The Republic, tr. Raymond Larson, ISBN: 978-0-882-95118-8

Seyla Benhabib, The Claims of Culture: Equality and Diversity in the Global Era (2002) ISBN-10 ‏ 0691048630; ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0691048635

Glen Coulthard, Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition (2014) ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780816679652 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0816679652

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Reserved for Graduate Students.