Spring 2017 Writing intensive
Pols 379 Power in America
Monday and Wednesday 1130am -1245pm
Instructor: Gitte du Plessis | [email protected]
The ability to analyze power effectively and to ask critical questions about authority and legitimacy are central to a robust understanding of politics. How power is exerted and influences the individual is often subtle, and becomes engrained in bodily practices and circumstances we take for granted. Other times, the exercise of power is so overt that its outward simplicity hides the structures from which it emanates. In this class, we will unravel some of the processes, complexities and troubles of how political power in the United States affects different American people in their day-to-day lives. Focusing on themes such as the Trump presidency, racism, and environmental justice, we will tag alongside the rich and privileged as well as the most disenfranchised, as we connect the dots between structures and individuals. In a time characterized by uncertainty and narratives of apocalypse, we take a stance firmly between optimist naiveté and total nihilism, and follow Donna Haraway in what she calls staying with the trouble.
Class Assignments
Readings
Because this is a writing intensive course, our discussions of texts for this class will focus not only on the content of the text, but also its form. For each reading, you will be asked to pinpoint your “favorite sentence” and why this sentence speaks to you. Part of the aim of our reading is to be inspired in terms of how to craft powerful political text aimed at magazines and books, and part of our learning is to see how different genres of political writing gets messages across in different ways.
Books
Please acquire the following books for this class, digitally or otherwise:
Ta-Nehisi Coates: Between the world and me. 2015. ($15 on Amazon)
Michelle Alexander: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. 2012. ($14 on Amazon)
Matthew Desmond: Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. 2015. ($17 on Amazon)
Katherine J. Cramer, The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker. University of Chicago Press, 2016. ($27 on Amazon)
The rest of the texts will be made available on this website.
Writing Assignments (W)
We will have two writing assignments through the semester. The first is to write a letter to President Trump, and the second and final assignment is a political essay. These genres of political writing represent the art of writing political text that is persuasive, interesting, engaging, and entertaining, while still being rigorously based on research and facts. This kind of political writing is what you see in magazines and books rather than in political science journals.
1. Letter to someone with power in America – 2000 words (W)
The first writing assignment is a letter to someone with significant power in the US. Here, you present your fact-based views and suggestions on several topics you find to be of crucial importance. The task is to write sincerely and with indignation, but also to present your opinions in a way that encourages the recipient of your letter to pay attention to what you have to say. You will have the opportunity to revise and resubmit your letter based on written feedback from the instructor.
2. Political Essay – 2000 words (W)
The final exam for the class is a political essay about a topic of your choice within American Politics, in which your task is to present one point or argument in an engaging, stimulating, concise and interesting way. The goal of the essay is to grab your reader’s attention and keep him or her focused until the end, while also educating the reader on your topic. After turning in your essay, you will receive written feedback from the instructor, as well as oral feedback from fellow students during a peer-review writing workshop in class, before finally submitting it.
Peer-reviewed writing workshop (W)
At the end of the semester, we will have a peer-review writing workshop where groups of students read and provide feedback to one another’s essays.
Discussion Launch
Each week, a group of students will present the text(s) for the day and ask the rest of the class questions about it.
Grading
Attendance and participation in class discussions: 40%
Letter to the President: 25% (W)
Political Essay: 25% (W)
Discussion Launch: 10%
90-100% A | 80-89% B | 70-79% C | 60-69% D | >60 % F
Course Schedule
Introduction Week 1
What is Power?
Mon Jan 9 Introduction to the class
Wed Jan 11 Michel Foucault, "The subject and power," Critical inquiry 8, no. 4 (1982): 777-795.
Separation of powers: The U.S. wasn’t designed to be a democracy Week 2
Mon Jan 16 Martin Luther King Jr. Day, no class
Wed Jan 18 James Madison, Federalist No. 10: The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection, November 29, 1787.
Thomas Dumm, “The Election of Trump and the Constitution’s Original Sin,” The Contemporary Condition, December 5, 2016.
Threats to Democracy Week 3
The influence of money in U.S. politics
Mon Jan 23 Chapter 10 "What so damn much money does" p 125-171 in Lawrence Lessig, Republic lost: How money corrupts politics – and a plan to stop it. Twelve Press. 2011. Watch Lessig's TED talk in class.
Gerrymeandering and more on the Electoral college
Wed Jan 25 Steven Johnston. "Trumps (and the GOP's) illegitimate legitimacy" The contemporary conditon, January 9, 2017.
Stephen Wolf, "These three maps show just how effectively gerrymandering can swing election outcomes" Daily Kos, October 27, 2016.
Neoliberalism and Inequality Week 4
Mon Jan 30 Watch Jacob Kornbluth, Inequality for All. Documentary, 2013, 1h 50m.
Wed Feb 1 Finish Inequality for All
George Monbiot: “Neoliberalism – the ideology at the root of all our problems.” The Guardian, April 15, 2016.
Making sense of Trump
Trump: Populism or Fascism? Week 5
Mon Feb 6 Amanda Taub, “Trump’s Victory and the Rise of White Populism” The New York Times, November 9, 2016.
“The Economist explains: What is populism?” The Economist, December 19, 2016.
Wed Feb 8 Adam Culver, “Fascism at the Door,” The Contemporary Condition, November 23, 2016. NOTICE: Self study today. See under texts tab.
The Politics of Resentment Week 6
Mon Feb 13 Excerpts from Katherine J. Cramer, The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker. University of Chicago Press, 2016.
Wed Feb 15 More Excerpts from The Politics of Resentment.
The violence of law and order
Slavery today Week 7 and first half of week 8
Mon Feb 20 Presidents Day, no class
Feb 22 + 27 Self study, as instructor is at conference. Watch Ava DuVernay,13th Documentary, 2016, 1h 40m, Available on Netflix. Send reaction to the movie to gitte[at]hawaii.edu
Mass Incarceration 2nd half of week 8
Wed March 1 Michelle Alexander: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. 2012. Chapters 1 -4.
The power of criminalizing Week 9
Mon March 6 Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark, "Criminal Empire: The Making of the Savage in a Lawless Land." Theory & Event 19, no. 4 (2016). Available via #StandingRockSyllabus
Wed March 8 Loïc Wacquant, Chapter 2 “The Criminalization of Poverty in the Post-Civil Rights Era in Punishing the poor: The neoliberal government of social insecurity. Duke University Press, 2009.
Letter to someone with power in America due (W)
Racism Week 10
Mon March 13 Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me. 2015. Chapter 1
Alex Gourevitch: “Gun control’s racist reality: The liberal argument against giving police more power,” Salon June 23, 2015.
Wed March 15 Between the World and Me, Chapter 2 and 3.
Homelessness and profit week 11
Mon March 20 Matthew Desmond, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. Prologue + chapters 1-3
Wed March 22 Evicted, chapters 17-24
March 27 – 31 Spring Break Week 12
Power and the Environment
Environmental Justice week 13
Mon April 3 Chapter 13, "The Right to Regenerate" from Naomi Klein: This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. Climate Change. Simon and
Schuster, 2014, pp. 419-448.
Wed April 5 Love, Thomas. 2008. “Anthropology and the Fossil Fuel Era.” Anthropology Today 24(2): 3-4. Available via #StandingRockSyllabus
Dara O’Rourke and Sarah Connelly. 2003. “Just Oil? The Distribution of Environmental and Social Impacts of Oil Production and Consumption.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources 28: 587-617. Available via #StandingRockSyllabus
Power in the Anthropocene Week 14
Mon April 10 Jedediah Purdy: “The New Nature.” Boston Review, January 11, 2016.
Wed April 12 Jairus Grove: “Response to Jedediah Purdy.” Boston Review.
Current Events
Media, Fake News, Ideology, and neutrality Week 15
Mon April 17 Angie Drobnic Holan "2016 Lie of the Year: Fake news" Politifact, December 13th, 2016.
Wed April 19 Richard A. Grusin "Donald Trump's Evil Mediation." Theory & Event 20, no. 1 (2017): 86-99.
Trump's immigration policies and Trump's foreign policies/Russian connections Week 16
Mon April 24 Josh Saul "Donald Trump's Border War: On the Frontlines in the battle over undocumented immigrants" Newsweek, March 14, 2017.
Wed April 26 David Bier "Why the Wall Won't Work: The legal, practical, economic, and moral case against Trump's border barrier." Reason, Amy 2017.
Writing Week 17
Mon May 1 April 30 marks Trumps 100th day in office. We will review what he has accomplished, and what his presidency has meant and done thus far. Texts TBA. First drafts of Political Essays due (W). You will have feedback by Monday May 8th.
Wed May 3 Last day of instruction. Wrap-up of Trump stuff, Q&A and evaluation.
Friday May 12 Final version of letters and political essays due, extra credit due (W)
Pols 379 Power in America
Monday and Wednesday 1130am -1245pm
Instructor: Gitte du Plessis | [email protected]
The ability to analyze power effectively and to ask critical questions about authority and legitimacy are central to a robust understanding of politics. How power is exerted and influences the individual is often subtle, and becomes engrained in bodily practices and circumstances we take for granted. Other times, the exercise of power is so overt that its outward simplicity hides the structures from which it emanates. In this class, we will unravel some of the processes, complexities and troubles of how political power in the United States affects different American people in their day-to-day lives. Focusing on themes such as the Trump presidency, racism, and environmental justice, we will tag alongside the rich and privileged as well as the most disenfranchised, as we connect the dots between structures and individuals. In a time characterized by uncertainty and narratives of apocalypse, we take a stance firmly between optimist naiveté and total nihilism, and follow Donna Haraway in what she calls staying with the trouble.
Class Assignments
Readings
Because this is a writing intensive course, our discussions of texts for this class will focus not only on the content of the text, but also its form. For each reading, you will be asked to pinpoint your “favorite sentence” and why this sentence speaks to you. Part of the aim of our reading is to be inspired in terms of how to craft powerful political text aimed at magazines and books, and part of our learning is to see how different genres of political writing gets messages across in different ways.
Books
Please acquire the following books for this class, digitally or otherwise:
Ta-Nehisi Coates: Between the world and me. 2015. ($15 on Amazon)
Michelle Alexander: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. 2012. ($14 on Amazon)
Matthew Desmond: Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. 2015. ($17 on Amazon)
Katherine J. Cramer, The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker. University of Chicago Press, 2016. ($27 on Amazon)
The rest of the texts will be made available on this website.
Writing Assignments (W)
We will have two writing assignments through the semester. The first is to write a letter to President Trump, and the second and final assignment is a political essay. These genres of political writing represent the art of writing political text that is persuasive, interesting, engaging, and entertaining, while still being rigorously based on research and facts. This kind of political writing is what you see in magazines and books rather than in political science journals.
1. Letter to someone with power in America – 2000 words (W)
The first writing assignment is a letter to someone with significant power in the US. Here, you present your fact-based views and suggestions on several topics you find to be of crucial importance. The task is to write sincerely and with indignation, but also to present your opinions in a way that encourages the recipient of your letter to pay attention to what you have to say. You will have the opportunity to revise and resubmit your letter based on written feedback from the instructor.
2. Political Essay – 2000 words (W)
The final exam for the class is a political essay about a topic of your choice within American Politics, in which your task is to present one point or argument in an engaging, stimulating, concise and interesting way. The goal of the essay is to grab your reader’s attention and keep him or her focused until the end, while also educating the reader on your topic. After turning in your essay, you will receive written feedback from the instructor, as well as oral feedback from fellow students during a peer-review writing workshop in class, before finally submitting it.
Peer-reviewed writing workshop (W)
At the end of the semester, we will have a peer-review writing workshop where groups of students read and provide feedback to one another’s essays.
Discussion Launch
Each week, a group of students will present the text(s) for the day and ask the rest of the class questions about it.
Grading
Attendance and participation in class discussions: 40%
Letter to the President: 25% (W)
Political Essay: 25% (W)
Discussion Launch: 10%
90-100% A | 80-89% B | 70-79% C | 60-69% D | >60 % F
Course Schedule
Introduction Week 1
What is Power?
Mon Jan 9 Introduction to the class
Wed Jan 11 Michel Foucault, "The subject and power," Critical inquiry 8, no. 4 (1982): 777-795.
Separation of powers: The U.S. wasn’t designed to be a democracy Week 2
Mon Jan 16 Martin Luther King Jr. Day, no class
Wed Jan 18 James Madison, Federalist No. 10: The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection, November 29, 1787.
Thomas Dumm, “The Election of Trump and the Constitution’s Original Sin,” The Contemporary Condition, December 5, 2016.
Threats to Democracy Week 3
The influence of money in U.S. politics
Mon Jan 23 Chapter 10 "What so damn much money does" p 125-171 in Lawrence Lessig, Republic lost: How money corrupts politics – and a plan to stop it. Twelve Press. 2011. Watch Lessig's TED talk in class.
Gerrymeandering and more on the Electoral college
Wed Jan 25 Steven Johnston. "Trumps (and the GOP's) illegitimate legitimacy" The contemporary conditon, January 9, 2017.
Stephen Wolf, "These three maps show just how effectively gerrymandering can swing election outcomes" Daily Kos, October 27, 2016.
Neoliberalism and Inequality Week 4
Mon Jan 30 Watch Jacob Kornbluth, Inequality for All. Documentary, 2013, 1h 50m.
Wed Feb 1 Finish Inequality for All
George Monbiot: “Neoliberalism – the ideology at the root of all our problems.” The Guardian, April 15, 2016.
Making sense of Trump
Trump: Populism or Fascism? Week 5
Mon Feb 6 Amanda Taub, “Trump’s Victory and the Rise of White Populism” The New York Times, November 9, 2016.
“The Economist explains: What is populism?” The Economist, December 19, 2016.
Wed Feb 8 Adam Culver, “Fascism at the Door,” The Contemporary Condition, November 23, 2016. NOTICE: Self study today. See under texts tab.
The Politics of Resentment Week 6
Mon Feb 13 Excerpts from Katherine J. Cramer, The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker. University of Chicago Press, 2016.
Wed Feb 15 More Excerpts from The Politics of Resentment.
The violence of law and order
Slavery today Week 7 and first half of week 8
Mon Feb 20 Presidents Day, no class
Feb 22 + 27 Self study, as instructor is at conference. Watch Ava DuVernay,13th Documentary, 2016, 1h 40m, Available on Netflix. Send reaction to the movie to gitte[at]hawaii.edu
Mass Incarceration 2nd half of week 8
Wed March 1 Michelle Alexander: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. 2012. Chapters 1 -4.
The power of criminalizing Week 9
Mon March 6 Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark, "Criminal Empire: The Making of the Savage in a Lawless Land." Theory & Event 19, no. 4 (2016). Available via #StandingRockSyllabus
Wed March 8 Loïc Wacquant, Chapter 2 “The Criminalization of Poverty in the Post-Civil Rights Era in Punishing the poor: The neoliberal government of social insecurity. Duke University Press, 2009.
Letter to someone with power in America due (W)
Racism Week 10
Mon March 13 Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me. 2015. Chapter 1
Alex Gourevitch: “Gun control’s racist reality: The liberal argument against giving police more power,” Salon June 23, 2015.
Wed March 15 Between the World and Me, Chapter 2 and 3.
Homelessness and profit week 11
Mon March 20 Matthew Desmond, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. Prologue + chapters 1-3
Wed March 22 Evicted, chapters 17-24
March 27 – 31 Spring Break Week 12
Power and the Environment
Environmental Justice week 13
Mon April 3 Chapter 13, "The Right to Regenerate" from Naomi Klein: This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. Climate Change. Simon and
Schuster, 2014, pp. 419-448.
Wed April 5 Love, Thomas. 2008. “Anthropology and the Fossil Fuel Era.” Anthropology Today 24(2): 3-4. Available via #StandingRockSyllabus
Dara O’Rourke and Sarah Connelly. 2003. “Just Oil? The Distribution of Environmental and Social Impacts of Oil Production and Consumption.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources 28: 587-617. Available via #StandingRockSyllabus
Power in the Anthropocene Week 14
Mon April 10 Jedediah Purdy: “The New Nature.” Boston Review, January 11, 2016.
Wed April 12 Jairus Grove: “Response to Jedediah Purdy.” Boston Review.
Current Events
Media, Fake News, Ideology, and neutrality Week 15
Mon April 17 Angie Drobnic Holan "2016 Lie of the Year: Fake news" Politifact, December 13th, 2016.
Wed April 19 Richard A. Grusin "Donald Trump's Evil Mediation." Theory & Event 20, no. 1 (2017): 86-99.
Trump's immigration policies and Trump's foreign policies/Russian connections Week 16
Mon April 24 Josh Saul "Donald Trump's Border War: On the Frontlines in the battle over undocumented immigrants" Newsweek, March 14, 2017.
Wed April 26 David Bier "Why the Wall Won't Work: The legal, practical, economic, and moral case against Trump's border barrier." Reason, Amy 2017.
Writing Week 17
Mon May 1 April 30 marks Trumps 100th day in office. We will review what he has accomplished, and what his presidency has meant and done thus far. Texts TBA. First drafts of Political Essays due (W). You will have feedback by Monday May 8th.
Wed May 3 Last day of instruction. Wrap-up of Trump stuff, Q&A and evaluation.
Friday May 12 Final version of letters and political essays due, extra credit due (W)