PSCI 420(F) (Section 01) Senior Seminar in International Relations: Sovereignty
International relations theory takes multiple sovereignty to be the defining feature of world politics. In this capstone seminar, we will throw into question the two main assumptions underlying this contention, that international boundaries decisively affect the way that global issues are conceived and solved, and that international boundaries are a permanent, or natural, fact of life. We will begin by analyzing the consequences that boundaries have for achieving human values in a variety of areas, and will then examine what creates and maintains those boundaries in the first place. Readings will include works on the origins and functions of the state and on challenges to its legal and practical omnipotence posed by such developments as intercontinental and spaced-based weapons delivery systems, Western cultural hegemony, the idea of universalism as encapsulated in human rights law and in ecology, global finance, and so on. Our focus is not only on what the state does, but also, simultaneously, on what it is. Format: seminar. Requirements: Students are required to submit a biweekly summary and critique of the readings, and have the choice in addition of either completing two seven-page papers on assigned, common topics or submitting a fifteen-page research paper on a unique topic. Each student will also co-lead the seminar twice during the term. Prerequisites: senior standing; political science major; two classes in international relations. Permission of the instructor is required for this course. Enrollment limit: 16 (expected: 16). Permission of the instructor is required for this course. Hour: 9:55-11:10 TR SHANKS