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The Many Faces of Globalization since 1492

History XL 170C

This course is designed to give students the depth and breadth necessary to understand the process of globalization that is now influencing all Latin American and Eastern European countries without exception. The concept will be defined at the outset as used by various major scholars and developed through analysis of its historical stages (starting with the 1500s) and components as presented in the course outline.
Globalization of Latin music will be also discussed.
Two guest speakers have agreed to give one lecture each:
Alejandro Pelayo Rangel, Cultural Attaché of Mexico in Los Angeles
“The Los Angeles-Mexico Connection in the Global Market Place”
Professor Steven J. Loza, on Ethnomusicology, “Indigenous Peoples in Mexico, and the Connection to the Global Market.”
Required Readings will contrast            
            (a) the pre-1989 negative view that Globalization is led by U.S. “imperialism” (as seen in selections from Edward H. Berman, The Influence of Carnegie, Ford, and Rockefeller Foundations on American Policy: The Ideology of Philanthropy, 1983), and 
            (b) the post-1989 positive view that Globalization involves the emergence of networking which is based upon a new, international civil society as well as upon global business (as seen in selections from Sandra Braman and Annabelle Shreberny-Mohhamadi, Globalization, Communication and Transnational Civil Society, 1996).
            Two articles representing the post-1989 positive view will help student fathom the breadth of world change:
            Richard Rosecrance, “The Rise of the Virtual State” (1996), and
            Olga M. Lazin, “NAFTA and the European Union Compared” (1995).
Rosecrance and Lazin show how the role of the state has declined in the face of globalizing world trade blocs, which have helped citizens to organize internationally as statist social safety nets have declined. Students are invited to bring in articles that compare the positive and negative views of globalization.    
            Selections representing pessimism will be taken from two recent critiques of Globalization:
                        Samuel Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations  (1996) (optional), and
                        Dani Roderik’s Has Globalization Gone Too Far?  (1997) (required). ISBN 0-88132-241-5 (paper)
These authors (influenced by pre-1989 thinking) speak to the concerns of many important analysts.
Student discussion in class will focus on the above reading and upon each student’s weekly reading in current newspapers and magazines.
Course Requirements and Project: 
Students are required to write a paper and a Final project.  Students will bring to each class and distribute two articles that they see as contributing to the understanding of globalization and/or the raising of questions about the problems created by globalization.
Grading: 
1.  Class Participation (15%)  This includes both verbal contributions and active listening in class discussions.   Students are expected to come to class ready to discuss the readings.
2.  Midterm Exam (25%) This exam will be comprised of both short answer and essay questions.  Blue books are required. 
3.  Final Project (25%)   Students will compile their weekly clippings in a booklet about which they will write a 3-4 page paper analyzing the extent to which the clippings help us to understand and/or question the course outline.
4.  Final Exam (35%)  The final exam will be comprised of both short answer and essay questions.  Bring Blue Book.
Course Outline:
DATE
ACTIVITIES & DISCUSSION
Read in Advance
January 8 Introduction to the Course. History of Globalization: LA as film /the entertainment capital of the world. Read: Handout
  Guest Speaker: Alejandro Pelayo Rangel, Cultural Attaché of Mexico in Los Angeles, on “World Film and Global Markets.”  
January 15 NAFTA and the European Union Compared Reading: Chapter 3 in Dani Roderick, Tensions Between Trade and Domestic Social Arrangements,” pp. 29 to 48, and Article in SALA
January 22 Integration of Eastern European countries into the world economy. Reading: Dani Roderik’s Has Globalization Gone Too Far? (1997), Chapter 1, “Introduction”, p. 1 to 10.
  Cultural issues.  
January 29 Guest Speaker: James W. Wilkie, Professor of History and Co-Chair, Latin American Studies, UCLA, on “Cycles of State Power Vs Globalization: The powerful State 1430-1930, Anti-Statism from 1830 to 1930, Statism from 1929 to 1989, and Anti-Statism Since 1989.” Reading: Dani Roderik’s Has Globalization Gone Too Far? (1997), Chapter 2.
February 5 The Rise of the Virtual State,” 1966. Reading: Handout (SALA)
  The European Union as Blueprint for FTAs.  
February 12 PAPER DUE Guest Speaker: Professor Steven J. Loza, on Ethnomusicology, and “Indigenous Peoples in Mexico and the Connection to the Global Market.”
February 19 MIDTERM  
February 26 Rise of Regionalism in Latin America and Eastern Europe. Reading: Handouts HEC Index
March 5 Preparation for the Final Reading: handouts & Roderik’s Chapter 4.
March 12: The Anti-Globalization Movements: A History Reading: Handouts and Roderik’s Chapter 5, “The Role of International Institutions,” p. 81 to 85.
March 19 FINAL EXAM  
March 26 The Seattle Movement and Conclusion  

 

 

 

Olga Magdalena Lazín
E-mail: olgalazin@gmail.com