YORK UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
GS POLS 6525 3.0
Diasporas: Transnational Communities and Limits of Citizenship
Fall 2004

Course Description:  

This course provides a comparative inquiry about the nature of transnational communal, religious, and political identities at the age of late capitalism. It puts emphasis on critical approaches to diasporas, their variant constructions of homeland and home, and their marked effects on the politics of the post-Westphalian state and international relations. Topics of analysis include trends of international migration vis-à-vis the reformulation of the modern capitalist polity, involvement of diasporas across borders leading to the emergence of new forms of political action, the effects of settled migrant populations in terms of changing the rhetoric of nationalism, belonging, and justice at home as well as in their host countries, dynamics of transnationalism and its various embodiments such as transnational religious and political movements organised and led by diasporas, and, reformulations of the citizenship contract in Western states as a result of the troubled interaction between the society at large and diasporas who, more often than not, constitute ethno-religious and linguistic minorities. Course readings give the students a chance to examine the endemic nature of racism, discrimination and xenophobia in capitalist societies and the modern state, as well as providing openings about how structural and remedial change can be possible. The course will also be conducive in terms of putting emphasis on the unique contribution of Canadian society and Canadian political science in addressing and dealing with the complex nature of the modern polity and the nation-state at the age of late capitalism.

*Pre-requisites/Co-Requisites: familiarity with minority rights, migration and refugee issues, political philosophy and critical debates on globalisation; Degree Credit Exclusions (DCE): NA

Course Requirements, evaluation and due dates:

 All registered students are expected to attend to the weekly-held 3 hour classes regularly.

Evaluation: The course evaluation is based on three components:

--regular participation and seminar-style in-class presentation by the student (20 percent); the

students are expected to hand in a two page critical outline in class which is not a summary of the reading but questions and concerns about the reading as well as a succinct account of its main arguments.

--submission of a case-study essay on a chosen diaspora community or diasporic movement by the 8 th week of the class (30 percent); alternatively, the students can submit two critical review essays which are based on their readings of two or more of the assigned course material for each essay. The length of this first assignment will be 3,000 words, or 1,500 words per review as a minimum. The essay should have at least 5 outside references in addition to the assigned readings.

--submission of a theoretical essay on the problems and issues addressed by the course at the end of the term (50 per cent). The length of this final assignment is 4,000 words and it is meant to make a direct contribution to the MA MRP or Ph.D dissertation depending on the student’s academic status. Please come and see me in advance to make sure that the topic chosen fits both your larger agenda and also my course requirements. Students will be provided a list of suggestive questions in advance.

 Where to hand in assignments

Note: the Department drop box is only to be used for late papers .

Essays will be handed in class at an assigned date and time, or else during the office hours .

Late penalty

1 point grade per day of the total assignment grade will be taken out for the first 3 days. Afterwords, the assignment will only be graded at a 50 percent rate until 2 weeks past its due time. Past that date, the assignment will not be graded.

Note: It is not possible to accept papers and grade them in the last two weeks of classes.

Important: Students who encounter extenuating circumstances during the term which may interfere with the successful completion of exams or other course assignments should discuss the matter with their tutorial leader or course instructor as soon as possible. Students with physical, psychiatric or learning disabilities may request reasonable accommodations in teaching style or evaluation methods, as outlined in Appendix A the Senate Policy on Students with Special Needs. They should advise the programme director at the earliest opportunity, so that appropriate arrangements may be with the assistance of the Office for Persons with Disabilities, the Counseling Development Centre or the Learning Disabilities Program.

Departmental E-mail list: All Political Science majors should subscribe to the Departmental E-mail list that posts important announcements, job opportunities, special events, career information and scholarships and awards. To subscribe, follow the instructions on the Department website at www.arts.yorku.ca/politics, click on Undergraduate Studies, and follow the instructions on the pop-up menu.

WEEKLY REQUIRED READINGS

Week of Sept. 8 – First Day of classes

Week of Sept. 16 –Class cancelled due to Rosh Hashanah

Week of Sept. 23 –Critical Citizenship Studies and Transnational Politics: An Introduction

IMPORTANT DATE: Sept. 19 is the last day to enroll without instructor’s permission.

Castles, Stephen (2000) Citizenship and Migration: Globalization and the

Politics of Belonging . Routledge. ISBN 0415927145. (ordered through the book store)

Week of Sept. 30 – Theories of the Diaspora (I)

Braziel, Jana Evans and Anita Mannur, eds. (2003) Theorizing Diaspora. Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 063123392X. (ordered through the book store)

Armbruster, Heidi et al. (2003). “Imagining Europe : Everyday narratives in European Border Communities.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 29 (5): 885-899. (in the course kit)

 
Week of Oct. 7 – Theories of the Diaspora (II)

IMPORTANT DATE: Oct. 3 is the last day to enroll with instructor’s permission

Sassen, Saskia (2000) Guests and Aliens. New Press. ISBN 1565846087. (ordered through the book store)

 
Week of Oct. 14 Diasporas and Transnational Politics (I)

!!!!Essay questions/topics are distributed. Students are to hand in their essays by October 28 th, 5.30 pm !!!! In case you are doing a Review, the first Review is due in two weeks and the second Review is due in four weeks.

Vertovec, Steven and Robin Cohen (1999) Migration, Diasporas and Transnationalism. Edward Elgar. ISBN 1858988691. (ordered through the book store)

Week of Oct. 21 Case Studies

Ostergaard-Nielsen, Eva (2003). “The democratic deficit of diaspora politics: Turkish Cypriots in Britain and Cyprus Issue.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 29 (4): 683-700. (in the course kit)

Shain, Yossi and Aharon Barth (2003).” Diasporas and International Relations Theory.” International Organisation 57 (3): 449-479. (in the course kit)

Week of Oct. 28 Diasporas and Transnational Politics (II)
---Essays and First Reviews are due back today----

Boyarin, Jonathan and Daniel Boyarin (2002) Powers of Diaspora. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0816635978. (ordered through the book store)

Week of Nov. 4 Case Studies

IMPORTANT DATE: at least 10% of graded course work must be returned to students by Oct. 31, 2003 .

 Nagel, C. R. (2002) “Geopolitics by Another Name: Immigration and Politics of Assimilation.” Political Geography 21 (1): 971-987. (in the course kit)

 Bashi, Vilna (2004). “Globalised anti-blackness: Transnationalising Western immigration law, policy, and practice.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 27 (4): 584-606. (in the course kit)

Week of Nov. 11 Citizenship, Democracy and Diaspora Studies

IMPORTANT DATE: Nov. 7 is the last day to drop a course without receiving a final grade

Smith, Michael Peter (2003) “Transnationalism, the State and the Extraterritorial Citizen.” Politics and Society 31 (4): 467-502. (in the course kit)

Bauböck, Rainer (2001) “International Migration and liberal democracies: The Challenge of Integration.” Patterns of Prejudice 35 (4): 33-49. (in the course kit)

Week of Nov. 18 Religion and Transnational Politics in the Diaspora: the Case of Islam

--Second review Essays are due back---

Yazbeck, Yvonne Haddad (2002) Muslims in the West. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195148061. (ordered through the book store)

Mandaville, Peter (2003) Transnational Muslim Politics. Routledge. ISBN 041531769X. (ordered through the book store)

Week of Nov. 25 Case Studies

Callahan, William (2003) “Beyond cosmopolitanism and nationalism: Diasporic Chinese and Neo-nationalism in China and Thailand.” International Organisation 57 (2): 481-517 (in the course kit)

Stolow, Jeremy (2004) “Transnationalism and the New Religio-Politics: Reflections on a Jewish Orthodox Case.” Theory, Culture and Society 21 (2): 109-137 (in the course kit)

Week of Decem. 2 Ethics and Politics in the Diaspora

Breckenridge, C. A., ed. (2002) Cosmopolitanism. Duke University Press. ISBN 0822328992. (ordered through the book store)

Week of ??? Case Studies (possible extra class)

IMPORTANT DATE: Dec. 2 - Last day of classes (this day replaces missed Monday classes)

IMPORTANT DATE: Dec. 4 last day to submit term work

 Premdas, Ralph (2004) “Diaspora and its discontents: A Caribbean Fragment in Toronto in quest of cultural recognition and political enpowerment.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 27 (4): 544-564 (in the course kit)

 Waters, Johanna (2003) “Flexible citizens? Transnationalism and citizenship amongst economic immigrants in Vancouver .” Canadian Geographer 47 (3): 219-234 (in the course kit)

 In-class Review before the Exam

EXAM PERIOD: Dec. 4 to Dec. 19

Note: Students should not make vacation plans that conflict with the exam period.

 Deferrals: If students have extenuating circumstances for not completing final exams or essays, they must speak with their course director about a deferral or receiving an incomplete grade well in advance of the due date for the course grades.

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