Courses

For most of its existence, the field of political economy has been driven by a singular question: why are some regions of the globe poor and others rich? It is quite likely that this question has spawned the largest collection of “answers” that can be found throughout the social sciences. And yet in response to these “answers” a second question is often asked by a small group of humble but empirically rigorous area study scholars: What about China? This course will introduce students to the complexity found within the study of political economy in Modern China. We will begin with the so-called Great Divergence, continue through the revolutionary and reform eras of the PRC and end with the global China we know today. Our goal will be not only to unpack trends of socio-economic inequality within these periods, but also to uncover the social institutions, such as ownership, class, migration and innovation that have reinforced China’s political economic structure. The course will help students determine which aspects of political economy in China have remained consistent and which have changed over recent decades. In the end, students will be able to critically reflect on the “What about China” question, but more importantly they will also be in a better position to ask a more pertinent political economic question: “Why global capitalism?”

E=MC². Certainly the most simplified and overused mathematical formula in history. Yet, it is quite curious that despite being so foundational to the cosmology of the present scientific endeavor, energy has been given a bit of short shrift in the social sciences. Whereas biology and genetics has stimulated ideas like social memes or incited critical reflection with the concept of biopower, the influence of physics and chemistry on society and social theory is assumed to be negligible in comparison. The course goal is to show students how social science research can be used to promote equitable and just public policy for the management of energy resources as well as stimulate social imagination and change across a diverse range of cultures. The 1^st half of the course will introduce students to previous social theories related to energy and then outline the current theoretical understanding of energy justice. We will also engage with the basic features of the law of thermodynamics to establish an interdisciplinary framework for analyzing how energy is used by and changes society. The 2^nd half of the course will then examine the different ways humans interact with the non-human world to utilize energy; this will include practices of hunting, gathering, fishing, agriculture, forestry, herding, fossil fuel extraction and renewable energy capture. While many of these works already engage with energy, often in a critical fashion, we will use the framework developed in the 1^st half of the course to come up with innovative explanations for the various kinds of energy justice issues found in these diverse locations. The final two weeks of the course will then ask students to use what they have learned to imagine more equitable and just configurations of energy and society. With looming environmental crises intimately tied to our societal connection to energy, this course will help us confront the hard choices which may lie ahead for humanity, but also make us realize that our ingenuity and ever changing relationships with energy provide hope for the future.