General Description (概要)
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(1) Social system and power system; (2) value system of the culture and political institution; (3) culture change and political phenomena.
社会構造と権力構造、文化の価値体系と政治制度および文化変動と政治現象を扱う。
In this course, we will read and discuss different analytical approaches to culture in social and political analysis, and their implications for empirical research.
Our collective engagement with the subject-matter will be guided by the following four “orienting questions”:
1. What is culture?
2. What does culture do?
3. Where can culture be located?
4. Is culture a discrete dimension of social life?
Broadly speaking, there are two distinct types of explanatory strategies in the social sciences: the methodological individualist, on the one hand, and the non-individualist of various kinds, on the other. Among the analytical perspectives on culture, we similarly find two distinct approaches:
1) Those that treat culture as orientations and preferences of individuals, and
2) Those that consider culture as historical, organizational, and structural features of social life.
In this course, we will mostly focus on the second approach. To better organize our collective engagement, one or two works from a single scholar will be selected for the discussion of each class meeting.
The texts of the assigned readings and select recommended materials will be made available at the ICU Moodle site (the password will be announced at the first class meeting on September 8). The participants are expected to attend class meetings well-prepared to discuss the weekly reading materials meeting (to further assist this, several “homework” questions will be posted in the Moodle alongside the required reading files).
There is no final examination in this course. For the course evaluation, the participants will instead be asked to submit (1) a short midterm assignment (a one-page response paper on the contents and class discussions of the first two readings; the expected length is 800 to 1200 words) and (2) a final assignment. For the final assignment, they will be asked to submit either (a) a critical review essay of the works of one (or two) of the scholars from the assigned readings of the course, or (b) a short research paper on a topic relevant to the subject-matter of this course (please consult the instructor on whether your preferred topic is considered relevant or not). The expected length of the final assignment is between 2000 and 4000 words. The final assignment is due via email by 9 am on Friday, November 24.
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Learning Goals(学習目標)
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The goals of this course are three-fold:
1. To enhance the participants’ familiarity with analytical approaches to culture;
2. To deepen their understanding of linkages between politics and culture; and
3. To help the participants find analytical perspectives suitable for subject matters of their interest.
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Contents(内容)
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Week 1 (Sep. 8): Course Introduction (no assigned reading)
Week 2 (Sep. 15): A Non-Utilitarian, Behavioralist/Individualist Approach
Required reading(s): Eckstein (1988), “A Culturalist Theory of Political Change,” American Political Science Review.
Further readings: On meaningful action, Weber (1978b, 4-26, esp. 4, 24-26); on action-theory, Parsons and Shils (1951b, esp. 53-64); on behavioralism, Easton (1985, 137-139); on Almond and his colleagues’ “political culture” research, Almond and Verba (1963; 1980); Almond (1990); more on culture by the same author, Eckstein (1992b; 1996); for a more recent synthesis, Welch (2013).
Week 3 (Sep. 22): A Weberian-Parsonian-Non-Behavioralist Approach
Required reading(s): Geertz (1973b), “Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture,” and (1983c), “Common Sense as a Cultural System.”
Further readings: Geertz (1973a; 1983a; 1983b); Ortner (1999); Sewell (1997; 1999; 2005).
Week 4 (Sep. 29): No class. Please work on your midterm assignment (due at the beginning of the class on October 6).
Week 5 (Oct. 6): A (More Contemporary) Sociological Alternative
Required reading(s): Lichterman (2012), “Reinventing the Concept of Civic Culture,” in The Oxford Handbook of Cultural Sociology, ed. J. C. Alexander et al.
Further readings: MacIntyre (1971, esp. 10-12); Eliasoph and Lichterman (2003); Lichterman (2005); Lichterman and Cefaï (2006).
Week 6 (Oct. 13): Culture in Contention
Required reading(s): Sciortino (2003), “From Homogeneity to Difference? Comparing Multiculturalism as a Description and a Field for Claim-Making,” Comparative Social Research, Vol. 22; and (2012), “Ethnicity, Race, Nationhood, Foreignness and Many Other Things: Prolegomena to a Cultural Sociology of Difference-based Interactions,” in The Oxford Handbook of Cultural Sociology, ed. J.C. Alexander et al.
Further readings: TBA
Week 7 (Oct. 20): An Area-Study Perspective on Religion and Nationalism
Required reading(s): van der Veer (2015), “Nation, Politics, Religion,” Journal of Religious and Political Practice 1(1).
Further readings: van der Veer and Lehmann (1999); van der Veer (1994; 2002).
Week 8 (Oct. 27): A Liberal North American Sociological Perspective on Religion and Nationalism
Required reading(s): Brubaker (2015), Grounds for Difference, Harvard Univ. Press.
Further readings: Brubaker (1992; 2004).
Week 9 (Nov. 3): The Genealogy of Modern Religion
Required reading(s): Asad (2012), “Thinking about Religion, Belief, and Politics,” in The Cambridge Companion to Religious Studies, ed. Robert A. Orsi.
Further readings: Asad (1993; 1999; 2001; 2003; 2006).
Week 10 (Nov. 10): The State and Its Control
Required reading(s): Agrama (2010), “Secularism, Sovereignty, Indeterminance: Is Egypt a Secular or Religious State?” Comparative Studies in Society and History 52(3).
Further readings: Agrama (2012); Mahmood (2005; 2006; 2010; 2016).
Final assignment: To be sent to matsunaga@tufs.ac.jp by the morning (9 am) of Friday, November 24.
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Language of Instruction(教授言語の詳細)
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Lecture: English
Readings/Materials: English
Tests/Quizzes/Assignments: English
Discussions/Presentations/Other learning activities: English
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Communication with the instructor: English
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Grading Policy(成績評価基準)
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The final grade will be based on:
1. Active class participation and the midterm assignments: 60 %
2. The final assignment: 40%
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Expected study hour outside class(授業時間外学習)
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140 minutes per week.
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References(参考文献)
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A detailed bibliography will be available on the ICU Moodle site.
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Learning Support Resources for Students (学生のための学修支援リソース)
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If there are learning support resources that are especially recommended for this course, they will be listed below.
Here (ICU Internal page) is the list of learning support resources available at ICU.
このコースで特に利用を推奨する学修支援リソースがある場合、以下に記載されます。
ICUで利用可能なリソースの一覧は こちらです （学内ウェブサイト）。
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Notes(注意事項)
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Schedule(スケジュール)
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2/F,3/F
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URL
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http://www.tufs.ac.jp/ts/personal/matsunaga/
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