Sociology 2:  Final Exam Review Sheet

The final exam may cover all material (readings, lecture, section, videos) since the start of the quarter.  However, the final exam will focus most on material addressed in Weeks 5-10.  The list of major ideas and concepts, below, is a guide to aid your preparation.

Final Exam Time:  Friday, March 19, 10:30-12:30pm

I.  Globalization and Governance

Governance

      -- Criticisms of global governance (Ellwood; also Held & McGrew p. 72-end)

Sovereignty

Challenges to sovereignty resulting from globalization

      -- “golden straightjacket”, “race to the bottom”, discussed in Brawley, Greico & Ikenberry, etc.

Elwood’s recommendations for “Redesigning the Global Economy” (Chapter 7)

     -- How to reform IMF, tax on speculation, control capital, fair trade

Brawley’s overview of the effect of economic globalization on politics:

     -- Domestic becomes international and vice versa; Domestic politics shrinks (echoing “golden straightjacket” & supercapitalism);  Local coalitions shift; etc.

Greico & Ikenberry’s overview:  Economic globalization and national economic welfare

     -- risk of external shocks; growing income inequality; “golden straightjacket”, “race to the bottom”; effects on national cultural autonomyIGOs – Inter-governmental organizations

INGOs – International Non-governmental Organizations

Global civil society

      -- Ways civil society influences governance (lecture; Wapner)

-- Global social movements

Social movements:  why they succeed; resource mobilization, political opportunities, framing (lecture)

     -- also:  why “grievances” are insufficient to explain social movements (lecture)

     -- Global environmental movement: examples of resource mobilization, political opportunities, framing

II.  Theories

Be able to:  identify main claims; summarize research findings (if any), understand basic criticisms; Also, be able to “think” from each perspective and apply them to examples (ex:  how do different theories view the role of international organizations?).

Modernization theory

World-System Theory (WST)

      -- WST criticisms of modernization theory (lecture, Sernau)

      -- Core, periphery, semi-periphery, dependence, trade & investment concentration

      -- Views on impact of trade & investment; contrast w/standard Ricardian view

      -- Strategies for peripheral countries

     -- WST research findings; Criticisms of WST (Lecture)

World Polity Theory (WPT) (“neo-institutionalism” / “institutionalism”

     -- Culture-based theory of action (as opposed to interest-based)

-- Culture as:  norms, scripts, cognitive models

-- The “world polity”; isomorphism

-- Evidence in support; criticisms.

Realism

     -- Basic premise of the theory; Anarchy

     -- Things it explains well; things it doesn’t; Keohane & Nye’s criticisms of realism

Complex Interdependence / “Institutionalism” (Keohane & Nye, Brawley)

     -- 3 Characteristics of interdependence (lecture; Keohane & Nye)

     -- Role of international organizations; benefits for weak states

     -- Criticisms of complex interdependence (lecture; Waltz)

     -- Soft power

Constructivism:  Sikkink’s article on human rights

     -- Criticisms of realism; importance of “norms”

Perspectives on the economy (Sernau, Brawley)

     -- Adam Smith

     -- Marx

     -- Keynesianism

III.  Culture, Identity, and Conflict

Globalization and culture

     -- Perspectives on culture from modernization, WST, WPT

     -- Hannerz:  Scenarios for peripheral culture (homogenization vs. hybridization)

     -- Responses to cultural globalization:  Opting out; reactionary movements

     -- Kurzman:  Traditional vs. modern Islamic movements

Culture, Identity, and Conflict

     -- Perspectives on identity:  primordial vs. social construction

     -- The “Clash of Civilizations” (Huntington)

     -- Criticisms of Huntington (Bowen, lecture)

           -- Examples of “social construction” of ethnicity/identity (Bowen, lecture)

           -- The importance of politics, “weak states”, & external funding in ethnic conflict

Al Qaeda as a modern social movement

     -- Strategies to fight Al Qaeda (lecture; Telvick reading)

The Bush Revolution (Daalder & Lindsay); The “Bush Doctrine” in foreign policy

The Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

     -- The Iraq war as an example of leaders using hard power; realism

     -- The history of the conflict in Afghanistan (Schaeffer; videos)

     -- The importance of Pakistan for the War in Afghanistan (Schaeffer, videos, Shane)

     -- Also:  Shaeffer’s 3 ironies (at the end of the chapter)

     -- Differences: Bush vs. Obama’s policies on the “war on terror” (Beinart)