Social Conflict and Social Values

Fall, 2003

SOCY 1005 – xxx (UC Boulder)

Tues/Thur 12:30-1:45pm – Duane Physics & Astrophysics G125

Syllabus 01a

Instructor: Willard Uncapher, Ph.D.

Office: Ketchum 12 (Soc Bldg)

Tel: 492-6934; also Soc Dept.

Office Hrs: T/Th 2-3pm and by appt. /

Mailbox: Soc. Dept Office [open M-F, 8-5]

Email: willard@well.com ; E-mail will receive a reply within 48 hours (often within 24 hours).

Website: <http://www.well.com/user/willard/socy1005-x.htm> - This will be revised and added to during course. Also note that the ‘x’ of 1005-x is important to direct you to the right section.

Course Description

This introductory course will explore the social, cultural, and personal contexts, causes, and resolution of conflict, and look to the importance of values in setting goals, creating identities, and also in resolving conflicts. What is the relationship of values to conflict? What are values and why and where might they be important? Is conflict part of the nature of things, or when and where can we resolve it? By what methods? And what do the social and cultural sciences and fields have to say about conflict? These are basic questions, so basic that we will be able to use these topics as stepping off points to discovering just what we mean by or how we might use the study of ‘society,’ ‘culture,’ ‘history,’ and individuals. In our course, we will look at overt and tacit conflict and values in a variety of situations and levels: personal, inter-personal, business, community, social, global, in terms of technology, media, and research. This course will be valuable not only for the study of society, but also so the avocations of ‘social workers,’ teachers, and members of the community. By the end of this class, you will be prepared both for further study of this fields, and to have some tools for resolving conflict and thinking about values.

Prerequisites

Some familiarity with the time periods and issues involved would be useful. Please be on time and do the readings before class. Please be regular and consistent about your attendance. Education is expensive and hard to come by. Consider coming by during office hours. Tell us about problems ahead of time.

Required Texts and Access

* Reading will be made available either through Norlin Reserve Online or through our website above. At the end of the course, the readings will be removed. As ‘pdf’ material becomes available over at Norlin, I will migrate it from my website to Norlin. That’s right- we are not buying a single textbook.

* University Computer Account; Computer access with Adobe Acrobat reader (fairly universal).

Class Requirements

Reading Reponses (10) - Each week, based on careful reading of the material, you will be expected to prepare several questions for discussion. You must include an indication of how your questions might relate to the readings, and to the class as a whole. Reactions are due in class, Tuesday. You need only submit questions a total of 10 times during the semester, allowing for some flexibility. Submissions need only be one half to a full page but should (1) present a coherent insight into the readings, (2) followed by one or several questions that help focus our readings and discussions. Discussion/questions do not have to be typed, but they must be legible and professional in presentation. I am not concerned with the form of what you submit, only that you demonstrate that you are doing the reading with a degree of insight. This requirement replaces the need for a final exam. Grades: (Special), Great, Poor, Unsatisfactory. Unsatisfactory doesn’t count. ‘Great’ should be your expected grade.

Paper Requirements

We will have three short 6 page papers, and one longer paper. Since these papers will substitute for exams, you had better spend a lot of time with them and make sure that are good! We will hand out additional material about them.

Paper 1: What are your personal values and your processes of dealing with conflict? Please explore your personal framework. This will include a sense not only of general ‘character’ values, but also a sense of how you frame your goals? Do you relate your ‘personal’ goals to larger scale community, social, cultural goals. I want you to try to be very clear and analytic. Analytic means being able to look as dispassionately as possible at what might constitute distinct elements and processes, which elements and processes might be missing. You can integrate this work with outside readings and research that will clarify your investigation. Please include (at least) two outside book or articles.

Paper 2: Examines the context, consequences, and solutions of local/regional conflict in Colorado. We will be less interested in the history of the conflict, than in how you analytically frame who is involved, issues, what might be negotiable, what might not be, possible solutions, etc.

Paper 3: Examines the role of a major peace maker (eg., Nobel Peace Prize Winner). We will be less interested in biography than in understanding what role they have/continue to play, the nature of their conflict, their methods, their results, and your assessment.

Paper 4: Research. 5-7 pages. Choose and analyze another example of ‘social conflict.’ Involvement in a community project, direct, and original investigations are possible. More on this later.

Four In-Class Quizzes (out of six).

Very short answer questions. No make-ups.

Grading Break-down

Attendance/Participation – 10%

Quizzes – 15%

Paper 1 – 10%

Paper 2 – 10%

Paper 3 – 10%

Paper 4 – 20%

Responses – 25%

Disability Statement

If you have specific physical, psychiatric, or learning disabilities that require accommodations, please let me know early in the semester so that your learning needs may be appropriately met. You will need to provide documentation of your disability to the Disability Services Office in Willard 322 (phone 303-492-8671).

Academic Honesty

All work done for this course must be the original work of the student submitting it and should be undertaken exclusively for this course. Assisting in academic dishonesty (e.g. letting someone copy your assignments) can retroactively lower your grade. Violations of academic honesty will result in appropriate action under the University's rules.

Course Outline and Readings

1. Week of Aug 26/28 – Introductions-/ Who is in charge?

Aug 26 - Introduction and Course Overview.

Aug 28 – Begin Readings – [Please be patient – we might revise reading list this week] These Huxley and Orwell should be done as soon as you can

*George Orwell, 1984. Ch 1< http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/1984/ >

*Aldous Huxley, Brave New World Ch 1 < http://somaweb.org/w/sub/Brave%20New%20World%20fulltext.html>

2. Week of Sept 2nd/4^th – Technological, Social, and Cultural Determinism

Sept 2^nd – Readings Due:

*Neil Postman. “Amusing Ourselves to Death” Preface

* Arnold Pacey, “The Culture of Technology” Chapter 1

* Thomas S. Kuhn, “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” Selection

Sept 4^th – Discussion-

3. Week of Sept 9^th/11^th – History of Analog and Digital – Intro to Social Sciences.

Sept 9^th – Readings Due:

[This week's readings involve more details than normal. Do your best to read for the larger picture. We are looking at the 'sudden' emergence of a new world view, and a new view on 'society' as well.]

* Eisenstein, Elizabeth. (1983). The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge: Univ. of Cambridge Press. Selections [A read on the origins and importance of scientific tables. Why does the a new science of statistics appear not that long afterwards?]

* Anderson, Benedict. (1991). Imagined Communities (Revised Edition). London/NY: Verso. Selections. [A read on the importance of 'print capitalism' on the creation of shared identity. Where does 'nationalism' come from and why does it begin to appear in a determined way at this time?]

* Hacking, Ian. (1984). The Emergence of Probability. Selection. Cambridge: Univ. of Cambridge Pr. Selections. [Why wasn't there a science of statistics before? How does statistics create identities?].

* Wilden, Anthony. System & Structure: Essays in Communication and Exchange.(1980). “Analog and Digital Communication.” Selection from Ch 4. [A sometimes obtuse but rewarding read on analog/digital. I have only presented the beginning of this famous, but very hard to find paper.]

Sept 11^th – Discussion-

4. Week of Sept 16^th/18^th – Social Conflict & Systems Theory[Paper 1 Due - Word / html]

Sept 16^th – Readings Due:

* Thomas Hobbes. “On the Condition of Mankind.” From Leviathan (1660)

* Spencer, Herbert. (1879-1896) Selection 1 / Selection 2

* Marx, Karl. Communist Manifesto. Selection

Sept 18^th – Discussion-

5. Week of Sept 23rd/25^th – Social Conflict & Systems Theory 2

Sept 23^rd – Readings Due:

* Georg Simmel, “On Conflict” - Selection

* Dahrendorf and Conflict Theorists. Short Overview from Kerbo

Sept 25^th – Discussion-

6. Week of Sept 30 / [Oct 2 Fall Break ] – Stratification. Corporations, and Class

Sept 30^th – Readings Due:

*Korten , David C. (1996). When Corporations Rule the World. SF: B-K Publishers. [2^nd Edition 2001 is out]. Selections

*Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. World Class: Thriving Locally in the Global Economy. Selections

*Kerbo, Harold. (2003). Social Stratification and Inequality. Boston: McGraw. Selections

Oct 2^nd – Fall Break – No Class]

[Note: we changed to due date of paper 2 to Oct 21st. The suggested format can be found here]

7. Week of Oct 7^th / 9^th – Workplace and Work

Oct 7^th – Readings Due:

*Ashkenas, Ron, et alia. (1995). The Boundaryless Organization: Breaking the Chains of Organizational Structure. SF: Jossey-Bass. Selections

*Robins, Kevin and Frank Webster. (1988). “Cybernetic Capitalism: Information, Technology, Everyday Life." In Vincent Mosco & Jane Wasko, The Political Economy of Information. Madison: Wisc. Selections

*Lawrence Lessig. 1999. Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace. NY: Basic. Selections

Oct 9^th – Discussion-

8. Week of Oct 14^th / 16^th – Civil Society

Oct 14^th – Readings Due:

*Schuler, Douglas. (1996) New Community Networks: Wired for Change. NY: Addison-Wesley. Selections

*Barber, Benjamin. (1998). A Place for Us: How to Make Society Civil and Democracy Strong. NY: Hill & Wang.

Oct 16^th– Discussion-

9. Week of Oct 21^st / 23^rd – Negotiation – Initial Considerations [Paper 2 Due on Oct 23rd]

Oct 21^st – Readings Due:

*Fisher, Roger and William Ury. (1991). Getting to Yes. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin. Selections.

*Covey, Stephen R (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. NY: Simon & Schuster. Selections.

Oct 23^rd – Discussion-

10. Week of Oct 28^th / 30^th – Self, Privacy, and Fragmentation

Oct 28^th – Readings Due:

*Gergen, Kenneth (1991). The Saturated Self: Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life. NY: Basic. Selection.

*Meyrowitz, Joshua. (1985). No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behavior. NY: Oxford. Selection.

Oct 30^th – Discussion-

11. Week of Nov 4^th / 6^th – Media

Nov 4^th – Readings Due:

*Herman, Edward S. and Noam Chomsky (1988). Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. NY: Pantheon. Selections

[Optional - *McChesney, Robert W. (1999). Rich media, poor democracy: communication politics in dubious times. Urbana: Univ. of Ill. Press. Selections

[Optional*Lovink, Geert. (2002). “Mass Psychology of the Net: A Proposal.” Etc., in Dark Fiber: Tracking Critical Internet Culture. Cambridge, MA: MIT

[Optional- Late Addition: Chomsky, Noam. "What Makes Mainstream Media Mainstream." in Z.]

Nov 6^th – Discussion-

12. Week of Nov 11^th / 13^th Education

Nov 11^th – Readings Due:

*Dewey, John. (1938). Experience and Education. NY: Collier. Selection. This is our long standig pre-assigned reading.

*If you get a chance consider: *Soley, Lawrence C. (1997). "The Selling of the Academy" New Haven Advocate.

[*Optional. For those willing to hurt their eyes, here is a copy of the earlier version of this Soley article sent to me. Printing this version out does not help. Or for those who want to explore this topic even further, consider a by now classic case study of FreeportMcMoran & LoyolaU (Julia Fox, 1997).]

[*Optional. However, always read such articles mentioned in the Soley camp critically, asking what they leave out. More positive assessments, their contexts, and implications should be considered. Eg. Technology Transfer at Univ. of Colorado <http://www.cu.edu/techtransfer/index.html>, Technology Incubator Programs, Innovation Centers such as Colorado's Office of Innovation & Technology, etc. ]

[Optional *Heaney, Tom. (1995). “Issues in Freirean Pedagogy” - on educator, Paolo Friere; no need to read the glossary unless you have an interest in continuing exploring this educator.]

Nov 13^th – Discussion-

13. Week of Nov 18^th / 20^th Globalization 1 [Paper 3 Due - Nov 18th]

Nov 18^th – Readings Due:

*Castells, Manuel. 1996. The rise of network society. Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers. Selections

[Optional *Kerbo, Harold. Social Stratification and Inequality. Selection on "Global Systems Theory"]

[Optional *Sklar, Holly. (1995). “Competing for Global Corporations.” In Chaos or Community. Boston: South End.]

Nov 20^th – Discussion-

14. Week of Nov 25^th / Globalization 2 [Th=Thanksgiving Break]–

Nov 25^th – Readings Due:

*Appadurai, Arjun. (1996). “Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy.” In Modernity at large: Cultural dimensions of globalization. Minneapolis: U. of Minn.

[Optional. *Uncapher, Willard. (1995). “Placing the Mediascape in the Transnational Cultural Flow: Learning to Theorize an Emerging Global Grassroots Infrastructure”]

[Nov 27^th - Thanksgiving Break – No Class] - See note on Paper 4 below, week 16.

15. Week of Dec 2^nd / 4th– Spirit / Religion / Fundamentalism

Dec 2^nd – Readings Due:

*The 14^th Dalai Lama. Imagine all the People: The Dalai Lama on Money, Politics, and Life as it could be. Boston: Wisdom. Selections

*Gross, Rita. Buddhism after Patriarchy. Albany: SUNY. Selections

*Hadden, Jeffrey K. and Anson Shupe. (1989). "Is There Such A Thing As Global Fundamentalism?" in Secularization and Fundamentalism Reconsidered. Hadden and Shupe, eds. NY: Paragon House. 109-122.

Dec 4^th – Discussion-

16. Week of Dec 9^th /11^th – Wrap up .

Dec 9^th – Readings Due:

[None – wrap up, and finish paper.]

Dec 11^th – Discussion-

[Paper 4 Due on Dec 11^th - We have re-set the page length to 5 up to 7 pages. Again, you should examine a conflict, or speficic approach to dealing with conflicts in more detail. You can look at a theorist, or conflict of interest. Try to integrate some of the elements of this course into the paper. We have talked about Woshansky's conflict quadrants: 1. negotiation, 2. denial, 3. war, and 4. repression, about the need to develop a 'space' for negotiation; about the 'culture of conflict' (eg. Bateson's "schizmo-genesis"), and the 'culture of cooperation'; about the steps of getting to yes; about the importance of 'interpretation' in sorting out conflicts in one's values; about the role of filters in deciding what is 'important;'' about how we might negoatiate to look at larger contexts and to change filters, about conflict and systems theories; and so on. So, what is a conflict, what is the importance of 'society' in defining or working out a conflict, etc. How might values help resolve a conflict? What might be the role for 'civility'? Again, you can choose a conflict, a theorist, or a peacemaker to explore (some) of these issues.]

Have a great break!