Contemporary Debates on the State(SP429)
| Course Code | Course Name | Semester | Theory | Practice | Lab | Credit | ECTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP429 | Contemporary Debates on the State | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Prerequisites | |
| Admission Requirements |
| Language of Instruction | Turkish |
| Course Type | Elective |
| Course Level | Bachelor Degree |
| Course Instructor(s) | Cemil YILDIZCAN cemilyildizcan@gmail.com (Email) |
| Assistant | |
| Objective | In this course, we will explore various contemporary approaches providing different insights into the state and how they support or oppose each other. We will review a range of different perspectives from pluralism, neo-Marxism and historical institutionalism to feminist and post-structuralist approaches. This course will try to deepen students’ understanding of the theoretical approaches to studying the state and politics. |
| Content |
This course aims to assist critical understanding of the state by introducing a variety of different theoretical perspectives in this field. The course will directly or indirectly address several issues related to the study of the state through a very rich literature on the subject. We have attempted to present a broad selection of approaches that have major Influences on the contemporary debates on the state, but they are far from being comprehensive. |
| Course Learning Outcomes | At the end of the course, students must be able to better understand the researches on the state. In order to achieve this, this course aims to: 1) consolidate and expand students' theoretical and conceptual learning about the state; 2) to develop an analytical capacity and a spirit of synthesis to think the state with the help of the existing literature in this field, not only as an abstraction but also as a socio-political substance; 3) to familiarize students with the debates on the state through some major issues of the contemporary world and to develop a philosophical reflection on the issues related to debates on the state. |
| Teaching and Learning Methods |
Although the course includes instructor’s presentations for each class, it is not a classical lecture. The main part of the course is based on the exchange and the discussion in class. The format of the course is intended to generate interaction and students will be encouraged to participate in the discussions. Students will be required to read prior to each class, the list of which will be supplied to the students for each session. The course is conducted in Turkish but a proficiency of French and English is required. Students must be able to read and understand scientific articles in English, as most of the literature devoted to this subject is in English. |
| References |
Abrams, P. (1988). Notes on the Difficulty of Studying the State (1977). Journal of historical sociology, 1(1), 58-89. Barkey, K., & Parikh, S. (1991). Comparative perspectives on the state. Annual Review of Sociology, 17(1), 523-549. Bourdieu, P. (1994). Re-thinking the State. Genesis and Structure of the Bureaucratic Field, Sociological Theory, 12(1): 1–18. Cammack, P. (1990). Statism, new institutionalism, and Marxism. Socialist register, 26(26). Evans, P. (1997). The eclipse of the state? Reflections on stateness in an era of globalization. World politics, 50(1), 62-87. Fraser, N. (2012). Feminism, Capitalism, and the Cunning of History: An Introduction. FMSH-WP- 2012-17. 2012. Jessop, B. (2016). The State: Past, Present, Future. Cambridge: Polity Press, pp. 15-90; 238-249. Jessop, B. (2001). Bringing the state back in (yet again): reviews, revisions, rejections, and redirections. International Review of Sociology/Revue internationale de sociologie, 11(2), 149-173. Miliband, R. (1982). The state in capitalist society. London: Quartet Books. Offe, C. (1993). Structural Problems of the Capitalist State: Class rule and the political system. On the selectiveness of political institutions. In Hall J. A. (ed.) The State. Critical Concepts, (pp. 104-129), London-NY: Routledge. Poulantzas, N. (1979). The political crisis and the crisis of the state. Critical sociology: European perspectives, 374-381. Poulantzas, N. (1978). State, power, socialism. London: Verso. Sklair, L. (2000). The transnational capitalist class and the discourse of globalisation. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 14(1), 67-85. Skocpol, T. (1985). "Bringing the State Back in: Strategies of Analysis in Current Research." In Evans, P. B., Rueschemeyer, D., & Skocpol, T. (Eds). Bringing the state back in. (pp.3-37), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wood, E. M. (2003). Globalisation and the State: Where is the Power of Capital?. In Saad Filho, A. (ed.), Anti-capitalism: a marxist introduction, (pp. 127-141), London: Pluto Press. Neocleous, M. (2003). Imagining the state. Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press. Barrow, C. W. (1993). Critical theories of the state: Marxist, neomarxist, postmarxist. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Bourdieu, P. (2012) Sur l’E´tat. Cours au Collège de France 1989–1992 [On the State. Courses at Collège de France 1989–1992]. Paris: Seuil. Corrigan, P., Ramsay, H., & Sayer, D. (1980). The state as a relation of production. In Corrigan, P. (ed.) Capitalism, state formation and Marxist theory, 1-25. Silfen, G. D., & Deric, S. (2011). Political Sociology: Oppression, Resistance and the State, CA: SAGE Publications. Wood, E. M. (1986). The Retreat From Class: A New" True. Socialism. London: Verso. |
Theory Topics
| Week | Weekly Contents |
|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction: Presentation of the course and objectives |
| 2 | How to study the state? Discussion on difficulties and limits |
| 3 | An Overview of the different approaches to the analysis of the state |
| 4 | Debating state/society, state/class, state/market relations |
| 5 | State debate: Miliband-Poulantzas Debate |
| 6 | State debate: The German Debate (Habermas, Offe, Hirsch) |
| 7 | Contemporary contributions to the state debate within Marxist tradition |
| 8 | Strategic-relational approach |
| 9 | Feminist approaches |
| 10 | Green theory |
| 11 | New contexts, new challenges: Capital, Class and the State in globalization era |
| 12 | New contexts, new challenges: Capital, Class and the State in globalization era |
| 13 | New contexts, new challenges: Capital, Class and the State in globalization era |
| 14 | Conclusion: Re-evaluating State debates |
Practice Topics
| Week | Weekly Contents |
|---|
Contribution to Overall Grade
| Number | Contribution | |
|---|---|---|
| Toplam | 0 | 0 |
In-Term Studies
| Number | Contribution | |
|---|---|---|
| Toplam | 0 | 0 |
| No | Program Learning Outcomes | Contribution | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| Activities | Number | Period | Total Workload |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Workload | 0 | ||
| Total Workload / 25 | 0,00 | ||
| Credits ECTS | 0 | ||