Introduction

The purpose of this course is to develop conceptual critical tools with which to frame, assess, and philosophically understand the emerging global system in which we find ourselves and that increasingly forms the unavoidable context of any nation-state.

This course is divided into two main parts. The first half of the course will provide grounding in the categories of modern political philosophy, up to and including twentieth-century critical theory, which is mostly aimed at criticizing and overcoming modern political philosophy. The second half of the course will concern more explicitly the part that multinational corporations vis-à-vis nation-states play with respect to the contemporary issues of freedom and legitimacy raised in the first half of the course. You will investigate contemporary analyses and strategies of resistance, and will continue to explore the kinds of political and philosophical categories that are useful in thinking about the current global political context.

Course Objectives

After completing this course, you should be able to

1. explain and evaluate critically the major conceptual categories within some of the traditionally important political philosophies.
2. recognize the major conceptual categories at work in both philosophical and non-philosophical discourses about globalization, and assess critically these discourses.
3. evaluate critically the relevance of these major conceptual categories to the contemporary global context.
4. question what is necessary to constitute the legitimacy of the state and its laws, and make some progress toward answering those questions.
5. raise intelligent questions about the relation between commerce and civil society, and about the legitimate limits of corporate activity, and make some progress toward answering those questions.
6. understand and articulate some of the ways in which the modern liberal concept of freedom has given a certain appearance of legitimacy to corporate activity in the global market.
7. critically evaluate modernity and its assumptions, and raise questions about the adequacy of the modern liberal paradigm of freedom and the liberal democratic state in a global context.
8. clearly articulate, explain, and critically evaluate the major conceptual categories at work in some of the more recent political philosophies.
9. articulate, in terms of these categories, some of the problems posed to democratic participation by globalization.
10. articulate and critically evaluate, in terms of a coherent political philosophy, various responses to problems posed to democratic participation by globalization.
11. raise important questions about what kind of categories, concepts, and paradigms are most useful in the context of global capitalism. These questions should be well-grounded in the tradition of political philosophy and should look ahead to the future in terms of what needs to be thought and done.

Online Activities

You will be expected to participate with your classmates online during each week of the course. If, for some reason, you are not able to participate according to the guidelines offered at the onset of this course, please contact your course professor.

Each Monday the course professor will post comments, discussion questions, responses to queries, or updates to course activities. Online discussion will continue during the week as you and your fellow students answer and discuss the Weekly Conference Questions and post questions and short papers about the readings and discuss them. You will also moderate a discussion about one of your short papers and the reading it concerns. Details for this assignment are located in the "Assignment File" near the end of the Course Guide. Please review the "Course Schedule" section of the Course Guide. It provides an outline of the weekly assignments for online activities and required reading.

Student Evaluation

Please be prepared to devote the time necessary to completing the various activities in this course: reading actively and critically; writing succinct, critical answers to discussion questions and student postings; researching and writing academic papers that are both critical and integrative. To help you develop these skills, your course professor will provide feedback on each activity. You will be expected to demonstrate a willingness to work.

You will be assessed on your participation in the online discussions; on two short papers on assigned readings and the moderation of an online discussion around one of these papers; and a term paper or Web site presentation proposal and essay. Additional details about the online activities and about completing the written assignments can be found in the "Assignment File" section of the Course Guide. As well, your course professor will post comments or updates online on the Monday of every week.

To receive credit for this course, students must participate in the online activities, successfully complete the assignments, and achieve a final mark of at least 60%. The Master of Arts-Integrated Studies grading system is available online at the MAIS home page. Please note that it is students' responsibility to maintain their program status. Any student who receives a grade of "F" in one course, or agrade of "C" in more than one course, may be required to withdraw from the program.

The following table summarizes the activities on which you will be evaluated and their credit weights.

Course Activity	Weighting
Online Participation	20 %
Short Paper 1	15 %
Short Paper 2	15 %
Moderation of Online Discussion and Revisions to Paper Discussed	10%
Proposal and Term Paper/Web Site Presentation	40%
Total	100%

 

Course Materials

The course materials for Global Studies 652: Political Philosophy and Democratic Participation in the Context of Global Capitalism include the items listed below. If you find that any of these items are missing from your course materials package, please contact Course Materials Production of Athabasca University at (780) 675-6366, or 1-800-788-9041, ext. 6366 (toll-free from anywhere within Canada and the United States). You may also write to Course Materials Production, Tim Byrne Centre, 4001 Hwy 2 South, Athabasca AB T9S 1A4; or direct your e-mail to cmat@athabascau.ca.

Textbooks

• Baudrillard, Jean. The Ecstasy of Communication. Translated by Bernard Schutze and Caroline Schutze. Edited by Sylvère Lotringer. New York: Semiotext(e), 1988.
• Deleuze, Gilles, and Félix Guattari. A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Translated by Brian Massumi. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1987.
• Ellwood, Wayne. The No-Nonsense Guide to Globalization. Toronto: New Internationalist/Between the Lines, 2001.
• Hardt, Michael, and Antonio Negri. Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001.
• Klein, Naomi. No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. Toronto: Alfred A. Knopf, Canada, 1999.

Athabasca University materials

Course Guide: The Course Guide contains the course introduction, objectives, reading assignments, participation activities, assignments and evaluation criteria, and other information that you will need to complete the course successfully. The "Course Schedule" identifies the course activities and assignments that you are to follow each week. Please take the time now to review the information in this document in order to become familiar with the design of the course.

Reading File: Required reading not included in the course textbooks or the "Digital Reading File" is reproduced in the Reading File.

Digital Reading File: Online texts and articles for this course, available through Athabasca University Library, are listed on the Global Studies 652 "Digital Reading File," linked to the course home page.

Forms: The forms that you will need to submit assignments or to inform the University of a change in your status as a student are included with the course materials.

Athabasca University Library: Students are encouraged to browse the Library's Web site to review the Library collection of journal databases, electronic journals, and digital reference tools: http://library.athabascau.ca.

Reading Strategies

The reading load for some of the weeks is heavy, whereas for others it is relatively light. Please look ahead and budget your time accordingly. For instance, Week 7 covers all of Naomi Klein's No Logo-a sizeable allotment of reading for one week. It will be best to begin reading No Logo well before that week, perhaps devoting the most time to it during those weeks that have the lightest reading requirements. You will have three weeks to read Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri's Empire, however, keep in mind that this material is more difficult than that in No Logo. As well, supplementary readings are listed where appropriate (a complete list of supplementary readings is available at the end of the "Study Guide" section of the Course Guide) so that if you are interested in a given topic, you will have suggested directions for further exploration.