Global Revolutions
TWENTIETH-CENTURY GLOBAL REVOLUTIONS
HIST-27300-01 and 02 – Fall 2010
MWF, 12:00-12:50 and 1:00-1:50
Zenon V. Wasyliw
Ithaca College Department of History
Muller 427
wasyliw@ithaca.edu, 274-3303
http://faculty.ithaca.edu/wasyliw
Office Hours: MWF 2:00-3:00; other times and TTh by appointment
Introduction
Twentieth-Century Global Revolutions offers a comparative study of twentieth century world history through a thematic assessment of revolutions and revolutionary movements. The course begins with a brief overview of pre-twentieth century revolutions, revolutionary theories and transformations within a global historical context. This course focuses upon specific revolutions and revolutionary movements of the twentieth-century with an eye towards comparative evaluations and the search for global connectivity. This comparative study reviews revolutionary movements beyond the western European and United States core to include the cultures and civilizations of East Central Europe, Eurasia, South and Southeast Asia, the Far East, Middle East, Africa and the Americas. The course concludes with possible revolutionary interpretations and responses to post-modern issues related to globalization, civil society, trans-nationalism, civilizational divisions and other relevant global transformations of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
The “Topics” section of this syllabus offers, on a weekly basis, specific subjects and themes under study. After first analyzing the underlying causes, theories and models of revolutions, we shall then evaluate specific revolutions and revolutionary movements. Comparative revolutionary ideologies preface a closer analysis of revisionist Marxist frameworks implemented by Lenin through the Russian/Soviet revolutions concluding with the Stalinist revolution and its impact on the state and the world. The Chinese Revolution is evaluated within the context of a further evolving revolutionary model implemented and modified by Mao, with a special emphasis placed upon evaluating the Maoist Chinese Cultural Revolution. Two assigned books evaluate the human toll and official justifications of both the Stalinist and Maoist revolutions and their results and legacy.
Other revolutionary movements under study include Gandhi’s unique anti-modernist and nonviolent path of civil disobedience and passive resistance to gain Indian independence and battle British colonialism. We shall evaluate the value of Gandhi's model and judge its specific implementation by Martin Luther King in the United States. We shall continue with an overview of conditions on the African continent and then specifically appraise Nelson Mandela and the South African revolutionary struggle. Latin America will be reviewed and evaluated with a special focus on the Cuban and Mexican revolutions within a larger regional and global context.
The Middle East (or South West Asia) provides examples of a new revolutionary paradigm based upon religion and anti-modernist values. The Iranian Revolution of 1979 serves as a focal point for studying the rise and expansion of an Islamic fundamentalist revolutionary path. The course continues with an appraisal of 1989 democratic revolutions through case studies based upon primary historical sources and later globally through an appraisal of recent “colored” revolutions through their implementation of Gene Sharp’s applied model of peaceful revolution found in his From Dictatorship to Democracy. The course concludes with reflections on current and future transnational revolutions and revolutionary trends and movements that often transcend state borders, politics and conventional wisdom.
Books and Readings
The following books are required for this course and may be purchased at the college bookstore.
Meridian. Sources in World History - A collection of primary source documents. Only available at the Ithaca College Bookstore
DEFRONZO, James. Revolutions and Revolutionary Movements.
GROSSMAN, Vasily. Everything Flows.
HUNTINGTON, Samuel, et. al. The Clash of Civilizations? The Debate.
KAPUSCINSKI, Ryszard. The Soccer War.
KENNEY, Padraic. 1989 Democratic Revolution at the Cold War’s End.
SATRAPI, Mariane. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood.
SHARP, Gene. From Dictatorship to Democracy. A Conceptual Framework for Liberation.
Found on-line at – http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations98ce.html
ZHENHUA, Zhai Red Flower of China.
Recommended:
BENJAMIN, Jules. A Student’s Guide to History.
The Guide is also found online:
http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/history/benjamin
Also see “How to Write History Essays”
http://legacy.ncsu.edu/classes/hi300001/write.htm
Additional articles and primary sources will be distributed throughout the semester. Please refer to the list of internet linked sites. The sites provide valuable historical backgrounds and contexts for the specific topics under study. Please refer to my homepage course syllabus for easy access to these relevant sites. http://www.ithaca.edu/faculty/wasyliw
Communications
1. Scheduled office hours are set for Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 2:00-3:00 and by appointment those same days and Tuesdays and Thursdays. Please arrange appointments through e-mail: wasyliw@ithaca.edu. My office is in Muller 427. Please stop by to discuss course material or life in general.
Requirements
1. “Students at Ithaca College are expected to attend all classes, and they are responsible for work missed during any absence from class.” (Ithaca College Undergraduate Catalog) Absences adversely affect the comprehension of course material and one's grade. Students are expected to read the assigned readings and participate in class discussion.
2. Each student must complete one interpretive essay examination and a final comprehensive essay examination. The essays are conceptual in nature and test the students' comprehension and analysis of the material covered in class and the readings.
3. A comparative book critique is another course requirement. The critique will compare the Grossman and Zhenhua books. The following book critique guideline will be followed.
The book critique will consist of four sections:
a. Introduce the author's main thesis. Include a brief summary of the critique’s contents.
b. Provide a brief comparative historical background on Stalinist policies through his time in power and Mao’s Cultural Revolution policies of the 1960s,
c. Compare and contrast the experiences of and reflections on the Stalinist and Maoist revolutions found in Everything Flows and Red Flower of China. Evaluate how policies and actions were decided and implemented. Were individual’s participation ever justified?
d. Provide a critique of both works strong and weak historical and stylistic points. Decide how the books relate to the Global Revolutions course and recommend an appropriate readership.
4. Cooperative learning project. The course of the Chinese Cultural Revolution is assessed by group presentations and Maoist critiques of Red Flower of China. Appointed student communes will accomplish this task with the appropriate revolutionary zeal. A concise communal written report will also be required. More specific instructions will be forthcoming.
5. A one page critical analysis is required for The Soccer War on the appointed discussion day and also for Persepolis on the appointed discussion day.
6. 1989 Democratic Revolution at the Cold War’s End is a collection of primary source documents. This era will be recreated and analyzed through collaborative interpretations of these primary sources. Groups and individuals will construct historical narratives, conceptual frameworks and reach conclusions regarding the revolutionary nature of the varied revolutions presented.
7. The writing of essays, critiques and papers follows specific criteria and all sources must be properly documented. Carefully read the sections of the hard copy syllabus dealing with plagiarism and writing papers. A Student’s Guide to History offers excellent information in this area. Please note Ithaca College policies regarding Standards of Academic Conduct –
http://www.ithaca.edu/attorney/policies/vol7/Volume_7-70104.htm
8. The syllabus outline and assignments are subject to change
9. In compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, reasonable accommodation will be provided to students with documented disabilities on a case by case basis. Students must register with the Office of Academic Support Services and provide appropriate documentation to the college before any academic adjustment will be provided.
Grading:
All work must be completed to earn a passing grade!
One comparative book critique (Grossman and Zhenhua) 20%
Two one page critiques (Kapuscinski and Satrapi) 10%
Midterm examination 20%
Final examination essays 30%
Qualitative class and group
Participation, Red Flower and
1989 Revolutions presentations 20%
100%
INTERNET LINKS
General Sites:
http://worldhistoryconnected.org
http://vlib.iue.it/history/index.html
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/
http://www.womeninworldhistory.com
http://www.besthistorysites.net
Social Studies Teaching Sites
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/nchs
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/home.html
World System Theory
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/wallerstein.html
Manifesto of the Communist Party, Marx and Engels
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/
The Revolutionary Catechism
http://www.marxists.org/subject/anarchism/nechayev/catechism.htm
Globalization Theories
http://www.sociology.emory.edu/globalization/theories.html
World War One
http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/
Russian Revolution and the USSR
http://www.infoukes.com/history/famine
Europe and the Holocaust
Chinese Revolution
http://www.iisg.nl/exhibitions/chairman/chnintro.php
http://sun.sino.uni-heidelberg.de/igcs
General sites on Asia
http://coombs.anu.edu.au/WWWVL-AsianStudies.html
India and Pakistan
http://www.vl-site.org/india/index.html
U.S. Civil Rights
http://afroamhistory.about.com/cs/civilrights
http://www.historymatters.gmu.edu
Africa
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Home_Page/Country.html
Latin America
http://www.oberlin.edu/faculty/svolk/latinam.htm
Middle East or Southwest Asia
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/mideast/cuvlm/Iran.html
Global Issues
http://www.ithaca.edu/sustainability
http://www.globalization101.org
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/
WEEK/DATE TOPICS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Week 1 - 23 August – First class on Wednesday 26 August
Introduction and expectations.
What is a revolution: definitions, theories and examples.
Meridian, pages 1-112 (Braudel, Smith, Declaration, Marx, Engels, Lenin, Kollontai) for discussion the next two weeks.
DeFronzo, Revolutions and Revolutionary Movements, Chapter 1
Begin reading Everything Flows
2. 30 August The World-System, Industrial Revolution and revolutionary ideologies in response to a “modernizing” world. The World-System of Development and globalization: imperialism, colonialism and global cultural revolution.
Discussion of Meridian document Braudel, “Food and Bread” (pp. 1-34), World Systems Theory - http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/wallerstein.html and globalization - http://www.sociology.emory.edu/globalization/theories.html
3. 6 Sept. Labor Day – No Classes on Monday
Nineteenth century revolutionary models, theories, international developments and the coming of the First World War.
Meridian, pages 35-112 for discussion this week and next
DeFronzo, Chapter 2 for next week and beyond
Read Everything Flows, begin reading Red Flower of China
Also review – http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto
http://www.marxists.org/subject/anarchism/nechayev/catechism.htm
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1784herder-mankind.html
http://www.historyteacher.net/EuroProjects/ExamReviewSheets/AnatomyOfARevolution.htm
4. 13 Sept. Radical vs. Bourgeois Feminism – Meridian, Kollontai, page 93 and the Seneca Falls Declaration http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/senecafalls.html
The Marxist-Leninist October Russian Revolution of 1917, the NEP years in between and the Stalinist Revolution of “Socialism in One Country” and the Five Year Plan – industrialization, agricultural collectivization and cultural sovietization.
Finish reading Everything Flows
Continue reading Red Flower of China
5. 20 Sept. Was the Stalinist Revolution a path toward a communist industrial utopia for other countries to emulate or a human tragedy through purges, the gulag and Ukrainian famine? Reflections on the Stalinist era – a discussion of Grossman’s Everything Flows
DeFronzo, Chapter 3 for next two weeks
Meridian, pp.113-140 (Mao, Death, Deng) for the next two weeks
6. 27 Sept. Inter-war Europe in an age of uncertainty, the rise of totalitarianism, the holocaust World War Two and a new world order. Revolutionary transformation in East Asia: Japan and the West http://countrystudies.us/japan/110.htm
The origins of the Chinese Revolution
The course of the Chinese Revolution and Communal Organization
Finish Reading Red Flower of China
Comparative Book Critique is due 20 October
7. 4 Oct. Communal Presentations and a Critical Evaluation of Red Flower of China. An analysis of Mao and Maoism, the Great Chinese Cultural Revolution and the post-Mao years
Western colonialism and the periphery: Revolutionary paths towards political and cultural independence
DeFronzo, Chapter 4 for next week
Midterm Examination is due 11 October
8. 11 Oct. The Vietnamese Revolution and Southeast Asia
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1945vietnam.html
Fall Break 14-15 October
Meridian, pages 141-196 (Gandhi, constitution and Martin Luther King) for next week
Comparative Book Critique is Due 20 October
9. 18 Oct. Are Gandhi and non-violent civil disobedience revolutionary?
India: colonialism and the struggle for independence
Gandhi and the establishment of India and Pakistan
Martin Luther King: non-violence, the U.S. Civil Rights movement and the American cultural revolution of the nineteen sixties: issues of race, class, ethnicity and sexual orientation
Discussion of Meridian pp. 141-196
Meridian, pages 197-230 (Soyinka, Freedom Charter, Nkrumah, Mandela, Tutu) for next week
DeFronzo, Chapter 8 for next week
Kapuscinski, The Soccer War for next week
10. 25 Oct. African revolutions and revolutionary movements
Western colonialism in Africa and internal African revolutions: in search of stability.
Long Walk to Freedom and the revolution in South Africa
Discussion of The Soccer War – a journalist’s eyewitness account of revolutions in Africa and Latin America. One page critical analysis is due.
DeFronzo, Chapters 5 and 6 for next week
Meridian, pages 231-262 (Zapata, Castro, Women, Guerillas) for next week
Begin reading Satrapi, Persepolis
11. 1 Nov. Revolutions in Latin America, Past and Present: Revolutions in Mexico and Cuba as context for contemporary populist revolutionary movements
Discussion of Meridian pages 231-262
DeFronzo, Chapter 7 for next week
Finish reading Persepolis for next week
12. 8 Nov. Islamic fundamentalism as a revolutionary model: The Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979 and Islamic revolutionary movements.
Discussion of Persepolis. One page critical analysis is due.
Read 1989 Democratic Revolution at the Cold War’s End
Meridian, pages 263-298 (Carmen Bin Ladin, Ibn Warriq, Usama bin Ladin, Koh) for next week
13. 15 Nov. 1989 Democratic Revolution a classroom project in developing a historical narrative and competing historical interpretations through primary source historical documents. Comparative developments in the Islamic world.
Discussion of Meridian pages 263-298 and issues related to 9/11
14. Thanksgiving Vacation 20-28 November. Complete 1989 Democratic Revolution presentations and read Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations? The Debate.
15. 29 Nov. Presentations and discussion on The 1989 Democratic Revolution at the Cold War’s End and larger issues related to fall of communism in Europe and possible “new world orders.” The end of ideology? The end of history? New revolutionary movements?
Discussion of The Clash of Civilizations, The Debate
Finish reading From Dictatorship to Democracy
DeFronzo, Chapter 9
16. 6 Dec. Recent and future revolutions
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights – a universal model for global application?
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr
A post-modern, post-industrial world in search of revolutionary ideals and models
Discussion and application of Gene Sharp’s non-violent revolutionary model – From Dictatorship to Democracy
From G-7 to G-20: globalization, anti-globalization, sustainability, trans-nationalism and the future of revolutions
Anticipating future global revolutions and revolutionary movements: can we learn from and use history?
13 December Final Examination Week