{"id":1,"date":"2017-07-31T11:14:41","date_gmt":"2017-07-31T11:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-2017\/?p=1"},"modified":"2017-08-23T09:00:58","modified_gmt":"2017-08-23T13:00:58","slug":"hello-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-2017\/2017\/07\/31\/hello-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to World Politics!"},"content":{"rendered":"

What on earth is going on?<\/em><\/strong> Neo-Nazi protests at the University of Virginia. ISIS. Fake news. CNN. Donald Trump. Bernie Sanders. Breitbart News. Immigration. The Fall of Communism. Feudalism. The Protestant Reformation. \u00a0The Second Amendment. Global Warming. Vladimir Putin. Taylor Swift.<\/p>\n

All of these phenomena have one thing in common.\u00a0They are all manifestations of the evolution of a\u00a0novel form of political organization known as the Modern nation-state<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Immigration record of Notre Dame student Augustin Maga\u00f1a Mendez (1920)<\/p><\/div>\n

By Modernity<\/strong><\/em>, I mean a revolution in social development that is based upon skeptical attitudes, individualistic identities, formal routines, and distinct social realms.\u00a0 By Nation-state,<\/strong><\/em> I mean a \u201csymbolic community to which people voluntarily devote their primary political loyalties despite the many particularistic loyalties\u2013religious, cultural, ethnic, political, social, economic, gender, and athletic\u2013that otherwise divide them.\u201d \u00a0Modernity and the Nation-state<\/strong><\/em> are abstract terms, but you\u2019ll see what I mean by them as we proceed through the semester. You have my personal guarantee.<\/p>\n

My story is divided into five interlocking chapters. First, in the segment called Modern<\/strong> Politics,<\/strong><\/em> I introduce you to some basic concepts about modernity and the Modern nation-state<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 Second, we travel down the road the West has taken toward a particular form of nation-state: \u00a0Liberalism.<\/em><\/strong> Third, we consider an initially credible but ultimately failed path: Leninism.<\/strong><\/em> Fourth, we confront the pathos and anger of people living in the fractured Postcolonial<\/em><\/strong> world of weak nation-states. \u00a0Finally, we return to our starting point to examine the ecstasy and agony of the nation-state in an age of seeming \u201cGlobalization.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a course like this, I typically refer to current events and spectacles as they become useful to our journey. \u00a0But let’s face it, this is not<\/em> a typical period in world history. Americans and Europeans, in particular, are undergoing a crisis of political identity. None of us can afford to ignore the fact that our society is deeply polarized and that fundamental values, such as liberty, equality, and tolerance, are at stake.<\/p>\n

For this reason, I plan to refer to two particular themes throughout the course: 1) the absolute centrality of agreement on\u00a0facts<\/em><\/strong> in democratic life; and 2) the growing contradictions between Liberal democracy<\/strong><\/em> and Populism.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

For the basic requirements of the course, look\u00a0HERE<\/a><\/p>\n

I have four pedagogical goals:<\/p>\n