Schedule of Readings

Tentative

Week One

1/21

No Class

Week Two 1/28

Course Introduction: Violence, Political Activity and Justice

Week Three

2/4

Conceptualizing Violence: The Problem of Definition

Readings

A.      Excerpt from On Violence, Hannah Arendt

B.      “On Violence,” Robert Paul Wolff

C.      “The Idea of Violence,” C. A. J. Coady

D.      “Cultural Violence,” Johan Galtung

 

Week Four

2/11

Conceptualizing Violence: Structures of Oppression

Readings

A.      “Five faces of Oppression,” Iris Marion Young (handout)

B.      “Nihilism in Black America,” Cornel West

C.      “Violence, Resistance, and the Struggle for Black Empowerment,” Marable

 

Week Five

2/18

Conceptualizing Violence: Structures of Oppression

Readings

A.      “Liberation from the Affluent Society,” Marcuse

B.      “Oppression by Choice,” Ann E. Cudd (handout)

C.      “Mammies, Matriarchs, and Other Controlling Images,” Patricia Hill Collins (handout)

 

First Short Paper Due

Week Six

2/25

Conceptualizing Violence: Oppression & Norms

Readings:

A.      “Imitation and Gender Insubordination,” Judith Butler (handout)

B.      Excerpts from Discipline & Punish, Michel Foucault

 

Week Seven

3/4

Violence, Law and the Possibility of Justice

Readings:

A.      “Critique of Violence,” Walter Benjamin

B.      “Violence and the Word,” Robert Cover (handout)

 

Week Eight

3/11

Violence, Law and the Possibility of Justice

Readings:

A.      “Force of Law: The Mystical Foundations of Authority,” Jacques Derrida (excerpts in VA—complete as handout)

B.      “The Force of Law: Metaphysical or Political?” Nancy Fraser

 

Second Short Paper Due.

Must take Mid-term by end of this week.

First Journal Collection

Week Nine

3/18

Spring Break

Week Ten

3/25

The Phenomena of Violence: Patriarchy & Domination

Readings:

A.      “Pornography and Grief,” Dworkin

B.      “Andrea Dworkin’s Reconstruction of Pornography as a Discriminatory Social Practice,” Jenefsky

C.      “Gender & Sexuality: Masculinity, Violence and Domination,” Nancy Hartsock

 

Week Eleven

4/1

Resistance: Legitimating Violence

Readings:

A.      “Concerning Violence,” Fanon

B.      “The Ballot or the Bullet,” Malcolm X

C.      “Psychological Violence, Physical Violence, and Racial Oppression,” Howard McGary (handout--RECOMMENDED)

D.      “Legitimation of Female Violence,” Stell (handout--RECOMMENDED)

 

Week Twelve

4/8

TBA

 

Third Short Paper Due

Week Thirteen

4/15

TBA

Week Fourteen

4/22

Resistance: Non-Violence

Readings:

A.      Excerpts from The Essential Writings of Mohatma Gandhi

B.      Excerpts from Love, Law, and Civil Disobedience, MLK

C.      “Beloved Community: A World Without Racism,” bell hooks

 

Week Fifteen

4/29

Violence & Moral Law: Re-conceiving the Foundations of Justice?

Readings:

A.      “Substitution,” Levinas

B.      “Freedom & Command,” Levinas

C.      “Humanism & An-Archy,” Levinas

 

Week Sixteen

5/6

Violence & Moral Law: Re-conceiving the Foundations of Justice?

Readings:

A.      Excerpts from Precarious Life, Butler

B.      Excerpts from Giving an Account of Oneself, Butler

 

Fourth Short Paper Due. Must take Final Exam by end of Week

Week Seventeen

5/13

Last Class

 

 

Research Papers Due Final Journal Collection