UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
POLITICAL SCIENCE 114B
MARXIST POLITICAL THOUGHT
Spring 2009
Section 649509
DR. GERMAINE A. HOSTON

Class Meetings:  T 5:00 p.m. - 7:50 p.m.       Office:  376 Social Science Bldg.
HSS 1330                                                        Office Hours: Tu  3:00-4:30 p.m.
Telephone:  858-449-0455                                         and by appointment 
E-Mail: germaine.hoston@gmail.com                       Website:  www.germaineahoston.com
Group Website:    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marxistpt2009
Class E-Mail address:  marxistpt2009@yahoogroups.com
 

In this course, we will analyze major themes in Marxist political thought, from its roots in Western Europe in the work of John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and G. W. F. Hegel to its elaboration by twentieth-century thinker-activists in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Emphasis will placed on the position of Marx’s and Engels’s conception of politics as an outgrowth of the tradition of “modern” Western political thought. We will examine Marxism as it emerged in response to the changing socio-economic setting of Western Europe and conclude with an assessment of how effectively non-European theorists adapted Marxism to their own national contexts.  We will conclude by assessing the continued relevance of the Marxian paradigm of development and revolutionary change in the post-industrial world of the 21st century. Students enrolled in the course are not expected to have a background in the subject matter, although those who have studied political theory and/or world history will find that experience helpful.


As all required readings are available on reserve at Geisel Library. For those who desire the convenience of having their own copies of the materials, the reader is available for purchase online by going to http://www.universityreaders.com and clicking on the "STUDENTS BUY HERE" button).  Since the reader is not inexpensive (because some of the readings were not available in book form), copies of the reader will also be available on reserve. Note: All readings from the Reader are indicated with (R) on the syllabus.

 

In addition, the following books are been ordered for purchase at the University Bookstore.    

            Frantz Fanon, Wretched of the Earth (Grove Press)

            Germaine A. Hoston, The State, Identity, and the National Question in China and Japan
            Robert C. Tucker, ed., The Lenin Anthology (W. W. Norton)
            Robert C. Tucker, ed., The Marx-Engels Reader (W. W. Norton)
            Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse on Inequality

            Georges Sorel, Reflections on Violence

SCHEDULE OF LECTURES AND READINGS:

Week 1:           March 31       Course Introduction: Legitimacy and Revolution in Western Political Thought
                        Readings:        Rousseau, A Discourse on Inequality
                                                In Tucker, ed., Marx-Engels Reader:
                                                ∙  “Preface to a Critique of Political Economy,” pp. 3-6
                                                ∙  “For a Ruthless Criticism of Everything Existing,” pp. 12-15

Week 2:           April 7            Hegel's Philosophy of Right and Marx as a Neo-Hegelian
                        Readings:        In Tucker, ed., Marx-Engels Reader:
                                                ∙ "Preface" to A Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right", pp. 16-25
                                                ∙  “Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right:                                                                                          Introduction,’ pp. 53-65
                                                ∙ "On the Jewish Question," pp. 26-52
                                                ∙ "Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts," pp. 66-125
                                                ∙  “Theses on Feuerbach," pp. 143-145
                                                ∙ “The German Ideology," pp. 146-200
                                                ∙ “'Wage Labour and Capital," pp. 203-217
                                                ∙ “The Grundrisse," pp. 221-293
                                                ∙ “Working Class Manchester,” pp. 579-585

Week 3:           April 14          The Critique of Capitalist Society
                        Readings:        In Tucker, ed., Marx-Engels Reader:
                                                ∙  "Excerpts from Capital,” pp. 294-442
                                                ∙  “The Communist Manifesto,” pp. 469-500
                                                ∙  “Critique of the Gotha Program,” pp. 525-541
                       

Week 4:           April 21          German Social Democracy and the Rise of the Mass                                                      Movement in 19th-Century Germany
                                                Eduard Bernstein, Evolutionary Socialism (R)

 

Week 5:           April 28          Sorel's Reradicalization of Marxism
                        Readings:        Georges Sorel, Reflections on Violence

MIDTERM PAPER DUE IN CLASS TUESDAY, APRIL 28

 

Week 6:           May 5             The Adaptation of Marxism to Russia
                        Readings:        In Tucker, ed., The Lenin Anthology:
                        ∙  "What Is To Be Done?" pp. 12-114
                        ∙  "Two Tactics of Social Democracy," pp. 120-147
                        ∙  “The State and Revolution,” pp. 311-398

 

Week 7:           May 12           The Theory of Imperialism and the Revolution                                                                          in the East
                        Readings:        Lenin, "Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism,"

                                                in Tucker, ed., Lenin Anthology, pp. 204-274
                                                In the Reader, by Mao:

                                                ∙  “On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the                                                                                                People”

                                                ∙  “On New Democracy”

                                                Marx, “On British Imperialism in India,” pp. 653-664, in                                                                                       Tucker, ed., Marx-Engels Reader

                                                Hoston, The State, Identity, and the National Question  in China                                                                              and Japan, chaps. 1, 3 and 5

 

Week 8:           May 19           Ideology, Hegemony, and Cultural Revolution

                        Readings:        Antonio Gramsci, Prison Notebooks, pp. 5-23, 206-276 (R)

                                                Lu Xun, “Diary of a Madman” (R)

                                                Mao, “On New Democracy," pp. 198-208 (R)

                                                Mao, "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the                                                                                                      People," Selected Works of Mao Tse-Tung (R)                        
                                                Walter Adamson, Hegemony and Revolution, chap. 7, "The Autonomy of                                                                                      Politics" (R)

                                                Hoston, The State, Identity, and the National Question in China                                                                               and Japan, chaps. 6, 7, and 8

                       


Week 9:           May 26           Marxism and the Problem of Colonialism: Latin America
                        Readings:        Fidel Castro, "History Will Absolve Me (October 16, 1953), in                                                                               Revolutionary Struggle, 1947-1958 (MIT Press, 1972),  pp. 164-221 (R)

                                                Régis Debray, Revolution in the Revolution? Armed Struggle                                                                                    and  Political Struggle in Latin America (Monthly Review Press,                                                                             1967), pp. 7-18, 19-91, 95-116, 117-123

 

Week 10:         June 2             Marxism and the Problem of Colonialism: Africa

                        Readings:        Amilcar Cabral, selections from Cabral, Return to the Source (R)

                                                Frantz Fanon, Wretched of the Earth

 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Class Meetings

Lectures and discussions will be held each Tuesday from 5:00 p.m. to 7:50 p.m.  Readings must be completed before class, so that discussions can be wide-ranging and productive.

 

Written Assignments

The following statement must appear, with your signature, on the final page of all your written work:

″The above represents my own work in accordance with Academic Senate in accordance with Academic Senate guidelines on academic integrity.″

If you wish to have your graded final examination available for pickup in a public accessible area of the Department of Political Science (301 Social Science Building), a signed Buckley Waiver must also appear on the front page of the examination.

 

Grading

Class participation                  25%     (NOTE: All students are required to attend all class                                                                                                      meetings.[1]  This portion of the grade includes online                                                                                                         contributions as well as “live” participation in dis-

                                                            cussions in the classroom).  Students who are shy talking                                                                                                  in front of others can take advantage of opportunities to                                                                                                    contribute to the Yahoo! Group discussions.  You can ask                                                                                                 questions, answer questions posed by others, help plan                                                                                                             review and other study sessions, etc.  The point is that                                                                                                      active, as opposed to passive, engagement with the                                                                                                                   material is much more conducive to learning and                                                                                                               understanding any material.)

Midterm Paper                       35%

Final Paper                              40%


[1] The exception to this rule is in case of illness.  If you are sick, please do not come to class and expose others to your illness.  When you have recovered and return to class, bring a note from your doctor, and your absence will be excused.