Government 2140 “Identity in History and Politics”



Government 90ej

Social Identities

Course Web Site:

Spring 2006, Harvard University

Tuesdays 12:00-2:00 pm.

Location: CGIS, S354 (1730 Cambridge St., 3rd floor)

Yoshiko M. Herrera

John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences, Department of Government, FAS

E-mail: herrera@fas.harvard.edu, Phone: 617-496-7293

Office: CGIS, S329 (1730 Cambridge St., 3rd floor)

Web page:

Office hours: Tuesdays 4:00-6:00 pm

Course Description

In the social sciences, the concept of identity has recently grown enormously in importance both as an explanatory variable and as an independent subject of analysis. This seminar is an introduction to theories and empirical work on identities, focusing in particular on social identities.

The course consists of three parts: First, we will examine various definitions of social identities. Second, we will look at techniques and strategies that have been developed or deployed to measure these identities. Third, we will examine empirical works on identities, from a variety of geographical areas. We will consider a range of traditional identity categories, including race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, class, and religion.

No prior coursework is required. Grading will be based on class participation and the completion of a research paper. Evaluation of class participation will be based on completion of the readings, contributions to discussion, and short collaborative presentations. The final research paper should combine course readings and other research. Innovation and creativity will be encouraged in the final paper, and students may use the paper as preparation for a senior thesis proposal.

Seminar Requirements

1. Class participation (25%), weekly completion of readings and short discussant presentations.

2. Research plan (5%), 5 double-spaced pages, due in class April 11, 2005. This plan should outline which of the course readings you plan to use in your final paper, and the substantive topic of your paper.

3. Research paper (70%), 20-25 double-spaced pages, due Tuesday, May 16, 2005 (in hard copy, at my office, by 5:00 pm). The paper must include extensive discussion of readings from at least two different weeks in the course, but is otherwise open in terms of topic choice.

Failure in any one of the three components will result in failure in the course

Readings:

All readings (books and a course pack) will be available at Lamont on reserve.

• A coursepack will be available for order at Gnomon copy (1304 Massachusetts Ave., 617-491-1111). Readings marked (CP) are in the coursepack.

• Some readings will be distributed electronically. These electronic handouts are marked (.pdf).

• Other readings are available online either through the library via Hollis or at a website. These are marked either (HOLLIS) or with the web address.

Required Books on order at the COOP, and on reserve at Lamont:

• Ernest Gellner, Nations and Nationalism, Cornell University Press, 1994 (ISBN: 0801492637).

• Donald Horowitz, Ethnic Groups in Conflict, University of California Press, 2000, revised ed. (ISBN: 0520227069).

• Jay MacLeod, Ain't No Makin' It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low-Income Neighborhood, Reprint edition, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995 (ISBN: 0813315158).

• Harvey C. Mansfield, Manliness, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006 forthcoming (ISBN: 0300106645)

• Max Weber, (Talcott Parsons, Translator), The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Routledge, 2001 (ISBN: 041525406X).

Course Schedule:

Tuesday, Feb. 7.

Introduction to the course

• No assigned readings

Tuesday, Feb. 14.

Definitions of identity: general frameworks

• James Fearon, “What is Identity (As We Now Use the Word)?” (Unpublished paper, November 1999). Online at:

• Rogers Brubaker and Frederick Cooper, "Beyond Identity," Theory and Society 29 (2000), pp. 1-47. (HOLLIS)

• Rawi Abdelal, Yoshiko M. Herrera, Alastair Iain Johnston, and Rose McDermott, "Identity as a Variable" (forthcoming in Perspectives on Politics, 2006). Online at:

Tuesday, Feb. 21.

Definitions of identity: Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Class

• Desmond S. King and Rogers M. Smith, "Racial Orders in American Political Development" American Political Science Review 99:1 (February 2005), 75-92. (HOLLIS)

• Max Weber, "Ethnic Groups," in Werner Sollors (Editor), Theories of Ethnicity: A Classical Reader. New York University Press, 1996, chap. 6, pp. 52-66. (CP)

• Handouts on race and ethnicity (.pdf)

• Joan Scott, Gender and the Politics of History, Columbia University Press, 2001, Introduction and Chapter 2, pp. 1-11, 28-50. (CP)

• Max Weber, "The Distribution of Power Within the Political Community: Class, Status, Party," Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology, vol. 2, University of California Press, 1986, Chap. 9.6, pp. 926-940. (CP)

Tuesday, Feb. 28.

Definitions: Social Identity Theory and other Psychological Approaches to Identity

• Henri Tajfel and John C. Turner, "An Integrative Theory of Intergroup Conflict" in W. G. Austin and S. Worchel eds., The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations (Monterey: Brooks-Cole, 1979) [Reprinted in Michael A. Hogg and Dominic Abrams, editors, Intergroup Relations: Essential Readings, (Psychology Press, 2001), pp. 94-109.] (CP)

• John C. Turner, "Some current issues in research on social identity and self-categorization theory" in N. Ellemers, R. Spears and B Doosje eds., Social Identity: Context, Commitment, Content (Oxford, 1999): 6-34. (CP)

• Marilynn Brewer, "The Many Faces of Social Identity: Implications for Political Psychology" Political Psychology 22:1 (2001), pp. 115-125. (HOLLIS)

Tuesday, March 7.

Measurement: Ethnography, Discourse Analysis and Content Analysis

• Laura Adams, "Techniques for Measuring Identity in Fieldwork and Interview Research," in Identity as a Variable: A Guide to Conceptualization and Measurement of Identity, ed. Rawi Abdelal, Yoshiko M. Herrera, Alastair Iain Johnston, and Rose McDermott, unpublished manuscript, 2006. (CP)

• Ted Hopf, " Discourse Analysis and Social Constructivism: Identity Relations and the Sino-Soviet Split," in Identity as a Variable: A Guide to Conceptualization and Measurement of Identity, ed. Rawi Abdelal, Yoshiko M. Herrera, Alastair Iain Johnston, and Rose McDermott, unpublished manuscript, 2006. (CP)

• Kimberly Neuendorf and Paul D. Skalski, "Quantitative Content Analysis and the Measurement of Collective Identity," in Identity as a Variable: A Guide to Conceptualization and Measurement of Identity, ed. Rawi Abdelal, Yoshiko M. Herrera, Alastair Iain Johnston, and Rose McDermott, unpublished manuscript, 2006. (CP)

Tuesday, March 14.

Measurement: Surveys, Interviews, and Experiments

• Taeku Lee, "Between Social Theory and Social Science Practice: Towards a New Approach to the Survey Measurement of 'Race'," in Identity as a Variable: A Guide to Conceptualization and Measurement of Identity, ed. Rawi Abdelal, Yoshiko M. Herrera, Alastair Iain Johnston, and Rose McDermott, unpublished manuscript, 2006. (CP)

• Mary Waters, Black Identities: West Indian Immigrant Dreams and American Realities, Harvard University Press, 2001. Chapters 1, 5, & Appendix, pp. 1-15, 140-191, 347-371. (CP)

• Rose McDermott, "Psychological Approaches to Identity: Experimentation and Application," in Identity as a Variable: A Guide to Conceptualization and Measurement of Identity, ed. Rawi Abdelal, Yoshiko M. Herrera, Alastair Iain Johnston, and Rose McDermott, unpublished manuscript, 2006. (CP)

Tuesday, March 21.

Case Studies: Class

• Jay MacLeod, Ain't No Makin' It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low-Income Neighborhood, Reprint edition (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995), Chapters 1-8, 11 & appendix, pp. 1-151, 239-302. (Required Book)

• New York Times articles on Class in America, handout (.pdf)

Tuesday, March 28.

Spring Break — No Class

Tuesday, Apr. 4.

Case Studies: Ethnicity

• Donald Horowitz, Ethnic Groups in Conflict, University of California Press, 2000, revised ed. (ISBN: 0520227069). Chapters 1-5, pp. 3-228. (Required Book)

• Melissa Nobles, "Racial categorization and censuses," in David I. Kertzer and Dominique Arel, Editors, The Politics of Race, Ethnicity, and Language in National Census, Cambridge University Press, 2001. pp. 43-70. (CP)

• Peter Uvin, "On counting, categorizing, and violence in Burundi and Rwanda," in David I. Kertzer and Dominique Arel, Editors, The Politics of Race, Ethnicity, and Language in National Census, Cambridge University Press, 2001. pp. 148-175. (CP)

Tuesday, Apr. 11.

Case Studies: National Identity

• Ernest Gellner, Nations and Nationalism, Cornell University Press, 1994 (ISBN: 0801492637). Entire. (Required Book)

Tuesday, Apr. 18.

Case Studies: Religion

**Paper proposal due in class**

• Max Weber, Talcott Parsons (Translator), Anthony Giddens (Introduction), The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Routledge, 2001. Entire. (Required Book)

Tuesday, Apr. 25.

Case Studies: Gender

• Joan Scott, Gender and the Politics of History, Columbia University Press, 2001. Chapters 8-10, pp 167-223. (CP)

• Harvey C. Mansfield, Manliness (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006 forthcoming). Chapters 1-2, 7- Conclusion, pp. 1-49, 190-244. (Required Book – or CP if book is unavailable by 4/1/06)

Tuesday, May 2.

Discussion of Student Papers

• No assigned readings

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