SemesterFall Semester, 2023
DepartmentInternational Master's Program in International Studies, First Year International Master's Program in International Studies, Second Year
Course NameEthnicity, Religion, Nationalism:Violence and the Politics of Belonging in the Global World
InstructorDeasy Rumondang Priscilla
Credit3.0
Course TypeElective
Prerequisite
Course Objective
Course Description
Course Schedule
























































































































Week

Topic

Content and Reading Assignment

Teaching Activities and Homework

1

Introduction

Syllabus



Evaluation Criteria



Class Regulations

Introduction of syllabus and regulations



 



Students choose the 6 (six) weeks in which they want to submit their individual essays.



 



No Homework

2

Defining Ethnicity, Nation and Nationalism



 

Required Readings



Anderson, Benedict. 1991. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of

Nationalism. London: Verso, pp. 5-7



Gellner, Ernest. 2006. Nations and Nationalism, pp.1-7.



Additional



Chandra, Kanchan. 2006. "What is ethnic identity and does it matter?" Annual Review of Political Science 9: 397-424.

  • Lecture: Introduction of concepts

  • Essay (only for those who chose to submit it)

  • Presentation of the readings (only for one or two students who chose to do it)

  • Other activities: games, simulation, debates.

3

Moon Festival Week

No Class

No Homework

4

Deeper into Ethnicity and Nationalism



 

Required Readings



Brubaker, Rogers. 2004. “’Civic’ and ‘ethnic’ nationalism”, in id., Ethnicity without Groups. Harvard: Harvard University Press. Chapter 6, pp. 132-146



Hutchinson, John and Anthony D. Smith (eds.). 1994. Nationalism. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, Introduction, pp. 3-5



Additional



Fearon, James, and David D. Laitin, 2000, "Ordinary language and external validity: Specifying concepts in the study of ethnicity."



 

  • Lecture: the congruence of ethnicity and nationalism

  • Essay (only for those who chose to submit it)

  • Presentation of the readings (only for one or two students who chose to do it)

  • Other activities: games, simulation, debates.

5

Primordialism and Constructivism



 

Required Readings



Maxwell, A. (2020) Primordialism for Scholars Who Ought to Know Better: Anthony D. Smith’s Critique of Modernization Theory. Nationalities Papers, 48(5): 826-842.



Bayar, Murat. (2009) "Reconsidering primordialism: an alternative approach to the study of ethnicity." Ethnic and racial studies 32.9: 1639-1657.



Additional



Wang, Chia-Chou (2018) Primordialism, Instrumentalism, Constructivism: Factors Influencing Taiwanese People’s Regime Acceptance of Mainland China’s Government, Journal of Contemporary China, 27:109, 137-150

  • Lecture: ethnicity: is it a primordial or a constructed identity?

  • Essay (only for those who chose to submit it)

  • Presentation of the readings (only for one or two students who chose to do it)

  • Other activities: games, simulation, debates.

6

Ethnic and Communal Violence



 

Required Readings



Brubaker, Rogers and David D. Laitin. 1998. "Ethnic and Nationalist Violence." Annual Review of Sociology 24:423-52



Additional



Horowitz, Donald. 1985. Ethnic Groups in Conflict. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, pp. 21-54

  • Lecture: how ethnicity leads to violence

  • Essay (only for those who chose to submit it)

  • Presentation of the readings (only for one or two students who chose to do it)

  • Other activities: games, simulation, debates.

7

Religious Nationalism



 

Required Readings



Juergensmeyer, Mark. (2010) "The global rise of religious nationalism." Australian Journal of International Affairs 64.3: 262-273.



Grzymala-Busse, Anna. (2019). Religious nationalism and religious influence. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics



Additional



Brubaker, Rogers. (2012). Religion and nationalism: Four approaches. Nations and nationalism, 18(1), 2-20.

  • Lecture: introduction on how religion can evoke nationalist sentiments

  • Essay (only for those who chose to submit it)

  • Presentation of the readings (only for one or two students who chose to do it)

  • Other activities: games, simulation, debates.

8

Religious Nationalism and Fundamentalism

Required Readings



Emerson, Michael O., and David Hartman. (2006) "The rise of religious fundamentalism." Annual review of Sociology (2006): 127-144.



Friedland, Roger. "Religious nationalism and the problem of collective representation." Annual Review of Sociology (2001): 125-152.



Additional



Juergensmeyer, Mark (1993) Why religious nationalists are not fundamentalists, Religion, 23:1, 85-92

  • Lecture: the similarities and differences between religious nationalism and fundamentalism

  • Essay (only for those who chose to submit it)

  • Presentation of the readings (only for one or two students who chose to do it)

  • Other activities: games, simulation, debates.

9

Religion, Nationalism and Ethnicity

Required Readings



Mitchell, Claire (2006). The Religious Content of Ethnic Identities. Sociology, 40(6), 1135–1152



Gorski, Philip S., and Gülay Türkmen-Dervi?o?lu. "Religion, nationalism, and violence: An integrated approach." Annual Review of Sociology 39 (2013): 193-210.



Additional



Brubaker, Rogers. (2015), "Religious dimensions of political conflict and violence." Sociological Theory 33.1: 1-19.

  • Lecture: how ethnicity and religion reinforce nationalism.

  • Essay (only for those who chose to submit it)

  • Presentation of the readings (only for one or two students who chose to do it)

  • Other activities: games, simulation, debates

10

Nationalism and Authoritarianism: Comparing Iran and Turkey

Required Readings



Marashi, Afshin. "Paradigms of Iranian Nationalism: History, Theory, and Historiography." Rethinking Iranian nationalism and modernity. University of Texas Press, 2021. 3-24.



Skocpol, Theda. "Rentier state and Shi'a Islam in the Iranian revolution." Theory and society 11.3 (1982): 265-283.



Findley, Carter Vaughn. "Turkey, Islam, nationalism, and modernity." Turkey, Islam, Nationalism, and Modernity. Yale University Press, 2010.



Additional



Matin-Asgari, Afshin. "The Berlin circle: Iranian nationalism meets German countermodernity." Rethinking Iranian nationalism and modernity. University of Texas Press, 2021. 49-66.

  • Lecture: the similarities and differences of modernity and religious nationalism in Iran and Turkey

  • Essay (only for those who chose to submit it)

  • Presentation of the readings (only for one or two students who chose to do it)

  • Other activities: games, simulation, debates

11

FILM WEEK

We are watching Argo (2012) Director: Ben Affleck.



One of the most high-profile film in 2012, Argo tells the story of six U.S. State Department employees who managed to escape the 1979 siege at the American embassy in Tehran (which resulted in the 444-day hostage saga), but who were still trapped in Iran.

Watch Film



Discussion

12

Ethnoreligious conflict and religious nationalism in Indonesia



 

Required Readings



Menchik, J. (2014). Productive intolerance: Godly nationalism in Indonesia. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 56(3), 591–621



Simandjuntak, Deasy (2021) "Disciplining the Accepted and Amputating the Deviants: Religious Nationalism and Segregated Citizenship in Indonesia." Asian Journal of Law and Society 8.1: 88-107



 



Additional



Aspinall, Edward (2008) Ethnic and religious violence in Indonesia: a review essay, Australian Journal of International Affairs, 62(4): 558-572

  • Lecture: how Islamic nationalism is connected to electoral politics in Indonesia

  • Essay (only for those who chose to submit it)

  • Presentation of the readings (only for one or two students who chose to do it)

  • Other activities: games, simulation, debates

13

Ethnoreligious and religious nationalism in Myanmar and Thailand, with a comparison of how religions are practiced in Chinese societies.



 

Required Readings



Kyaw, Nyi Nyi. "The role of myth in anti-muslim buddhist nationalism in Myanmar." Buddhist-Muslim Relations in a Theravada World. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore, 2020. 197-226.



Tonsakulrungruang, Khemthong. "The Revival of Buddhist Nationalism in Thailand and Its Adverse Impact on Religious Freedom." Asian Journal of Law and Society 8.1 (2021): 72-87.



Kuo, Cheng-tian. "Religion, state, and religious nationalism in Chinese societies." Religion and Nationalism in Chinese Societies, edited by Cheng-tian Kuo. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press (2018). Ch.1



Additional



Chowdhury, Arnab Roy (2020) An ‘un-imagined community’: the entangled genealogy of an exclusivist nationalism in Myanmar and the Rohingya refugee crisis, Social Identities, 26:5, 590-607

  • Lecture: Comparing Buddhist nationalism in Myanmar and Thailand

  • Essay (only for those who chose to submit it)

  • Presentation of the readings (only for one or two students who chose to do it)

  • Other activities: games, simulation, debates

14

The rise of Hindu Nationalism in India



 



Documentary Film Week

We will also watch Documentary Film “India’s Saffron Brigade” (2022)



Filmmaker: Shehzad Hameed Ahmad), winner at London’s Association for International Broadcasting Awards 2022.



Required Readings



Van der Veer, P. (2021). Minority Rights and Hindu Nationalism in India. Asian Journal of Law and Society, 8(1), 44-55



Additional



Chacko, Priya. (2019). Marketizing Hindutva: The state, society, and markets in Hindu nationalism. Modern Asian Studies, 53(2), 377-410

  • Lecture: India’s Hindu Nationalism and its colonial roots.

  • Essay (only for those who chose to submit it)

  • Presentation of the readings (only for one or two students who chose to do it)

  • Other activities: games, simulation, debates

15

Comparative Religious Nationalism in India and Israel



 

Required Readings



Abiri, Gilad. (2021). Intimate Rivals: The Freedom of Religious Nationalism. Asian Journal of Law and Society, 8(1), 19-43



Additional



Chiriyankandath, James. "Religious nationalism and foreign policy: India and Israel compared." (2007): 1-18.




  • Lecture: comparing religious and nationalism in India and Israel: ethnicity, religion and territoriality

  • Essay (only for those who chose to submit it)

  • Presentation of the readings (only for one or two students who chose to do it)

  • Other activities: games, simulation, debates

16

Conclusion:



The complex relations between ethnicity, religion and nationalism



Bonus topic:



Christian Nationalism in the US

Required



Smith, Anthony D. "Culture, community and territory: the politics of ethnicity and nationalism." International Affairs 72.3 (1996): 445-458.



Juergensmeyer, Mark. "Religious nationalism in a global world." Religions 10.2 (2019): 97.

  • Lecture: concluding the course: is religious nationalism the most lethal kind of nationalism?

  • Discussion: US Christian nationalism

  • Other activities: games, simulation, debates

17

Presentation Week

Presentation Week

Student Final Presentations

18

Final Paper Week

Final Paper Week



No class

Submission of Final Papers



No Homework

Teaching Methods
Teaching Assistant

To be announced


Requirement/Grading

Evaluations




  • Attendance and active participation: 10%

  • 2 Presentations (1 essay, 1 final)    : 30%

  • Weekly short essays (6 essays)      : 30%

  • Final paper                                 : 30%



 



Criterion




  • Attendance and active participation: quality and frequency of contribution to class discussions and intervention. Excellence is marked by continuous contributions to class discussions and interventions which show high levels of analysis. Students should complete the assigned readings prior to the meetings and therefore are prepared to discuss the readings.

  • Presentations: Students present twice: the first one is on the essay topic of their choice, the second one is on the outline of their final paper. Evaluation is based on the quality of argument, evidence of research, presentation structure and cohesiveness, speech flow and quality of oral delivery. Excellence is marked by structured delivery, clear and analytical argument, fluent speech and use of power point or other tools.

  • Weekly short essays: students choose 6 weekly topics on which they would like to write essays. Students write a one-page essay (400-500 words) on at least 2 (two) of the readings, based on 2-3 key points that they deem important to discuss, thus not only a summary of the readings. Short essays are submitted at the end of each meeting.



Final paper: The final paper is 5,000 words, focusing on a case study which is analyzed using the theories and concepts learned in the class. Students should consult the instructor about the topics at least four weeks before the paper is due. Evaluation is based on the quality and structure of the written piece, evidence-based and conceptually grounded argument, adequate literature review. The usage of relevant additional materials not listed in this syllabus is encouraged. Excellence is marked by analytical argument, usage of relevant theories and concepts, understanding of current events and well-argued position.


Textbook & Reference

Please see the course weekly schedule


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