GLOBALIZATION, JUSTICE, AND THE CITY

Offered as Criminal Justice (539 ) and Political Science 549 Fall Semester 2001

Instructors: John Hagedorn and Dennis Judd Class Time: M, 3:30-6

Office: 400 CUPPA (Hagedorn), 1114B BSB (Judd) Classroom: BSB 4011

Phone: 6-8361 (Hagedorn), 6-4421 (Judd)

E-mail: huk@uic.edu (Hagedorn), djudd@uic.edu (Judd)

Office Hours: by appt. (it's very easy)

Website address for this course: (http://courseinfo.uic.edu)

This is a pioneering course taught by two instructors who like each other but have never taught together. Sinvce it is a team taught course, it is supported by LAS Associate Dean Gerald Graff. We have designed the course to be demanding but fun. As is customary in a Ph.D.-level course, you may expect to read an impressive volume of intellectually challenging material. We have deliberately chosen readings that are provocative and even maddening at times, and as you will soon learn, we don't agree with everything we've assigned. We identify most of the required reading in this first version of the syllabus, but as the semester progresses we will feel free to revise the syllabus by changing readings, dates of guest presentations, etc. Of course we will advise you in advance of such changes, and John Hagedorn will post changes and other materials on courseinfo.

You can get the class schedule, syllabus, and other course materials by going to http://courseinfo.uic.edu. You will need to log in with your netid and your initial password is the last eight digits of your social security number, with no dashes: e.g 23456789. Please let us know immediately if you are having any trouble accessing courseinf.

The Course Content

Globalization, Justice, and the City is a course that emerged from many conversations between John Hagedorn and Dennis Judd in the cold winter months of the 2000-2001 academic year. John brings his perspectives as a scholar in the field of criminal justice; among other topics, he has conducted a great deal of research on gangs, urban violence, and spatial segregation. Dennis Judd is an specialist in urban political economy; he has conducted research on urban politics, urban development, and globalization and the city. In our research, we both have focused extensively on the spatial segmentation of urban areas. This course will reflect this confluence of interests.

Over the past few years "globalization" has become absorbed into everyday language seamlessly. The transformations the term describes comes into sharp focus when contrasted with the international relationships of the post-World War II era. During the 1950s and 1960s, international trade, capital investment, and labor migration patterns contributed to rapid economic growth in the industrialized nations. Capital-intensive exports were sent from these countries to nations at the periphery of the financial and trade system dominated by the United States and Europe. Low-cost energy was imported from several key oil-producing countries, and basic raw materials were extracted from the so-called "developing" nations. Economic expansion sustained unionization, steadily rising wages, the rapid expansion of the middle class, rapid suburbanization and massive highway and infrastructure projects.

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Industrial urban centers boomed, though racial segregation, poverty, rising crime rates, and physical decay were widely regarded as serious problems within urban areas. In the US and Europe, as well as in Third World countries, a variety of nationalist, student, and others social movements demanded inclusion in the generalized prosperity of the day. On the one hand, governments in Western Europe and the United States financed a variety of welfare programs to meet the demand from the streets. On the other hand, a law and order reaction across the globe set the stage for the later victory of conservative governments in the industrialized worldand the prison build-up in the United States.

In the 1970s global economic relationships began to unravel. Oil prices ratcheted up in 1973 and for several years thereafter. Over the longer term, the old economic arrangements were destabilized by the globalization of investment and production. Multinational corporations developed the ability to shift productive enterprises and investment capital rapidly from place to place. Conglomerate corporations mushroomed in size and administrative capacity by expanding to new locations and by acquiring companies producing different and diversified products and services. Corporate managers constantly calculated the effects of labor costs, tax levels, and governmental policies on production costs and profits.

As the "efficiency" of one location over another became the sole touchstone for corporate decisions, governments likewise retreated from policies that favored cities and regions regarded as dysfunctional. In the 1980s, conservative regimes in the United States and Great Britain lead the way in defining cities and regions as expendable. Especially in the United States but to a lesser degree in Europe, the social fabric, already torn by deepening inequalities, was additionally rent by governmental policies when social programs of all kinds were deeply slashed.

The inequalities and tensions of post-industrial cities are expressed with particular force spatially. Flows of immigration have ratcheted up all over the world as people move in search of jobs and to escape political repression. Within cities, ethnic groups compete intensely for jobs and for housing and an informal economy of illicit services, including the drug trade, has become a major urban employer. It is accurate to say that cities are obsessed with the politics of economic growth, but it is clear that the problems associated with poverty, high rates of population movement, and uneven development are also high on the policy agenda. In the United States, the preoccupation with keeping the social order is amply evidenced by the media attention and money devoted to gangs, drugs, urban violence, and moral issues. And so we come to the focus of this course: globalization, justice, and the city.

Rules of the Game.

This course will be run in a rather straightforward seminar style, composed of a mixture of brief presentations by both of us (and occasionally arguments between us) discussions involving every student in the class. No one will be allowed to sit silently for an entire semester, and we may call on anyone at any time to comment on the readings or even to assist in the presentation. We hold it as a truism that you cannot learn unless you ask questions and participate in discussion. You also can't pass the course.

There are two sets of requirements for this course:

1. You are required to read the course material before each week's class, according to the schedule outlined in the syllabus. We really can't overstate the importance of this particular requirement. A substantial portion of your grade (25%) depends upon your willingness and ability to intelligently discuss the readings during class discussions. To reinforce this point, we will issue mid-term grades on participation so that you will have an opportunity to fix things is you haven't been keeping up. Since class attendance and participation are so important to us, if you must miss a class we would appreciate a call or e-mail in advance.

2. A major research paper is required, and you will also have the opportunity to present your research findings to the class. To help you write high-quality papers, we will describe several interim steps : a statement of topic, a brief review of the literature, and a proposal; in separate hand-outs. Though we will give you ample feedback at each step the work, an overall grade will be awarded for the paper (50% of the course grade); this will reflect your work at each stage as well as an assessment of the final product. The presentation of the paper will count for 25% of the course grade.

The majority of the required readings are included in the books available in the bookstore, and most of the books will be placed on reserve as well. We apologize, in advance, for the amount of money these books cost; to save money you should consider checking some of the books out at the reserve desk; also keep in mind that you may save money by ordering your copies directly through Amazon.com. We may have some extra copies of some of the material, so if buying the books is a hardship, check with us. Additional required and/or recommended readings will be added from time to time during the semester, and all of this material will be placed on reserve. All readings listed except those specifically designated as "required" must be read by the date indicated. Make every effort to read or at least look at reading designated as "recommended;" this is your call.

The following books are available in the bookstore, and are required reading:

Allan H. Spear, Black Chicago: The Making of a Negro Ghetto (University of Chicago Press)

Mike Davis, City of Quartz (Vintage)

Manuel Castells, End of Millenium (Blackwell)

Saskia Sassen, Cities in a World Economy (Sage Publications)

Highly Recommended;

David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity (Blackwell)

AN IMPORTANT REMINDER: The bookstore returns books to distributors at the end of the 7^th week. If you wait to buy books until after that date you may have to do so through Amazon.com or through a special book order. It's your call; just remember that assignments must be read on time whether or not you've purchased the book. At least one copy of each book will also be placed on reserve.