30227

Political Sociology: Theories of the State

Jan Boesten

Information for students

Requirements:
Participation: Regular presence and active participation in the discussions, presentation on one week’s readings (Referat).
Grade: Seminar paper of about 3.000 words.
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Comments

The seminar will introduce students with the most important contributions to our understanding of the political sociology of the state. Beginning with Weber’s seminal definition of the state as the monopoly of violence, the readings will introduce students to seminal works that span different geographical zones as well as historical eras of state making and transformation. The goal is to give students a critical understanding of the literature of the political sociology of the state (and its shortcomings). Each student is expected to prepare at least one critical review of a reading. Seminars begin with a short presentation by the respective student (Referat), which will then result in the seminar discussion. close

Suggested reading

Weber, Max. Politics as Vocation. Online at: http://fs2.american.edu/dfagel/www/Class%20Readings/Weber/PoliticsAsAVocation.pdf.

Tilly, Charles. 1985. Bringing the State Back In. Edited by Peter B. Evans, Dietrich Rueschemeyer, and Theda Skocpol. Bringing the State Back In. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511628283. P. 169-186.

Tilly, Charles. 1990. Coercion, Capital and European States, AD 990-1990. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell. P. 1-91.

Centeno, Miguel Angel. 1997. “Blood and Debt: War and Taxation in Nineteenth-Century Latin America.” American Journal of Sociology 102 (6): 1565–1605. https://doi.org/10.1086/231127.

Queralt, Didac. Pawned States: State Building in the Era of International Finance. Princeton University Press, 2022. P. 1-57.

Sebastián Mazzuca. Latecomer State Formation: Political Geography and Capacity Failure in Latin America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2021. P. 1-48; p. 101-141.

Jackson, Robert H. and Carl G. Rosberg. 1982. “Why Africa’s Weak States Persist: The Empirical and the Juridical in Statehood,” World Politics, 35, p. 1-24.

Reno, William. 1999. Warlord Politics in Africa. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner. Chapters 1,2.

Herbst, Jeffrey. 2000. States and Power in Africa: Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. P. 3-33, p. 139-173.

Mann, Michael. 1984. “The Autonomous Power of the State: Its Origins, Mechanisms, and Results.” European Journal of Sociology 25(2): p. 185-213.

Scott, James C. 1998. Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. P. 1-85.

Anderson, Benedict. 1983. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, New York: Verso, Chapters 1-3.

Arjona, Ana. 2014. “Wartime Institutions.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 58 (8): p. 1360–89. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022002714547904.

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16 Class schedule

Regular appointments

Wed, 10:00 - 12:00 16 Class schedule

Wed, 2024-10-16 10:00 - 12:00

Lecturers:
Dr. Jan Boesten