Fall 2018 - IS 313W D100

Nationalism, Democracy and Development in Modern India (4)

Class Number: 8239

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 4 – Dec 3, 2018: Tue, 8:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
    Vancouver

  • Prerequisites:

    45 units. Recommended: IS 210 or 220.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An examination of the differing narratives of nation and modernity in the struggle for independence from colonial rule in India, and their implications for the post-colonial state, for politics and for India's economic development. Writing.

COURSE DETAILS:

In recent years India has been considered to be the fastest growing of all the larger economies of the world, outstripping even China. India is also by far the biggest parliamentary democracy in the world. Yet it has been widely thought by scholars that the successful developmental states of East and Southeast Asia have been characterized by authoritarian regimes. This course asks how and why India, with its parliamentary democracy, has achieved high rates of economic growth and about the relationships of economic growth, democracy and the livelihoods of ordinary Indians. Has the fact that India, with the exception of a short period in the 1970s, functioned as a democracy hindered economic growth? How has the pattern of economic development, in turn, influenced India’s democracy? And how far has economic growth been ‘inclusive’ and delivered improvements in their living standards for Indians? The approach taken in the course is historical, starting with the story of Indian nationalism, and with what may be thought of as the ‘invention’ of modern India by the members of the Constituent Assembly that drew up the Indian Constitution in 1946-49, and concluding with the challenges posed to Indian democracy by the ascendancy of Hindu nationalism.

Grading

NOTES:

 

Students will be required to submit their written assignments to Turnitin.com in order to receive credit for the assignments and for the course.

The School for International Studies strictly enforces the University's policies regarding plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty. Information about these policies can be found at: http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/teaching.html.

REQUIREMENTS:

Writing and Assessment  

In this writing intensive course you will be asked to write four shorter pieces, including a commentary on a pair of short texts (one by Gandhi and the other by Savarkar, one of the ‘founding fathers’ of Hindu nationalism), an op-ed, and a short review; and three longer essays

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Boo, Katherine (2012) Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Bombay Slum. New York: Random House  Does [This fine piece of ‘ethnographic journalism’ reads like a novel, and it illuminates the conditions of life and work of people living in a slum, and their relations with different agencies of the state]  

Jeffrey, Craig (2017) Modern India: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.  [An excellent introduction for those who know little or nothing about India].  

Jeffrey, Craig, Patricia Jeffery and Roger Jeffery (2008)  Degrees Without Freedom?  Education, Masculinities and Unemployment in North India. Stanford: Stanford University Press  [How much difference does education make in people’s lives in the caste society of northern India?]  

Kohli, Atul  (2102)  Poverty Amid Plenty in the New India. New York: Cambridge University Press  [A book that addresses the central questions of the course]

Registrar Notes:

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://students.sfu.ca/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS