Description: We consider how a liberal society should treat social diversity: Should it ignore differences in race, gender, religion, culture, ethnicity and lifestyle and treat all people equally? Should it recognize how difference historically has led to unfair treatment for some and provide remedies to groups that have been discriminated against? Should it recognize diversity as a value actively to be promoted, or as a destabilizing threat to be suppressed? The course is interdisciplinary, drawing on literature, film, philosophy, legal decisions, and the scholarship of historians, economists, and other social scientists. We will emphasize how theories of liberty and equality are put into practice by focusing on topics such as affirmative action, racial profiling, hate speech codes, the university curriculum, and anti-pornography laws.
Reading: Will Kymlicka, Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights; J.S. Mill, On Liberty; Ronald Takaki, From Different Shores; Richard Wright, Native Son. Court cases and some articles are available on the web; other readings, indicated with a *, are in a course packet on reserve at the library. Other recommended materials that are on reserve are so indicated.
Requirements: Participation in discussions. Grading will be based on several short response papers, some of which may take the form of in-class writings (40%), two 5-7 page papers on topics covered in the course (50%), and class participation (10%). Unexcused absences may result in a reduced grade.
Liberalism, Community, Traditions
Classical liberalism values individual rights and seeks to promote individual liberty. Liberalism encourages individuals to do what they please, unconstrained by prejudice and tradition. But if everyone does whatever they like, it may be difficult to maintain traditions and ties to community. For example, it may be difficult for a Christian fundamentalist community to thrive if people within this community are permitted to gamble, use drugs, view pornography, worship Satan, or lead a homosexual lifestyle. In this introductory section we begin to think about the conflicts between liberty and social diversity on the one hand, and community, tradition and social order on the other.
Aug. 24: Introduction. No reading.
Aug. 29: Liberalism vs Community
Reading: Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986)--read all the opinions, but you may omit Part I of Blackmun's dissent: available online; begin reading J.S. Mill, On Liberty, chapters 1, 3, 4, 5
Assignment 1 Due
For those interested: Massachusetts Supreme Court opinion on civil unions vs civil marriages, online; Grutter v. Bollinger; the recent Supreme Court case concerning whether the Boy Scouts may bar gays: See "Battle Looms When Supreme Court Hears Plea of Boy Scouts to Bar Gays," New York Times, April 16, 2000 (by Linda Greenhouse); "Supreme Court Backs Boyscouts," New York Times, June 29, 2000 (by Linda Greenhouse); and "Victory Has Consequences of Its Own," New York Times, June 29, 2000 (by Andrew Jacobs)--all available by searching "news" at Lexis-Nexis on an FAU server (or from home, create a proxy--your login is your 14-digit student ID, and the password is 'fau'). The Court's decision, Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, is available at online.
Aug. 31: Individualism and liberty.
Rdg: Mill, On Liberty chapters 1, 3, 4, 5.
For those interested: Emerson, "Self-Reliance"; Isaiah Berlin, "Two Concepts of Liberty"*
Sep. 5: Problems with individualism, and the need for community
Rdg: "The Responsive Communitarian Platform"*; Robert Bellah, "The Quest for Self"*; Williams, "Japan: The Price of Safe Streets"*
Recommended Films: American Beauty; Fiddler on the Roof; Stromboli
For those interested: Michael Novak, "Truth and Liberty: the present crisis in our culture," Review of Politics 59:5-24 (Winter 1997); Michael Oakeshott, Rationalism in Politics and other essays; Mary Ann Glendon, Rights Talk
Race and Society
Racial disparities and hatred have been the source of monumental political and legal conflict. In this and the next section we will discuss the historical background of this conflict, including the use of race as a legal classification used to discriminate against African Americans, and consider the (in)appropriateness of race as a biological category.
Sep. 7: What are race, culture and ethnicity and should we identify people on the basis of these categories?
Rdg: Steven Jay Gould, Ever Since Darwin (chapters 29-31)* Mismeasure of Man, pp. 324-334 (handout); Nancy Krieger and Mary Bassett, "The Health of Black Folk," in Harding, ed. The 'Racial' Economy of Science*; Stephanie Saul, "U.S. to Review Drug Intended for One Race," New York Times, June 13, 2005, available by searching news/general news at Lexis-Nexis
For those interested: Steven Jay Gould, Mismeasure of Man (on reserve); Hypertension in African Americans (Scientific American, online); "Do races differ? Not really, genes show," New York Times, Aug. 22, 2000 (byline Natalie Angier), "How Culture Molds Habits of Thought," New York Times, Aug. 8, 2000 (byline Erica Goode), and Michael Janofsky, "Removal of Pupil's Project About Race Ignites Debate," New York Times, March 4, 2001; Sheryl Gay Stolberg, "Shouldn't a Pill be Colorblind?" New York Times, May 13, 2001; Nicholas Wade, "Race is seen as real guide to track roots of disease," New York Times, July 30, 2002, all available by searching news/general news at Lexis-Nexis
Japanese internment: Korematsu v. U.S., 323 U.S. 214 (1944), online; history
Sep. 12: Race and identity (1)
Film: Get on the Bus (Spike Lee)
Rdg: Begin Richard Wright, Native Son
Sep. 14: Race and identity (2)
Rdg: Richard Wright, Native Son
Sep. 19: Do people identify more on the basis of race or class?
Rdg: Winthrop Jordan, "First Impressions: Libidinous Blacks," in Takaki, ed., Different Shores; Edna Bonacich, "A Theory of Ethnic Antagonism: The Split Labor Market," in Takaki, ed. (arguing that economic motives, not racial prejudice, best explains ethnic antagonisms)
For those interested: T.H. Breen, "The Giddy Multitude: Race and Class in Early Virginia," in Takaki, ed.; Tomas Almaguer, "Racial Domination and Class Conflict in Capitalist Agriculture: The Oxnard Sugar Beet Workers' Strike of 1903," in Takaki, ed.
Assignment 2 due
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is an effort to redress past injustices, but in giving special preferences to minorities it arguably perpetuates stereotypes. Does affirmative action make people equal, or perpetuate inequality? Does it provide justice or perpetuate injustice?
Sep. 21: Past injustices
Rdg: Robert Blauner, "Colonized and Immigrant Minorities," in Takaki, ed.; Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896): LII version; findlaw version
For those interested: John Higham, "Strangers in the Land: Nativism and Nationalism," in Takaki, ed. (discussing the hostility towards immigrant Slavs, Italians and Jews in the U.S. in the 1890s); Report on the Rosewood, Florida race riots, available online
Sep. 26: Why do some groups tend to be poorer than others?
Rdg: Ivan Light, "Ethnic Enterprise in America: Japanese, Chinese, and Blacks," in Takaki, ed.; William A. Darity Jr. and Patrick L. Mason, "Evidence on Discrimination in Employment: Codes of Color, Codes of Gender," Journal of Economic Perspectives 12:63-90 (Spring 1998)*
For those interested: Clara Rodriguez, "Puerto Ricans and the Political Economy of New York," in Takaki, ed.
Sep. 28: Equality in theory
Rdg: J.R. Lucas, Against Equality*; Bernard Shaw, The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism, Capitalism, Sovietism, and Fascism (1928), chapters 9-10, 22 (handout)
For those interested: Harry Frankfurt, "Equality as a Moral Ideal," Ethics 98:21-43 (1987)
Oct. 3: Is Affirmative Action the right solution?--arguments against
Rdg: Nathan Glazer, "The emergence of an American ethnic pattern," in Takaki, ed.; Thomas Sowell, "We've more than our quota of quotas," in Takaki, ed.; William Julius Wilson, "The Black Community: Race and Class," in Takaki, ed.; Shelby Steele, A Negative Vote on Affirmative Action*
For those interested: The conservative perspective on racism is presented in Dinesh D'Souza, End of Racism; Stephan and Abigail Thernstrom, America in Black and White; Charles Murray, Losing Ground
Oct. 5: Is Affirmative Action the right solution?--arguments for
Rdg: Takaki, "Reflections on Racial Patterns in America," in Takaki, ed.; Stanley Fish, Reverse Racism or How the pot Got to Call the Kettle Black; Lester Thurow, "Affirmative Action in a Zero-Sum Society," in Takaki, ed.; Takaki, "To Count or Not to Count by Race and Gender?" in Takaki, ed.
For those interested: Howard McGary, "Justice and Reparation," Philosophical Forum 9:250-63 (1977-78); Thomas Nagel, A Defense of Affirmative Action; Americans United for Affirmative Action
Oct. 10: Affirmative action in the courts
Rdg: Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978), and summary of recent cases are on reserve at the library. For those interested: The complete Bakke decision is available on the web: LII version; findlaw version; Ronald Dworkin, "Race and the uses of law," New York Times, April 13, 2001 (op ed), available at lexis-nexis:search news/general.
For those interested: Hopwood v. Texas, 78 F. 3d 932 (1996), available at lexis-nexis; City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co., 488 U.S. 469 (1989), and Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena, 515 U.S. 200 (1995): excerpts are on reserve; complete case is available on the web: LII version; findlaw version
Oct. 12: Class Debate: Florida's admissions and scholarship policy: The One-Florida Initiative and the Bright Futures scholarships
Harvard Civil Rights Project research reports on Florida's and other's new admissions policies, online
Search lexis-nexis for news articles (click news, U.S. News, Florida (or southeast region) for state newspaper coverage; or general news for national coverage)
Chronicle of Higher Education, June 2, 2000 p. A31, Jeffrey Selingo, "What States Aren't Saying About the X-Percent Solution"--available at lexis-nexis:search news/campus.
Hate Speech Codes May a state university restrict the liberty of people to express their dislike or hate of people who are different than them?
Oct. 17: The argument in favor of free speech: J.S. Mill's On Liberty
Rdg: J.S. Mill, On Liberty, chapter 2
Oct. 19: Campus Hate Speech Codes
Rdg: Andrew Altman, Liberalism and Campus Hate Speech: A Philosophical Examination, Ethics 103:302-17 (January 1993)--available at JSTOR in the FAU domain
For those interested: R.A.V. v. St. Paul, 505 U.S. 377 (1992): available online
Paper One Due
Race and criminal justice A disproportionate number of minorities are on deathrow; is unequal justice still justice? It is common practice for police to treat people of color with greater suspicion, based on statistical data that they are more likely to commit certain crimes. Should we use racial profiling?
Oct. 24: Capital punishment and racial disparities
Rdg: Steven Nathanson, Does it Matter if the Death Penalty is Arbitrarily Administered?*; Ernest van den Haag, Refuting Nathanson*
For those interested: "Questions of Death Row Justice for poor people in Alabama," New York Times, March 1, 2000, p. A1 (byline: Sara Rimer): available by searching "news" at Lexis-Nexis on an FAU server; and "Study Finds Racial Bias in Public Schools," New York Times, March 1, 2000, p. A14 (byline: Tamar Lewin); Disparities in sentencing for vehicular homicide based on victim race/gender (Glaeser and Sacerdote, National Bureau of Economic Research paper, April 2000)
Oct. 26: Racial profiling
Rdg: Jeffrey Goldberg, "The Color of Suspicion," New York Times, June 20, 1999--available by searching "news/general news" at Lexis-Nexis on an FAU server
Gender Women earn less than men generally and are seen by many as the target of explicit as well as less overt discrimination. In this section we consider a few of the many controversies associated with the category of gender.
Oct. 31: Pornography and free speech
Rdg: Pressner, "Pornography: Free Speech versus Civil Rights?" in Etzioni, ed. Rights and the Common Good*; Hudnut v. American Booksellers Assoc., Inc., 771 F. 2d 323 (available at lexis-nexis in the FAU domain or from home, create a proxy--your login is your 14-digit student ID, and the password is 'fau')
For those interested: Roth v. U.S.; Miller v. California--both available at LII or findlaw
Nov. 2: Gender Inequality
Rdg: Susan Okin, Justice, Gender and the Family, chapter 7*
For those interested: J.S. Mill, The Subjection of Women
Case study: should women be banned from certain jobs which involve a risk to a potential fetus? See UAW v. Johnson Controls, Inc., 499 U.S. 187, reversing 886 F. 2d 871 (7th Cir. 1989). Both cases are available at lexis-nexis.
Nov. 7: Do women identify mainly by gender, by race, or by class?
Rdg: Alma Garcia, "The Development of Chicana Feminist Discourse," in Takaki, ed.; Bonnie Thornton Dill, "Race, Class, and Gender: Prospects for an All-Inclusive Sisterhood?" in Takaki, ed.
Rdg: Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972): LII version; findlaw version; Margaret Talbot, "A Mighty Fortress," New York Times, Feb. 27, 2000--available by searching "news/general news" at Lexis-Nexis
Nov. 14: Native Americans
Rdg: Ronald Takaki, "The Metaphysics of Civilization: Indians and the Age of Jackson," in Takaki, ed.; and Employment Division of Oregon v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990):online
For those interested: Paula Gunn Allen, "Who is Your Mother? Red Roots of White Feminism," in Takaki, ed.; Lyng v Northwest Indian Cemetery Prot. Assn, 485 U.S. 439 (1988) held that the U.S. government may permit the building of a road even though the road causes serious damage to areas sacred to Native Americans: online
Nov. 16: Feminism and multiculturalism
Rdg: Okin, "Feminism and Multiculturalism: some tensions," Ethics 108:4 (July 1998)--available at webluis: search 'Academic Index Full Text' in the FAU domain; and Nina Seigal, "Orthodox women Mix Old Faith and New Jobs," New York Times, Jan. 4, 2001, search news/general news at Lexis-Nexis.
Nov. 21: The rights of minorities within a liberal state (1)
Rdg: Kymlicka, Multicultural Citizenship, chapter 8; Spencer Sherman, "Legal Clash of Cultures," National Law Journal (August 5, 1985) (available at Lexis-Nexis: select legal research, then legal news, type "Legal Clash of Cultures" as the keyword, and select "all available dates" in the date menu)
Dec. 5-7: Multiculturalism and the university
Rdg: Dinesh D'Souza, "Travels with Rigoberta: Multiculturalism at Stanford," in Illiberal Education*; Ronald Takaki, "At the End of the Century: the 'Culture Wars' in the U.S.," in Takaki, ed.; Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., "The Return to the Melting Pot," in Takaki, ed.; Molefi Kete Asante, "The Afrocentric Idea," in Takaki, ed.; Diane Ravitch, "Cultural Pluralism," in Takaki, ed.
For those interested: Susan Wolf, "Comment," in Taylor, Multiculturalism and the Politics of Recognition*; Paula Gunn Allen, "Who is Your Mother? Red Roots of White Feminism," in Takaki, ed. (on the influence of Native American ideas on U.S. political values and institutions)
Paper two due
---------------------------------------- Created by Mark Tunick Updated 1.20.2006
