26139 - Comparative Political History

Learning outcomes

The course sets out to provide the methodological tools by which differing national cases may be compared, and hence to enable students to understand social and political dynamics occurring within the public sphere. By the end of the course students will have: mastered the methods of historical comparison and understood their different methodological implications; fully understood the evolution of social dynamics within one or more case studies; learned how to apply the knowledge acquired in analysing case studies to other similar phenomena; learned how to analyse the historical evolution of the public sphere in a comparative perspective; broadened the scope of their disciplinary skills via analysis of the specialist literature, a technique acquired during the course

Course contents

Come back of the Nation State? Nationalism and democracy in the age of globalisation (XIX -XXI centuries )

The course will analyse the historical evolution of nationalism, from the beginning in XIX century until the neo-nationalism in XXI century. In the last years  the critic toward political elites by populist movement has increased the crisis of representative democracy. Within this process national frameworks are more important than in the past. Many scholars has underlined the role played by neo-nationalism. The course aims at analyzing  nationalism and his historical evolution:

-Concept of nation and theory of nationalism

- Nation-Building process in Italy and Germany 

-Dictatorship and nation

- Nation and democracy

-Regionalism and nation

-Constitutional Patriotism

-Neo-nationalism and populism

Readings/Bibliography

Advice

Readings are different between students that are attending the course and Students that are not attending the course

Attending students should study readings in section 1  and section 2

Not attending students 2  should study readings in section 1 +section 3.1 + section 3.2 (choosing 1 book) + section 3.3 (choosing 1 book)

1. Methodology

Compulsory readings for all students
P. Lawrence, Nationalism and historical Writing, in J. Breully (a cura di), The Oxford Handbook of the History of Nationalism, Oxford, Oxford UP, pp. 713-730
Marc Bloch, Per una storia comparata delle società europee, in M. Bloch, Lavoro e tecnica nel medioevo, Roma-Bari. Laterza, 1990, pp. 29-71, 
Heinz Gerhard Haupt, Comparative History – a Contested Method, in «Historisk Tidskrift» 127 (2007), n. 4, pp. 697 ‐716 Theda Skocpol, Margaret Sommers. The Uses of Comparative history in Macrosocial Inquiry , in «Comparative Studies in Society and History» vol. 22, n.2 (aprile 1980), pp. 174-197 M. Werner e B. Zimmermann, Beyond Comparison: Histoire croisée And The Challenge Of Reflexivity, «History and Theory» 45 (February 2006), pp. 30-50. ( nota si saggi saranno in parte resi disponibili su ams campus

 

2. Compulsory readings for ATTENDING students

Syllabur for attending students

All readings will contribute to final grade.
Readings will be upload to AMS campus with few exeptions. In such a case the stdent should contact the teacher.
Students are expected to read each reading before  the lesson and to debate it in the second part of the lesson.

Lesson 1 Course presentation No reading

Lesson 2 Methodology and comparison
-P. Lawrence, Nationalism and historical Writing, in J. Breully (a cura di), The Oxford Handbook of the History of Nationalism, Oxford, Oxford UP, pp. 713-730
-Marc Bloch, Per una storia comparata delle società europee, in M. Bloch, Lavoro e tecnica nel medioevo, Roma-Bari. Laterza, 1990 ( ma va bene qualunque edizione), pp. 29-71,
-Heinz Gerhard Haupt, Comparative History – a Contested Method, in «Historisk Tidskrift» 127 (2007), n. 4, pp. 697 ‐716
-Theda Skocpol, Margaret Sommers. The Uses of Comparative history in Macrosocial Inquiry , in «Comparative Studies in Society and History» vol. 22, n.2 (aprile 1980), pp. 174-197
-M. Werner e B. Zimmermann, Beyond Comparison: Histoire croisée And The Challenge Of Reflexivity, «History and Theory» 45 (February 2006), pp. 30-50.

Lesson 3 Theories of nationalism
-Ernst Gellner, Nationalism, in «Theory and Society» 10 (1981), pp. 753-776
-Michael Freeden, Is nationalism a distinct ideology?, in «Political studies» XLVI (1998), pp. 748-765

Lesson 4 Stereotypes and identities
-Ph. GleasonIdentifying Identity: a Semantic history, in «Journal of American History» LXIX (1983), pp. 910-931

Lesson 5 Unification Nationalism: the german case
-Siegfried Weichlein, Regionalism, Federalism and Nationalism in the German Empire, in: Region and State in Nineteenth-Century Europe. Nation-Building, Regional Identities and Separatism, ed. Joost Augusteijn & Eric Storm, Palgrave New York 2012, 93-110.

Lesson 6 Unification Nationalism: Italy
-Federico Ferretti, Inventing Italy. Geography, Risorgimento and national imagination: the international circulation of geographical knowledge in the nineteenth century in «.Geographical Journal175 (2014), pp. 402-413.,

Lesson 7  Civic Nationalism: France
-T. Baycroft, France. Ethnicity and the revolutionary tradition, in T. Baycroft, M. Hewison, What Is a nation 1789-1914, Oxford, Oxford UP, 2006, pp. 28-41.

Lesson 8 The Case of United Kingdom
-Colin Kidd, Integration: Patriotism and Nationalism, in H. T. Dickinson (a cura di), A Companion to Eighteenth-Century Britain, Blackwell, 2002, pp. 369-380

Lesson 9 The rise of regionalism at the end of XIX Century
-Stefano Cavazza, Regionalism in Italy: a critique, in Eric Storm – Joost Augusteijn (eds.), Region and State in Nineteenth-Century Europe. Nation-Building, Regional Identities and Separatism, London, Palgrave, 2012, pp. 69-89

Lesson 10 LaThe crisi of ottoman empire and the rise of turkish nationalism
-Selim Deringil, The Ottoman Origins of Kemalist Nationalism: Namik Kemal to Mustafa Kemal, in «European History Quarterly» XXIII ( 1991), pp. 165-191.

Lesson 11 Paper project 1: Esercitations on primary sources with group discussion
No reading. Students will collect one or more citation on a topic suggested by Teacher and send ihm before the lesson. During the lesson each citation will be analyzed and discussed by students(pertinence, relevance, utilisation in a paper etc.).

Lesson 12 War, nation, fascisms
-Sinisa Malesevic, Nationalism, war and social cohesion, in «Ethnic and Racial Studies» 34 (2011) pp. 142-161
-Stefano Cavazza, National identity in fascist Italy, in Francis Demier et Elena Musiani (sous la direction de), Le nations européennes entre histoire et Mémoire, XIXe.XXe Siècle, Paris, Presse Universitaires de Paris Nanterre, 2017, pp. 119-127

Lesson 13 The nation's perception after the II WW
-Stefan Berger, A Return to the National Paradigm? National History Writing in Germany, Italy, France, and Britain from 1945 to the Present, in «The Journal of modern History» LXXVII (September 2005), pp. 629–678

Lesson14 The New regionalism
-Michael Keating, Rethinking the Region Culture, Institutions and Economic Development In Catalonia and Galicia, in «European Urban and Regional Studies» 8 (2001), pp. 217–234.
-S. Cavazza, L'invenzione della tradizione e la lega lombarda, in "Iter-percorsi di ricerca" n. 8 1994, pp. 197-214

Lesson 15 The Crisis of Soviet Union and  the rise ot nationalism in eastern europe
-Charles Tilly, Ethnic Conflict in the Soviet Union, in «Theory and Society» XX (1991), pp. 569-580
-Larry Wolff, Revising Eastern Europe: Memory and the Nation in Recent Historiography, in «The Journal of Modern History» LXVIII (2006), pp. 93–118

Lesson 16 Crisis of national identities?
-H. Kearney, Post-Imperial Britain: Post-Nationalist Ireland, in H. Kearney,. The British Isles: A History of Four Nations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014, pp. 304-321.

Lesson 17 The constitutional patriotism and Europe
-J-W. Müller, Constitutional Patriotism, Princeton, Princeton University Press , 2009, chapter 3 A European Constitutional Patriotism? On Memory, Militancy, And Morality, pp. 93-139

Lesson 18 The rise of neo-nationalism
-Andre Gringrich, Neo-nationalism and the reconfiguration of Europe, in «Social Anthropology» XIV (2006), pp. 195-217.

Lesson 19 Paper project 2:
Paper's structure on an historical topic, Selection of Bibliography, argument structure. At the end of the lesson each student will receive a subject for his paper

Lesson 20 Final discussion
-C. Calhoun, Nationalism and Ethnicity, in «Annual Review of Sociology» XIX (1993), pp. 211-239

 

3. Compulsory readings for students that WON'T attend the class

3.1 General readings

John Breully, Il nazionalismo e lo stato , Bologna, Il Mulino, 1995

3.2 Theory of nationalism (One book should be chosen in this list)

B. Anderson, Comunità immaginate: origini e fortuna dei nazionalismi, Roma, Manifestolibri, 2009
E. Gellner, Nazioni e nazionalismo, Roma, Editori riuniti, 1997
A.D. Smith, Le origini culturali delle nazioni: gerarchia, alleanza, repubblica, Bologna : Il mulino, 2010
A.D. Smith, Nationalism and modernism : a critical survey of recent theories of nations and nationalism, London, Routledge, 1998

3.3 Case studies (One book should be chosen in this list)

A.M. Banti, La nazione del Risorgimento: parentela, santità e onore alle origini dell'Italia unita, Torino, Einaudi, 2011
T. Baycroft (a cura di), What is a nation? : Europe 1789 - 1914, Oxford, Oxford UP, 2006
T.Baycroft, France, London: Hodder Education, 2008
A. de Francesco, The antiquity of the Italian nation : the cultural origins of a political myth in modern Italy, 1796-1943, Oxford, Oxford UP, 2013
M. Kenny, The politics of English nationhood, Oxford, Oxford UP,2014
A. Gringrich, Neo-nationalism in Europe and beyond: perspectives from social anthropology,New York Berghahn, 2006
M. Herzfeld, Intimità culturale: antropologia e nazionalismo, Napoli, L'ancora del Mediterraneo, 2003

Teaching methods

Lecture and seminar

Assessment methods

Assessment for attending students

-50% paper on a subject proposed by the teacher (at least 2850 words without bibliography)

-20% assessment of the participation and of the paper's discussion

-30% Oral examination on the readings (Section 1+2)

-Deadline fo the delivery of the paper: 26 january 2018 ( 1 copy printed and signed by the student+ 1 copy send in word format)

-Regarding structure, footnotes and bibliography, students should follow the teacher's guidelines that are published on AMS campus.

Erasmus and overseas students attending the class
Erasmus and overseas students can write the paper and take the oral examination using English, German or French .

Assessment for NOT attending students :
50% Written examination on readings (section 1 + 3.1)
50% Oral examination on readings (section 3.2 + 3.3) .

Erasmus and overseas students not attending the class
Erasmus and overseas students can use English, German or French for the essay and for the oral examination.

Teaching tools

Videoprojector

Office hours

See the website of Stefano Cavazza