Mary Kaldor, "Beyond Militarism, Arms Races,
and Arms Control" and:
- Malcolm Gladwell, "The Power of Context"
- Malcolm Gladwell, "The Power of Context,"
and Martha Nussbaum, "Women and Cultural
Universals"
- Lani Guinier, "Second Prom and Second
Primaries: The Limits of Majority Rule"
- Martha Nussbaum, "Women and Cultural Universals"
- Frans de Waal, Selections from The
Ape and the Sushi Master
- Lani Guiner, "Second Prom and Second Primaries:
The Limits of Majority Rule" and Frans de Waal,
Selections from The Ape and the Sushi Master
- Susan Faludi, "The Naked Citadel"
and and Lani Guinier, "Second Prom and Second
Primaries: The Limits of Majority Rule"
- James Scott, "Behind the Official Story"
and Susan Faludi, "The Naked Citadel"
- Malcolm Gladwell, "The Power of Context" and Azar Nafisi, Selections from Reading Lolita in Tehran
For more assignment ideas involving this essay,
please visit the Kaldor
link-o-mat.
Kaldor: The Future of American Militarism
According to Mary Kaldor, America is transitioning to a new kind of militarism,
one aimed at allowing us to fight wars without casualties. At the same
time, the US is becoming a major player in various multinational peacekeeping
efforts. Evaluate the tensions between these two roles for the American
military by using Kaldor's ideas to examine "America's Army,"
the video game released online by the US Army (http://www.americasarmy.com).
You can examine either the video game itself, or the variety of texts
surrounding it, such as its forum.
Drafts must be 3 pages long. Final papers must be 4 pages long.
(To see the rest of the assignments in this sequence, please visit our
sample sequences page.)
Barclay Barrios
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Kaldor and Gladwell: Context and the War on Terrorism
In your last paper you were asked to consider the
possibilities and limits of “rethinking” to alter the world.
In his chapter, “The Power of Context (Part One),” Malcolm Gladwell
argues for another way to understand and effect change. While Gladwell
looks at the epidemic of crime in New York City in the mid 1980s and the
dramatic drop in crime rates a decade later and Mary Kaldor points to
“new wars” as an epidemic at the beginning of the 21st
century, they both focus on the contagious nature of violence. How
does the “Power of Context” help explain why the US is involved
in a “war on terrorism” and how does it suggest possible resolutions
to this conflict? Was September 11 a “little thing?” Does
Gladwell’s theory have predictive value? That is could it tell us,
ahead of time, whether or not the humanitarian approach could “tip”
the current epidemic of violence and war to a time of relative peace?
What other “signals” or environmental shifts could work to cause
this change? Are human’s reactions to violence and war an
intrinsic part of how we’re structured or are they subject to small
shifts in situation?
To see the rest of the assignments in this sequence, please visit our
sample sequences page.)
Piper Kendrix Williams
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Nussbaum, Gladwell, Kaldor: The Power of Context and Global Change
Malcolm Gladwell argues that change can be accomplished simply by altering
the smallest values of an environment. While the Power of Context seemed
to be effective in New York City, how effective might it be on a global
scale? For this essay, consider the function of the power of context in
effecting global change.
Drafts must be 4 pages long. Final papers must be 5-6 pages long.
(To see the rest of the assignments in this sequence, please visit our
sample sequences page.)
Barclay Barrios
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Kaldor and Nussbaum: War and Human Capability
Although Martha Nussbaum's immediate concern is the plight of women around
the world, her articulation of the central human functional capabilities
has implications for all human beings. Form a project in which you consider
the impact of the military and war--in its new and traditional forms--on
human functional capabilities.
Drafts must be 4 pages long. Final papers must be 5 pages long.
(To see the rest of the assignments in this sequence, please visit our
sample sequences page.)
Barclay Barrios
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de Waal, Guinier, Kaldor: What is to be gained
by "rethinking the world"?
In the selections from The Ape and the Sushi Master we’ve
read, Frans de Waal provides us with an optimistic interpretation of human
nature, advocating an understanding of human evolution as shaped by “kindness,”
rather than “fitness.” He argues, “At least in some cases,
we seem to be dealing with the genuine article: a good deed done and
intended” (333). Lani Guinier, in “Second Proms and Second
Primaries: The Limits of Majority Rule,” argues for a hopeful revision
of American politics, one that will fulfill the “ideal of reciprocity…
[and] the moral authority” of democracy (339). Both writers rethink
old and static ideas in order to construct a better world. In “Beyond
Militarism, Arms Races and Arms Control,” Mary Kaldor analyses the
nature of armed forces and war in the post-Cold War period. She also extends
a new way to think, extending the “humanitarian approach” as
a way out of “wars that cannot be won” (9). All three writers
implicitly suggest a role for individuals in changing human, national,
and global relations, subscribing to a belief in an essential human equality.
Given the world Kaldor describes, does it make sense for the individual
to re-think the world? What’s at stake? For whom? In beginning
this paper you may want to consider the following: de Waal and Guinier
provide specific ways to rethink: for example, in the “survival of
the kindness” model, locating acts of intended kindness and altruism
and in a proportional system of politics, achieving reciprocity. Use these
and other specifics to think though concrete ways to achieve the “humanitarian
approach” Kaldor calls for.
I will evaluate your paper by looking at:
1. Your project:
You should express and support your own idea about the assigned topic
and use textual evidence from de Waal, Guinier, and Kaldor to help develop
and support your claim.
2. Your organization:
You should express, explain, and explore a central claim in each paragraph.
Your paragraphs should connect logically to each other. The paragraphs
should all work toward developing your central project.
3. Working with
Texts: Choose relevant concept quotations and examples. Explain the connections
between this evidence and your larger project.
4. Your sentence
clarity and correctness: Proofread your essay carefully for grammar and
spelling errors.
To see the rest of the assignments in this sequence, please visit our
sample sequences page.)
Piper Kendrix Williams
Frans de Waal, Guinier, Kaldor: Three
Approaches to Revising the World
In "Beyond Militarism, Arms Races, and Arms Control,"
Mary Kaldor describes the different types of armed forces that have developed
in the world following the Cold War. She offers the "humanitarian
approach" and the institution of "laws of war" as strategies
that will prevent both a "war of global annihilation" and the
present "series of real wars that cannot be won" (394). Just
as Guinier rethinks the ideals of democracy and de Waal rethinks the role
of kindness in evolutionary theory, Mary Kaldor suggests ways for changing
the position of national armed forces in contemporary society.
How does Kaldor's humanitarian approach ask you to reevaluate
Guinier's "system of proportionality" and de Waal's "survival
of the kindest"? Did reading Kaldor help you recognize strengths
and weaknesses in Guinier and de Waal?
This paper asks you to compare and evaluate these three approaches
to revising the world. To answer this question, you might want to consider
if proportional voting or majority rule would fit into Kaldor's "humanitarian
approach." Does Kaldor's essay question assumptions regarding kindness,
altruism, or human goodness? Is altruism a prerequisite to peacekeeping
and "humanitarian law enforcement?" You can develop a project
based on your own ideas and questions, but be sure to evaluate the action
horizons of each author.
Carrie Preston, Spring 2003
For the rest of this assignment sequence, see the Re-Vision,
Tradition & Public Life sequence
Faludi, Guinier, Kaldor: Tradition and Exclusion
In "The Naked Citadel," Faludi explores the distinctive culture
of the Citadel, a state-funded military institution in South Carolina,
which, until the controversial case of Shannon Faulkner, was exclusively
male. The faculty, administration, alumni, and cadets who opposed admitting
women were deeply invested in, and committed to, the traditions and rituals
that have developed since the institution was founded in 1882. The reason
most frequently cited for excluding Faulkner and other women was, "She
would be destroying a long and proud tradition" (256). Both Guinier
and Kaldor also discuss cultures and traditions that are exclusive. In
"Second Proms and Second Primaries: The Limits of Majority Rule,"
Guinier offers two examples of majority rule that exclude a specific minority
group: racialized voting in Phillips County and the prom at Brother Rice
High School. According to the judge in the case of Whitfield, et al. vs.
State Democratic Party, "Americans have traditionally been schooled
in the notion of majority rule…" (qtd. in Guinier 342). Similarly,
in "Beyond Militarism, Arms Races, and Arms Control," Mary Kaldor
discusses the "new wars" involving informal or private military
networks ("netforce"), which cohere around "an extreme
political ideology based on the exclusive claim to state power on the
basis of identity - ethnic chauvinism or religious communalism" (386).
Using Faludi and either Guinier or Kaldor, consider why these traditions
exclude certain groups, genders, and/or races. There are thousands of
traditions ranging from the familiar and formal ritual of Christian Communion
or Jewish Shabbat to the private rituals of a family surrounding various
holidays.
Are all traditions inherently exclusive, or can traditions and cultures
be fully inclusive? Are traditions a positive or negative force in human
society, and what right, if any, should they have to exist?
To help you write this essay, you might want to consider the relationship
between traditions and family groups, violence or war, citizenship, gender
roles (masculinity, femininity), political power, and/or religion.
Carrie Preston, Spring 2003
For the rest of this assignment sequence, see the Re-Vision,
Tradition & Public Life sequence
Scott, Faludi, and Kaldor: The Transcript
Test
In your last paper, I asked you to take a position on the inclusiveness
or exclusiveness of traditions and to determine if traditions have an
inherent right to exist. In class discussion, we discovered that there
could be a contradiction between the publicly stated claims of a tradition
and the behaviors or actions that the tradition actually produces. We
also realized that certain groups might have the power to enforce traditions
and that others might participate in traditions with varying degrees of
willingness and compulsion. James C. Scott's "Behind the Official
Story" offers an approach for understanding and explaining the interactions
between dominant and subordinate groups. He suggests that "public
transcripts," the open interaction between those involved in unequal
power relations often conceal the real distribution of power and the "hidden
transcripts" that take place "offstage," outside of the
"power-laden context," and between members of the same group
(555).
For this paper, you must apply Scott's explanatory model to the unequal
power relations that Kaldor and/or Faludi discuss.
You must first determine where structures of dominance appear in their
essays and then decide how to distinguish between the dominant and subordinate
groups. Who holds the power, and how do you know (or why is it impossible
to come to a decision)? Do the authors (Kaldor or Faludi) give you the
public transcripts or the hidden transcripts in their essays? Scott insists
that "by assessing the discrepancy between the hidden transcript
and the public transcript we may begin to judge the impact of domination
on public discourse" (555). Can you, using Scott's framework, evaluate
how power relations influence discourse in the examples you have chosen?
That is, does Scott's approach work?
Carrie Preston, Spring 2003
For the rest of this assignment sequence, see the Re-Vision,
Tradition & Public Life sequence
Kaldor, Gladwell, Nafisi and "New War"
Mary Kaldor, in “Beyond Militarism, Arms Races and Arms Control” and Malcolm Gladwell, in “The Power of Context: Bernie Goetz and the Rise and Fall of New York City Crime”, are both concerned with varying levels of aggressive, violent, “new war” behaviors. Azar Nafisi's excerpt from Reading Lolita in Tehran, one might argue, points to possible results of this type of behavior, which included “diversions and considerations forced on [Iranian civilians] by the regime” (p. 11). Gladwell looks at New York City crime, mock prisons and Good Samaritan experiments, among other things, to illustrate how incremental environmental changes may result in major behavioral and societal changes. Kaldor's concerns are more global, as she documents the shifts in warfare since the Cold War era. She offers explanations for these, as well as a potential solution to curtail this epidemic of “new war” violence and bloodshed. Both of these texts might be used to make meaning of what happened in Nafisi's Iran , and the effect that it had on the women in Nafisi's reading group.
For this paper, think about what you feel is needed to reverse “new war” aggression and the ideology behind it. What are contemporary “new wars”, according to these texts? Use Kaldor, Gladwell and Nafisi to support your position. Even if you disagree with both or one author, you will still need their ideas to counter yours.
As you prepare to write, think about the following:
- Are human beings predisposed to violence as part of our instinctual nature or can we influence these behaviors by altering small – or large – features in the environment? Does globalization complicate a simple solution or make it easier to implement?
- Can Gladwell's theories be applied to better understanding and – hopefully – limiting global violence and terrorism? Could environmental shifts work to cause a reduction in “new war” violence and mentality? Are other factors at work? Is Kaldor's solution to halt the epidemic of global warfare feasible? Can her solution act as a “tipping point” to a more peaceful world? What effects might Kaldor's solution have for Nafisi and her reading group?
- How might Kaldor and Gladwell view September 11 th ?
- What concepts and examples from Kaldor, Gladwell and Nafisi are useful in arguing your view?
Scott Cagenello, Fall 2005
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