Political Science 343 - Twentieth-Century Visions: Beauvoir, Fanon, Marcuse, Foucault

(Offered as SWAG 346 and POSC 343)  In this course, we study the political visions of four major twentieth-century theorists: Simone de Beauvoir, Frantz Fanon, Herbert Marcuse, and Michel Foucault. What forms of power did each of these thinkers surface? What social transformations did they call for? How did they imagine that transformation could be achieved? Devoting equal parts of the term to each author, we will dwell in, and move between, very different political problematics: the cultural production of “woman”; the psychic effects of racialized colonial rule; the perpetuation of capitalism through the sowing of false needs; the consecration of sex as identity. Yet we will also keep an eye on certain broad questions and themes. These include the production of the human subject by power; the ruses by which contingent social orders such as capitalism or colonialism come to appear as natural, total, or timeless; and the difference between surface and radical freedom. Readings will be drawn from: The Second Sex (Beauvoir); Black Skin, White Masks and The Wretched of the Earth (Fanon); Eros and Civilization and One-Dimensional Man (Marcuse); and The History of Sexuality, Volume One (Foucault).

"Nearly all of our work in this course will be devoted to understanding the authors on their own terms. The focus is on interpreting texts. Students who would like to develop close-reading skills are especially encouraged to consider this course."

Recommended requisite: prior coursework in philosophy or political theory (in any department) may be helpful, especially for first- and second-year students  Limited to 18 students. Spring semester. Assistant Professor Park.

How to handle overenrollment: Priority given to juniors and seniors

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: An emphasis on in-class exams, readings, in-class discussion. Students should expect to attend all class sessions, starting on the first day.