Politics 387ND - Advanced Topics in Politics: 'Law and Inequality'

The academic study of nationalism owes much to Benedict Anderson's conception of Imagined Communities. However, scholars should always remember that those social constructs impact the lived experiences of the people within them, especially when multiple conceptions of nationhood compete. This course examines what happens when competing visions of the American nation clash and traditionally dominant perspectives work to exclude traditionally marginalized communities from the political arena. When this happens, democratic norms and principles find themselves in the crosshairs. In this course, we will investigate the origins and spread of nationalism; the theory and practice of national mythologies; the theory and practice of democracy; and how these concepts operate in the United States. Critically, we will investigate how traditionally hegemonic communities leverage their conceptions of nationalism to erode democracy for individuals who do not fit into their idealized, exclusionary American nation.

This course is open to juniors and seniors; Prereq: 8 credits in the department.