PSCI470: Power, States, and Markets: The Making of Modern Social Order

Professor Rowe

This seminar explores the complex and dynamic relations between the state and market, the two most pervasive institutions that structure modern social life. We will examine issues such as the role of state violence in constructing political and economic order, the political foundations of markets, how warfare led to the emergence of modern states and global capitalism, the political sources of economic growth and decline, and how markets can undermine states and social order. The seminar will read scholars from a diverse array of disciplines, including political science, economics, history and sociology and draw on a wide range empirical materials, ranging from medieval Europe and colonial Africa to modern Africa and the advanced industrial states. Prerequisite: junior standing or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited.