Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children... This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron. -- Former U.S. President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, in a speech on April 16, 1953

States have long had to prioritize their spending, choosing between domestic programs (“butter”) and military expenditures (“guns”). How has globalization (broadly defined as unprecedented economic, cultural, and human interconnections and flows across world regions) changed this calculus? Today guns (i.e., weapons) and butter (i.e., foods) are major global commodities, produced and traded by transnational corporations and other entities on a massive scale in ways that transcend national boundaries and reshape local communities. This course examines a variety of key foods and weapons that are traded globally today. We look at the evolution of these products and the forces that have shaped them as global commodities and cultural artifacts. To supplement our reading, we also will use exciting new technologies (e.g., GIS mapping) to analyze global flows and networks of key commodities.

This seminar also features a community learning initiative, designed to provide a variety of opportunities for you to engage aspects of globalization in the context of greater Hartford’s own local food and weapons economies (once considered America’s breadbasket and arsenal, respectively). In addition to field trips to local food and weapons institutions, students will conduct research on key aspects of the local and global food and weapons systems.

TEXTS

We will draw our readings from the following sources, which (save for the CR) are available for purchase at the TC bookstore:

1) The No-Nonsense Guide to Globalization (NNG-Globalization) by Wayne Ellwood is a succinct primer on globalization concepts, institutions, and themes.

2) The No-Nonsense Guide to the Arms Trade (NNG-Arms) by Gideon Burrows is a primer on the global trafficking in weapons and its impacts.

3) Citizenship Papers by Wendell Berry is a collection of essays examining what it means to be a citizen in the new global economy.

4) Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply (Stolen Harvest) by Vandana Shiva is a strong critique of globalizing corporate agriculture and its deleterious effects on local food systems.

5) Salmon Nation: People and Fish at the Edge (Salmon Nation) compiled by Ecotrust features multidimensional analyses of the rise and fall of wild pacific salmon in the Pacific Northwest bioregion and beyond.

6) Small Arms Survey 2003: Development Denied (Small Arms Survey) by the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, is a detailed examination of the effects of the small arms trade on economic and human development in various areas of the world.

7) Course Reader (CR). This collection of articles, chapters, and reports on pertinent issues will be available via BLACKBOARD (our internet tool for course support)under the Course Documents menu.

These texts will be supplemented with additional resources, including films.

COMPETENCIES

To help students to become effective, lifelong learners, this course emphasizes competencies in six areas: 1) written communication through papers, essay exams, and on-line exercises; 2) oral communication through structured seminar discussions, presentations, and ethnographic projects; 3) computer usage and information literacy through ethnographic, GIS, and library research projects, online responses, and web resources; 4) responsible academic behavior through active participation, class attendance and conduct, and awareness of responsibilities; 5) critical thinking through analytical presentations, discussions, writing and online response exercises, essay exams, and ethnographic research; and 6) quantitative reasoning through analysis of statistics, spatial data, and other variables relevant to understanding processes of globalization.

FORMAT, REQUIREMENTS, ASSESSMENT, EXPECTATIONS

This course is a seminar, not a lecture course. For our purposes, a seminar means “a meeting for learning.” Students must be prepared to participate in, lead, and debrief classroom discussions each week.

Requirements

1. Weekly On-line Exercises (~30%): A discussion question or brief ethnographic or reflective writing assignment will be posted on BLACKBOARD nearly each week along with deadlines for responses. These exercises are designed to: stimulate critical thinking, enhance writing skills, prime seminar discussions, and help you apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate key texts and themes in the course. Members of the class are encouraged to read each other’s responses to questions after posting. Students will be graded on the percentage of responses they complete over the course of the term. Although individual responses will not be graded, we will reject unsatisfactory postings and advise you via email of your essay’s shortcomings and how to resubmit it for credit. Essays should be about 250-500 words, polished, and well organized. Late submissions will not be accepted without prior approval.

2. Weekly Talking Points, Participation, Discussion Leadership, and Attendance (~20%): Talking Points worksheets (questions, comments, quotes, etc. for discussion based on the readings) are to be turned in to the instructor each week. Being a discussant means being prepared and ready to listen and contribute, and the Talking Points you prepare should enhance your participation, while at the same time giving discussion leaders some direction and the instructor some feedback. Discussion leaders are chosen spontaneously on the day of the seminar to manage our collective examination of the texts. On occasion students will be expected to attend campus or local events; in such cases students will be notified in advance and alternative arrangements (such as videotaping, etc.) may be made if they absolutely cannot attend.

3. Research Projects (~30%): Two short research papers will be assigned. More details on this assignment will be given in separate handouts.

4. Community Learning Initiative (~20%): As a community learning initiative (CLI) course, students will be expected to participate in a small project in the community and report on the results in an appropriate forum. More details on this assignment will be forthcoming.

Assessment

The above percentages give you a guide as to how various components of your grade should be weighted. Ultimately, however, your final grade will be based on a written self assessment that you will compile, and with which your instructor and mentor must concur. Late assignments will be credited, unless other arrangements are made in advance with the instructor. Also, be aware of your responsibilities for academic integrity and intellectual honesty according to The Trinity College Student Integrity Contract.

Expectations

To be an effective participant in class, it is important to keep up with the readings because they provide an important basis for what is covered in class. For seminars to succeed students must attend class and prepare assignments in a timely manner. Students are also expected to abide by the following principles of discussion:

Prepare “Talking Points” as you read and engage course materials to help you comprehend, connect, and assess the readings and put key ideas, questions, and concepts into play for discussion.
Listen actively—Try to understand and analyze others’ opinions as they are spoken; ask questions to clarify and further your understanding. Don’t just sit passively “waiting your turn” or thinking about your own responses. Reflective silence is not a problem—Do not feel the need to “jump in” for fear of silence.
Respond constructively—Imagine what kind of role you are playing in responding to others; for example, do you wish to: 1) comprehend their analysis by paraphrasing or analyzing it; 2) extend their analysis by applying it new situations; 3) synthesize or link it with other concepts, issues, or arguments (especially those raised by others in the class and by the texts, which we share) through comparison, etc.; 4) evaluate it against relevant criteria. You may even consider using these “cognitive verbs” in framing your responses to other discussants. Do not engage in ad hominem or personal attacks.
Agreement or Disagreement is not necessarily the goal—Comprehending, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating important concepts, theories, and perspectives are the main objectives of discussion.

COURSE SCHEDULE (Not Etched in Stone)

Week

Topics

Assignments

1 (Sep 8)

Overview: What is Globalization? What do we mean by Guns and Butter? A food system? A weapons system? “Going Local?” Perspectives on food and weapons and human rights.

LIBRARY SESSION: 2:45-3:55pm (also Sunday 9/12)

Stiglitz (CR), Shuman (CR), Universal Declaration of Human Rights (CR); NNG-Globalization (begin). Recommended: A Hartford Primer and Field Guide.

Assignment: Evaluate food security websites.

2 (Sep 15)

More on globalization and its discontents. The nexus of guns and butter and security. The paradox of proliferation

NNG-Globalization (finish), C. Johnson (CR); Marcos (CR); Garten (CR); Citizenship Papers (pp. 1-32).

First Blackboard (BB) Assignment Due by Sept. 14.:

3 (Sep 22)

The American and Hartford food systems. Community Supported Agriculture (Holcomb Farm). The World Food System and “Hijacking” of the global food supply.

FIELD TRIP (HOLCOMB FARM)

Food Security in CT (HO); Stolen Harvest (Ch 1-2); Citizenship Papers (33-51); Harper/LeBeau (CR)

Ethnic Restaurant mini-ethnographies due on BB, Sunday Sept. 26.

4 (Sep 29)

The Trinity food system. Globalization of food case study: salmon production, distribution, and consumption from time immemorial to present.

LIBRARY SESSION 2- 3:55

Pirog (CR). Salmon Boy Story (CR); Stolen Harvest (Ch 3); Salmon Nation; Naylor (CR)

5 (Oct 6)

Additional globalization case studies: sugar, beef, coffee, apples, tuna.

Robbins (CR), Pirog,et al (CR), Ellison (CR), Bestor (CR), Stolen Harvest (Ch 4-6)

Powerpoint Presentations on Food Commodities

6 (Oct 13)

UN TRIP TUES OCT 12

The arms trade:

NNG- The Arms Trade (all), Thomas (CR), Lumpe (CR)

Prepare Questions for UN/NGO representatives

7 (Oct 20)

The political economy of the arms trade. The role of small arms

Bitzinger (CR), Small Arms Survey 2003 (Ch 1-3), Boutwell and Klare (BB), Tirman (CR)

Food System Research Project Due Friday, Oct 22 on BB.

8 (Oct 27)

Arms and ethnic conflict

Film

Silverstein (CR), Sislin & Pearson (CR): Small Arms Survey 2003 (Ch 5-6)

9 (Nov 3)

Small arms and development.

Small Arms Survey 2003 (Ch 4), Guns or Growth Report (CR, pp. 1-70);

10 (Nov 10 )

Globalization of arms and food: impacts on vulnerable groups.

Ainger (CR); Clark (CR), Farr (CR); Messer, et al (CR);

11 (Nov 17)

Solving the problem of arms proliferation. UN and NGO efforts

Small Arms Survey 2003 (Ch 7-8); Guns or Growth Report Appendix 2 (CR). Mason (CR), Kopel (CR)

12 (Nov 24)

No Class

No Class. Happy Thanksgiving

Where did your turkey come from?

13 (Dec 1)

Solving the problems of food and globalization. Think Global, Act Local?

Citizenship Papers (pp. 57-152; 165-174), Putnam (CR); Norberg-Hodge (CR); Stolen Harvest (Ch 7)

14 (Dec 8)

Presentations

Weapons System Essays Due Friday, Dec. 10

15 (Dec 13-20)-

Review & Final conference

CLI Project Due

Self-Assessment Due Prior to Final Conference

Bibliography

Achieving the Balance: A Plan of Conservation and Development for the Capitol Region. 2003. Report prepared by Capitol Region Council of Governements, Hartford, May 28. Pp. 41-43.

Ainger, Katherine. 2003. The New Peasant’s Revolt. New Internationalist Magazine. #353, January-Februrary.

Berry, Wendell. 2003. Citizenship Papers. Washington DC: Shoemaker & Hoard.

Bestor, Theodore C. 2000. How Sushi Went Global. Foreign Policy, No. 121, November/December, 54-63.

Bitzinger, Richard A. 1999. Globalization in the Post-Cold War Defense Industry: Challenges and Opportunities. In Arming the Future: A Defense Industry for thye 21^st Century, edited by Ann R. Markusen and Sean S. Costigan. NY: Council on Foreign Relations Press. Pp. 305-333.

Boutwell, Jeffery Boutwell and Michael T. Klare. 2000. A Scourge of Small Arms. Scientific American 282 (6):48-53.

Burrows, Gideon. 2002. The No-Nonsense Guide to the Arms Trade. London: Verso.

Clark, Kevin. 2002. Arms for the Poor. US Catholic, May.

Ecotrust. 1999. Salmon Nation: People and Fish at the Edge. Portland, OR: Ecotrust.

Ellison, Katherine. 2004. Can Great Coffee Save the Jungle? Smithsonian, June: 100-107.

Ellwood, Wayne. 2001. The No-Nonsense Guide to Globalization. . London: Verso.

Farr, Vanessa. 2002. The Impacts on Women of Prolific Small Arms and Light Weapons. Canadian Woman Studies 22 (2):56-63.

Garten, Jeffrey. 2003. Commentary: Bush’s Guns-and-Butter Dilemma. Business Week Online, March 17. www.buinessweek.com:/print/magazine/content/03_11/b3824090_mz057.htm?mz.

Harper, Charles L. and Bryan F. Le Beau. 2003. Food in America and the World 1945-2002: Continuing Transformations. In Food, Society, and Environment. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Pp. 90-129.

Johnson, Chalmers. 2003. Whatever Happened to Globalization? In The Sorrows of Empire. New York: Metropolitan Books. Pp. 255-281.

Kopel, David. 2003. The UN Small Arms Conference. SAIS Review XXIII (1), Winter-Spring:319-324.

Kuzyk, Ivan. 2004. A Hartford Primer and Field Guide. Trinity College Cities Data Center.

Lumpe, Lori (ed). 2000. Running Guns: The Global Black Market in Small Arms. Zed. Introduction.

Marcos, Subcomandante. 1994. Our Word is Our Weapon: Selected Writings of Subcomandante Marcos, edited by Juana Ponce de Leon. NY: Seven Stories Press. Pp. 22-24, 242-244, 260-261. Excerpts reprinted in Global Backlash: Citizen Initiatives for a Just World Economy, edited by Robin Broad. Lanham, MD: Rowan & Littlefield. Pp. 258-261.

Mason, Thomas L. 2002. A Free Trade Perspective from the Firearms Community. SAIS Review XXII (1), Winter-Spring: 203-206.

Messer, Ellen, Marc J. Cohen, Jashinta D’Costa. 2002. Armed Conflict and Hunger. ECSP Report, Issue 7: 1-16.

Naylor, Rosamond L., Josh Eagle and Whitney L. Smith. 2003. Salmon Aquaculture in the Pacific Northwest: A Global Industry with Local Impacts. Environment 45(8):18-39

Norberg-Hodge, Helena. 1998. Think Global--Eat Local! Delicious Ways to Counter Globalization. The Ecologist 28(4):208-14

Putnam, Robert. 1993. The Prosperous community: Social Capital and Public Life. American Prospect 4(13), March 21.

Robbins, Richard. 2003. Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Shiva, Vandana. 2000. Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply. Cambridge, MA: South End Press.

Shuman, Michael. 2000. Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in a Global Age. New York: Routledge. Pp. 1-29.

Silverstein, Ken. Comrades in Arms: Meet the Former Soviet Mobsters Who Sell Terrorists their Guns. The Washington Monthly 34 (1/2): 19-25.

Sislin, John and Frederic S. Pearson. 2001. Arms and Ethnic Conflict. Lanham, MD: Roman & Littlefield.

Small Arms Survey 2003: Development Denied. 2003. Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Stiglitz, Joseph E. Globalization and Its Discontents. New York: W. W. Norton. Pp. 3-22.

Thomas, Mark. 2003. Had any violence kicked off outside the arms fair, the dealers would have been straight in there, handing out business cards and flogging assault rifles labelled as machine parts. New Statesman (London, England: 1996) 132 (September 22):8.

Tirman, John. 1997. The Spoils of War: The Human Cost of America’s Arm Trade. New York: The Free Press. Pp. 39-54, 112-129, 180-214, 239-253, 279-287

Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 1948. United Nations General Assembly. www.un.org/Overview/rights.html.

OVERVIEW

COMPETENCIES

FORMAT, REQUIREMENTS, ASSESSMENT, EXPECTATIONS

Stiglitz (CR), Shuman (CR), Universal Declaration of Human Rights (CR); NNG-Globalization (begin). Recommended: A Hartford Primer and Field Guide.

Silverstein (CR), Sislin & Pearson (CR): Small Arms Survey 2003 (Ch 5-6)

Ainger (CR); Clark (CR), Farr (CR); Messer, et al (CR);

Small Arms Survey 2003 (Ch 7-8); Guns or Growth Report Appendix 2 (CR). Mason (CR), Kopel (CR)

Citizenship Papers (pp. 57-152; 165-174), Putnam (CR); Norberg-Hodge (CR); Stolen Harvest (Ch 7)