17.905  Democracy and Ethnic Identity Politics

Fall 2004

Professor: Kanchan Chandra

Lecture:  Friday 2-4 pm  (E56-249)        

Class Description: 

Is ethnic identity politics -- the politics of race, language, tribe, caste, religion and region -- good or bad for democratic systems? What are the goals of individuals who mobilize politically on the basis of one or more of these identities? What are the principles that democratic systems should employ in responding to identity-based claims? And how should we evaluate public policies designed to respond to such claims, including affirmative action, federalism, cultural rights, educational policies and the design of electoral systems?

The course addresses these questions through a combination of fiction, autobiography, film, and social science. It is organized around a series of questions. We will approach each question first through a work of fiction or autobiography, and then revisit it based on social science theory. Occasional films that address the themes raised in class will be shown during sections. Five countries/regions will be used as ¿reference cases¿ throughout the course: the United States, South Africa, South Asia (mainly India, Pakistan and Bangladesh), Turkey and Iraq.

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