International Studies

international studies

study of how people, goods, ideas, problems (etc) move across borders and connect society together

• looks at the relationship between people, places and connections

• there are four overreaching categories: economics, politics, cultural connections and environmental issues in this study

interdisciplinary

combining two or more academic disciplines into one study to receive different perspectives to create a new understating of the world

• gives a more comprehensive/holistic understanding of the world as it can help to create a bigger picture when using multiple studies in one

interdependence

people, countries and machines work together to create advancements

• examples include clothes or phones (primarily due to supply chains)

international relations

a branch of political science that focuses on the relations between nations or countries and primarily with foreign policies to see how they interact with one another

political science

studies the power relationships between people and institutions

economics

social science concerned with description and analysis of the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services

• a small singular perspective

sociology

the study of society, social institution, and social relationships

• a small singular perspective

anthropology

the study of human beings; especially the study of human beings and their ancestors through time and space and in relation of physical character, environmental and social relations and culture

• a small singular perspective

geography

a social and physical science that deals with the description, distribution, and interaction of diverse physical, biological, and cultural features on the earth’s surface

• a small singular perspective

history

the study of the past to understand the present and what’s to come in the future

• a small singular perspective

Globalization

a period of connectivity and integration worldwide which links people, countries, cultures, etc together across the world

• the process is not done yet as it is still in motion since it focuses on shifting forms of human contact

• countries and systems rely on one another allowing them to become interconnected

• time, space, and compression

• many pros and cons as it can lead to more advancement but bad health and so on

• there are four types including: political, cultural, economic and environmental

political globalization (form of gloablization)

creation of nation-states, international agreements, multilateral organizations

• this type of globalization can negotiate for countries to work together, form cooperation and address conflict and solutions

• examples include the EU, NATO, and UN

Economic Globalization (form of globalization)

intensification and extensification of commercial activities (trade)

• where we buy and get products the journey, production, international finance, and assembly of goods and services

Cultural Globalization (form of globalization)

spreading of ideas, values, and everyday practices across the world

• can lead to the question if this type of globalization leads to more homogenization or heterogeneity

• sports, music, food etc. allows for understanding people to people diplomacy

Environmental Globalization (form of globalization)

local degradation, climate change, notion of the Anthropocene (the age of humans and their impact on the world)

What are the three different competing views for globalization?

• the lovers: see the interconnection and dependence of globalization as a positive

• the critics: because wealth isn’t distributed properly and inequality is on a significant rise across the world, globalization is hurting instead of helping. They see globalization as a negative (not developing at the same pace=setbacks)

• the skeptics: skeptical about globalization because it can be positive in the beginning but then cause big problems (they question everything)

Global Village vs. Global Pillage

• represents the two extreme poles of the debate of how globalization is viewed

world system

a global interconnected economic system that joins people on all continents in a single division of labor

• Immanuel Wallerstein, a sociologist, suggest that this should be our unit of analysis, rather than nation-states

• this answers the questions of how the world should interact

single division of labor

an economic system where a production process is broken down into small, specialized tasks assigned to different workers

• Immanuel Wallerstein, a sociologist, suggest that this should be our unit of analysis, rather than nation-states

World System Theory Model

This model helps to understand how money and labor is not evenly distributed among core, semi-periphery and periphery nations causing balance and imbalance across the world

• core countries are the strongest then semi-periphery and finally periphery countries

Columbian exchange

exchange of goods, ideas, people, diseases, animals, etc. between the old world (Europe and Africa) and the new world (America) following the voyage to the Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1492

• this caused positive and negative aspects

• 1/3 of the food supply came from plants in the Americas

• improvements were apparent as it also expanded our global food supply leading to reliability and global population increase

• extreme pressure on land due to population increase (lots of migration from rural to urban) and food

• decline of indigenous societies and tied religions closely together through global labor systems

• helps to explain inequality, population growth and environmental change

Exchange from the Old World

• Foods: (grains) rice, wheat, barley, oats, and fruit crops (oranges, apples, peaches, and bananas

• sugar, coffee, indigo

• animals: cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, and horses

• diseases: smallpox, measles, influenza, typhus, malaria, diphtheria, whooping cough

Exchange from the New World

Foods: maize (corn), potatoes, beans, squashes, tomatoes, cassava, peppers, peanuts, chocolate, vanilla, tobacco, pineapple, avocado, guava

goods: rubber

animals: turkey

food studies

offers an interdisciplinary approach to widely varied food themes and topics. Such an approach is more than the sum of its disciplinary parts; it provides new insights into the ways in which food mediates social, political, environmental, cultural and
economic processes.

environmental history

is the study of human interaction with the natural world over time. In contrast to other historical disciplines, it emphasizes the active role nature plays in influencing human affairs. Environmental historians study how humans both shape their environment and are shaped by it.

What are the 5 Ws?

• Who?

• What?

• When?

• Where?

• Why?

Colonialism

comes from the Latin word colonist which means farmers or settlers: person from one country settling somewhere permanently while still holding loyalty to their home country

• their goal is to acquire full or partial political control over the country they are settling in by occupying it with settlers (helps to exploit the country economically)

imperialism

political power extending control over another country (don’t need settlers) which can happen through taxes or military force allowing one to gain full control over the political or economic life of other areas

• the extension of imposition of power, authority or influence

empire

large political systems/units, expansionist polities, that rule over different people and territories

• this allows for a hierarchy relationship

nation state

based on the idea of a single people in a single territory constituting itself as a unique political community

exploitation

• directly related to power

domination

• directly related to power

Science and Technology Studies

an interdisciplinary academic field that examines how social, political and cultural values shape scientific research and technological innovation — and how these innovations, in turn, affect society

• relatively new academic field that is interested in the relationship between scientific knowledge, technological systems and society (a back-and-forth relationship)

• historians and sociologists of science, and the scientists themselves, became interested between scientific knowledge, technological systems and society specifically during the interwar period (WWI and WWII) and continuing to the start of the Cold War

containerization

the system of intermodal freight transport using standardized metal boxes that moved seamlessly between ships, trains, and trucks without opening or repacking the cargo

• helped to revolutionize shipping as it was easier, more efficient, reduced shipping costs and safer to transfer onto the next load of transportation

hidden systems of globalization

the unacknowledged economic, digital and infrastructural networks that power international trade and daily life

• examples include ports, workers, radio-communication calls and GPS/satellites

What is the role of the military in relation to technology?

acts as a primary developer, financier, and adopter of advanced technology to enhance combat effectiveness, protect personnel, and secure strategic advantages

phenomenology

the study of the structures of experience and consciousness

• applies the philosophical study of lived experience, consciousness, and intersubjectivity to global politics, internation law, and cross-cultural relations

immigration

the action of coming to live in a foreign country where government officials will then check the documents of people entering the country as part of the process

• emigrate vs immigrate

emigrate

means to leave or exit the persons home country

• move from a place

immigrate

means to move to a new country and enter it

• focuses on the country you are moving to

• move to a place

diaspora

the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland

• comes from the Greek word to scatter

disjuncture

the act of disjoining or the state of being disconnected from

• means to separate from something

assimilation

a gradual process by which a person or group belonging to one culture adopts the practices of another, thereby becoming a member of that culture

• doesn’t have to have all the factors but can adopt some

hybridity

something that is mixed

• an example of this could be a blending of culture, politics or institutional forms

push factors

a negative condition or circumstance that forces or motivates a person to leave their home country or current region due to economic, political, environmental, or social and cultural

• not enough work at home

• changing environmental conditions

• political fear, violence, or cultural persecution

• lack of institutional support or educational opportunity

pull factors

positive conditions at a destination that attract people to move to a new place due to economic, political, environmental, or social and cultural factors

• job opportunities or improves wages (better standards of living)

• reunite with family or kin

• political or religious freedom

• educational opportunities

• human curiosity

contact zone

social spaces where culture meet and grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical relations of power, such as colonialism, slavery, or their aftermaths as lived out in many parts of the world

Nationalism

loyalty and devotion to a nation; especially: a sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and streets as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups

• this is one of the major causes of war

• type of ideology of war

fascism

a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a doctoral leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition

• this was extreme for the Nazis during WW2

• type of ideology of war

communism

a political and economic doctrine that aims to replace (get rid of) private property and a profit-based economy with public ownership and communal control of at least the major means of production and the natural resources of a society

• this is a form of socialism

• the difference this is a higher and more advanced form while also resting on its adherence to the revolutionary socialism of Karl Marx

• type of ideology of war

democracy

a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections

• government by the people; especially, rule of the majority

• type of ideology of war

sovereignty

freedom from external control

• to be this kind of state it must be an autonomous state

• type of ideology of war

Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz

• he was a Prussian general and military thinker whose work Vom Kriege (1832; On War) became a key text on military strategy

• fought in the Prussian Army against the French Revolutionary forces and later against Napoleon’s army

• served as the chief military advisor to the Crown Prince of Prussia

How does Clausewitz define war? What is war’s objective, according to him?

Identify and describe what “two inseparable factors” determine the power of an enemy?