Amy Chua, "A World on the Edge" and:

• Mary Kaldor, "Beyond Militarism, Arms Races, and Arms Control"
• Mary Kaldor, "Beyond Militarism, Arms Races, and Arms Control" and Martha Nussbaum, "Women and Cultural Universals"
• Mary Kaldor, "Beyond Militarism, Arms Races, and Arms Control" and Eric Schlosser, "Global Realization"
• Eric Schlosser, "Global Realization"
• Eric Schlosser, "Global Realization" and Alexander Stille, "The Ganges' Next Life"
• Deborah Tannen, "The Roots of Debate in Education and the Hope of Dialogue"
• William Greider, "Work Rules"
• William Greider, "Work Rules" and James C. Scott, "Behind the Official Story"
• Karen Armstrong, "Does God Have a Future?"
• Karen Armstrong, "Does God Have a Future?" and Jon Gertner, "The Futile Pursuit of Happiness"

For more assignment ideas involving this essay, please visit the Chua link-o-mat.

Globalization and Society: Amy Chua and Mary Kaldor

In your first paper you explored the effects of war on contemporary social structure. You began to think about how the world has reacted to globalization, rising nationalism/fundamentalism and new technology. Kaldor talks of the 'new' warfare as having a vested political and economic interest in continued violence (Kaldor 388).  Now Chua discusses reaction to globalization and efforts by highly focused groups to find satisfaction by violently appropriating that which is owned and controlled by the market dominant minorities. What are the connections between Americanization of other cultures, loss of national identity, and a single world community? How is this attempt at homogenization an answer to the violence in contemporary culture? In what way might you believe it is the reason for it?   

Questions to Ponder:

• Is it right to try to impose our values and culture on other countries and societies? 
• Would a more culturally sensitive approach by American businesses to the community make our presence there more palatable?
• Why do you think 'they hate us'?
• How does the 'new' warfare give radical organizations like Al Qaeda, Shining Path, and others a feeling of righteousness, power, and control?

Molly Burke, Rutgers University, Spring 2005

From Tradition and the Rights of the Individual.

Back to top

Tradition and the Rights of the Individual : Amy Chua, Mary Kaldor, and Martha Nussbaum

In "Women and Cultural Universals," Nussbaum maintains that it is important to have both internal and external capabilities to achieve Central Human Functional Capabilities. Although her immediate concern is the plight of women in achieving these capabilities, they have implication for all humans. In previous papers we have discussed globalization and the effect it has had on changing cultures. We recognized that there are several ways to view globalization--some observers might argue that globalization will produce a richly diverse world society. These people might point out that just as American culture flows into places like India and China, so the values and outlooks of other societies flow into the US as well. Others will argue that globalization is a form of cultural hegemony that consumes local culture in an effort to create a single world culture. 

For your next paper, I would like you to examine the concern of balancing society's responsibilities as outlined in Nussbaum's list of Central Human Functional Capabilities against globalization and its effect on established local customs. Rather than arguing "for" or "against" globalization, however, I want you to explore the complexities of the issue.  

Questions to Ponder:

• Is there a connection between the fears that market dominant minorities will "swallow up" a country's culture and the idea that giving women autonomy will undermine the morals and values of society?
• Is Nussbaum's list of Central Human Functional Capabilities biased by her upbringing? Would these capabilities make sense in China, Japan, Senegal, Egypt or Brazil?
• What is the impact of the military and war--in its new and traditional forms--on human functional capabilities?
• What similarities are there to America's global cultural, economic, military and political might to those same controls wielded by countries that oppress women by denying them personal autonomy? 

Molly Burke, Rutgers University, Spring 2005

From Tradition and the Rights of the Individual.

Back to top

Amy Chua, Mary Kaldor, and Eric Schlosser

Writing assignment:

What are the ways in which the US can recuperate its image and reestablish itself as a positive role-model in the apparently inevitable process of globalization? Should the US try to do that at all? Combining all three readings, position yourself towards these issues and present your own argument in a persuasive manner.  

Food for thought:

Kaldor, Schlosser, and Chua explore the role of America in present-day global military, economic and cultural changes. The authors delineate both positive and negative impacts of US dominance on the world scene and the consequences it has on the image of the USA in the eyes of other nations. Amy Chua, in particular, engages in the discussion of anti-American sentiment on the most immediate basis. She perceives in this recent phenomenon not only valid nation-based attempts to resist "Americanization" and humiliation in the face of a culturally and economically dominant state, but also a more complicated process of "demagogue-fueled mass resentment against a market-dominant minority" (Chua 231). The visible (and often terrifying) costs of the anti-American climate cry for a solution to this complex cultural and socio-political development.   

Sanja Bahun, Rutgers University, Spring 2005

From Globalization and Global Realization.

Back to top

Amy Chua and Eric Schlosser

As Chua points out, a number of countries have responded occasionally to multinational foreign investment by nationalizing American owned companies.  In the 1930s, for example, the Mexican government nationalized the entire Mexican oil industry which, until then, had been controlled by American and British companies, a move that was wildly popular with Mexicans. Imagine that the Mexican government is considering a move to nationalize the growing operation of McDonald's in that country. What feelings and thoughts might encourage Mexicans to support a government confiscation of McDonald's, and what groups would be most likely to endorse such a move? What would be the arguments against nationalization, and who would make these arguments? Do not confine your paper to Chua's explicit discussion of nationalization. Both essays provide explicitly or implicitly several specific arguments for and against the spread of American multinational corporations, arguments that would be relevant to a debate on nationalization.   

Questions to get you started:

Reread Chua's discussion of various attempts by governments to nationalize foreign-owned businesses. How does her discussion of nationalization fit into her overall argument?  What causes "fear," "resentment," and "envy" toward the US and what role would these factors play in such a decision? To what degree does the economic inequality that Chua describes justify nationalization? What role might "hegemony,"  "cultural imperialism," and "market domination" by a minority play in this debate? What do the various case histories she recounts suggest about the feasibility of confiscation? Why was nationalization popular even when it was not economically successful? Find passages in Schlosser that apply to this debate. Be sure to identify the different factors that are relevant to this debate. Some are economic, some cultural, some political (i.e. questions of power). Do not be satisfied with a partial explanation. If you think that some of the factors suggested in the reading are not relevant, do not ignore them; explain why you think they are not important.

Sally Sevcik, Rutgers University, Spring 2005

The Master-Servant Divide and Forecasting Errors in Faith (Assignment 4)

In her essay “ A World on the Edge,” Amy Chua says,

The global spread of markets and democracy is a principal aggravating cause of group hatred and ethnic violence throughout the non-Western world. In the numerous societies around the world that have a market-dominant minority, markets and democracy are not mutually reinforcing. Because markets and democracy benefit different ethnic groups in such societies, the pursuit of free-market democracy produces highly unstable and combustible conditions. (108)

She is suggesting that “when free-market democracy is pursued in the presence of a market-dominant minority, the result, almost invariably, is backlash” (108). We see such violent backlash happening throughout the world, exacerbated by globalization. In Eric Schlosser’s “Global Realization,” McDonald’s’ presence has also led to instances of backlash. One is therefore led to wonder if a “market-dominant minority” might exist in the case of McDonald’s in Europe. Is its presence there as potentially catastrophic as Chua predicts such a market-dominant minority, coupled with free-market democracy, might be elsewhere? Chua argues that the pursuit of free markets and democracy “can proceed only in deep tension with each other” (113), but is she correct in that assertion? Markets and democracy are typically seen as helpful for society, and yet she shows how the opposite is often true. Using globalizing fast-food chains as an example, make an argument about the circumstances that are necessary for free-market democracy to thrive, and discuss how it sometimes fails. When are markets and democracy beneficial, and when do they lead to backlash and ethnic group hatred?

Danis Banks, Rutgers University, Fall 2005

From The Master-Servant Divide and Forecasting Errors in Faith.

Back to top

Amy Chua, Eric Schlosser, and Alexander Stille

Stille spends a good deal of "The Ganges' Next Life" considering what he calls "the complex double identity" of Mishra. Drawing on examples from all three essays and what you have learned about globalization from these essays, I want you to think about how globalization contributes to mixed and conflicting identities. How does globalization relate to "complex double identities," your own and those described in the texts? You may focus on your own identity by setting it in relation to examples in the texts or entirely on those described in the texts.  You may consider how globalization contributes to conflicting identities and also consider the problems and advantages such identities offer in a global world.   

Questions to get you started:

Exactly what is a "complex double identity"? Does everyone have one? Compare and contrast figures from the different texts to arrive at your definition. How do examples from Chua and Schlosser differ from the model offered by Mishra? What difficulties and strengths do the conflicts in Mishra's identity create? How is identity developed? What is the role of media in creating identity? What examples of double identity seem closest to your own experience? To what degree is your identity double, triple, or complex? In what ways is your identity related to globalization?

Sally Sevcik, Rutgers University, Spring 2005

Back to top

Amy Chua and Deborah Tannen

Writing assignment:

Could a change of our "adversarial culture" into a "culture of dialogue" (with a concomitant change in political discourse) generate wider transformations in the economical, cultural, and political conduct of the USA? Would this shift in the model of interrelating lessen the amount of resentment other countries feel towards the USA as a "global economical minority" and how? Drawing closely on the work of Deborah Tannen and Amy Chua, please develop your own argument concerning this issue.

Sanja Bahun, Rutgers University, Spring 2005

From Globalization and Global Realization.

Back to top

Tensions between the Public, the Private, and the Personal (Assignment 2)

Develop a project considering the following:

Both William Greider and Amy Chua talk about the tensions existing between capitalism and democracy, Greider in the context of the domestic U.S., Chua in terms of the global scene. Chua adds the element of ethnic groups and “market-dominant minorities” into the picture. How would this factor change or explain the dynamics of the master-servant relationship and the “socialization of powerlessness” that Greider talks about? What connections can you make between the two authors’ views? In what ways do they differ? What conclusions can you draw? In your view, what is the best course of action to address the inequality of wealth and power both in the U.S. and globally?

Focus on developing the following aspects of your essay:

PROJECT- Develop an argument or thesis, rather than relying on summary. Use the text to support your ideas.

ORGANIZATION- Pay attention to the structure of your essay. Organize paragraphs to support the overall argument you are making. Each paragraph should have a point to make to support the larger argument.

WORK WITH TEXTS- Use the text intelligently to support your point of view. Move appropriately between paraphrase and quotation. Make connections between the text and your argument.

PRESENTATION- Pay attention to overall style, spelling and grammar.

Laura Smith, Rutgers University, Fall 2005

From Tensions between the Public, the Private, and the Personal.

Back to top

Tensions between the Public, the Private, and the Personal (Assignment 3)

Develop a project considering the following:

Using Scott as a “frame,” analyze the essays of Greider and Chua in terms of the ideas of the “public transcript” and “hidden transcript.” What, if any commonalities do you find between the two? What new light do Scott’s ideas shed on the other authors? Do Scott’s ideas suggest a key to the solutions that Greider and Chua talk about? Is it possible to “speak Truth to power?” (Scott 521)

Focus on developing the following aspects of your essay:

PROJECT- Develop an argument or thesis, rather than relying on summary. Use the text to support your ideas.

ORGANIZATION- Pay attention to the structure of your essay. Organize paragraphs to support the overall argument you are making. Each paragraph should have a point to make to support the larger argument.

WORK WITH TEXTS- Use the text intelligently to support your point of view. Move appropriately between paraphrase and quotation. Make connections between the text and your argument.

PRESENTATION- Pay attention to overall style, spelling and grammar.

Laura Smith, Rutgers University, Fall 2005

From Tensions between the Public, the Private, and the Personal.

Back to top

The Master-Servant Divide and Forecasting Errors in Faith (Assignment 5)

Karen Armstrong, in “Does God Have a Future?”, suggests that having a notion of God serves several important purposes in human lives. It can, however, also lead to a feeling of oppression, and of being controlled by a power outside the self. This leads some to reject God. What kind of religion would be most useful for a group of people that is trying to globalize? What conception of God would be detrimental for those people? Make an argument about the best sort of religion to pursue when a nation is becoming a free-market democracy. How can such a country be self-sufficient, with the greatest well-being possible? Use the lessons given by Armstrong, in her essay, to enhance and complicate your reading of Amy Chua. Which belief systems are best when a nation is becoming a free-market democracy, which philosophies are to be avoided, and why? In this essay, pose a very original, independent argument about what religious thought should be merged with globalization.

Note: For the sake of clarity when connecting, use Armstrong first, and then Chua in paragraphs; logically, it makes sense to present an abstract theory (Armstrong) first, applied to a real-life example (Chua). In some paragraphs, though, it may work better for you to connect in the reverse order.

Important: When quoting Armstrong, determine which theologian or religious school of thought is being discussed. You will need to mention those people by name—in other words, the positions in her texts are not necessarily her own, but instead are ascribed to by others.

Danis Banks, Rutgers University, Fall 2005

From The Master-Servant Divide and Forecasting Errors in Faith.

Back to top

The Master-Servant Divide and Forecasting Errors in Faith (Assignment 6)

The happiness researchers in Jon Gertner’s “The Futile Pursuit of Happiness” suggest that “a life without forecasting errors would most likely be a better, happier life” (174). But we continually make the mistake of overestimating happiness, and choosing things that we think will improve our lives, when in fact, they don’t. One researcher, George Loewenstein, says, “’If you had a deep understanding of the impact bias and you acted on it…, you would tend to invest your resources in the things that would make you happy’” (Gertner 174). What exactly are the things we should “invest [our] resources in”? In looking at Karen Armstrong’s “Does God Have a Future?” and Amy Chua’s essay “A World on the Edge,” think about the various “resources” that people devote to being happy. Are there ever instances of “miswanting” (Gertner 165) in how countries strive to achieve free-market democracy? Do religious believers sometimes make “forecasting errors” (Gertner 173) in choosing a particular God and way of practicing a faith? Make an argument about what exactly in life should be pursued to make people happy, and how to avoid miswanting and forecasting errors in people’s quest for contentment.

Aim to be as specific as possible in citing certain examples of things to be cultivated for well-being, and why those particular elements will help bring joy into people’s lives. The more precise you can be in this essay, rather than being general and vague, the better.

Danis Banks, Rutgers University, Fall 2005

From The Master-Servant Divide and Forecasting Errors in Faith.

Back to top