Dr. Julian Dierkes
271 Choi, 822-6237
j |dot| dierkes |at| ubc |dot| ca
Office hourse: Wed 12-13h

University of British Columbia
Institute of Asian Research

Graduate Seminar
IAR/SOCI 511
Cross-National Comparisons in the Social Sciences

Term II, January - April 2007
Tu 10-12h
Choi 169

Course Objectives and Format

Click here for an overview over the objectives and format of the seminar.

Required Readings for Purchase

Charles Ragin The Comparative Method (Berkeley: Univ of California Press; widely available through on-line booksellers).

Course Readings

(The main readings listed here will be supplemented by additional selections suggested by participants to allow for a greater variety of topics and methodological approaches)

Required and some recommended readings from books are available in the Koerner Library Reserve Room to be borrowed for two hours. The materials are listed under IAR511, although they were previously identified as IAR515Q. See below for URLs of required and recommended journal articles. Please be considerate of other participants in the seminar in retaining copies of the readings. This means that seminar participants will have to coordinate the borrowing of materials.

PART I: CLASSICAL STATEMENTS ON COMPARATIVE METHODOLOGY (2 weeks)

January 9: Introduction

January 16: Comparisons in Social Science Classics

Required readings:

• John Stuart Mill, A System of Logic, Book III, Chapter VIII, "Of the Four Methods of Experimental Inquiry".
• Emile Durkheim, The Rules of Sociological Method, Chapter VI ("Rules for Demonstration of Sociological Proof").
• Max Weber, The Methodology of the Social Sciences, "Objective Possibility and Adequate Causation in Historical Explanation".

Recommended readings to include:

• Neil J. Smelser. 1976. Comparative Methods in the Social Sciences. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.

PART II - CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSIONS OF COMPARATIVE METHODOLOGY (3 weeks)

January 23: Causal Inference and Comparative Research

Required readings:

• King, Gary, Robert Keohane and Sidney Verba. 1994. Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton: Princeton University Press, Chpts. 1-3.

Recommended readings:

• James Mahoney and Dietrich Rueschemeyer Comparative Historical Analysis: Achievements and Agendas in Mahoney and Rueschemeyer, eds. 2003. Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences. New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Charles Ragin. 1994. Constructing Social Research: The Unity and Diversity of Method. Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press.

Janurary 30: Debating Comparative Research

Required readings:

• John Goldthorpe. 2000. On Sociology: Numbers, Narratives, and the Integration of Research and Theory. New York: Oxford University Press, Chpt. 7 ("Causation, Statistics, and Sociology").
• Part III "Issues of Method" in Mahoney and Rueschemeyer, eds. Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences.

Recommended readings:

• Neil Smelser, "On Comparative Analysis, Interdisciplinarity and Internationalization in Sociology", International Sociology, 2003, Vol. 18, No. 4.

February 6: Systematizing Comparative Research

Required readings:

• Ragin, Charles. 1987. The Comparative Method. Berkeley: University of California Press, Chtps. 1-5.

Recommended readings:

• Ragin, Charles. 2000. Fuzzy-Set Social Science. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

February 9, midnight: Research Proposal/Policy Analysis Draft Due

Note that topics and readings listed below are subject to confirmation through discussion among the participants and that participants will be responsible for selection of readings for one week each in addition to or instead of suggested readings.

PART III - APPLICATIONS OF COMPARATIVE METHODS (7 weeks)

Feb 13: Historical Cross-national Comparison

Required readings:

• Theda Skocpol. 1979. States and Social Revolution - A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia, and China. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Recommended readings:

• Theda Skocpol. 1992. Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Richard Biernacki, "Labor As an Imagined Commodity". Politics and Society, Vol. 29, No. 2.
• Frank Dobbin. 1994. Forging Industrial Policy. New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Kenneth Pommeranz. 2000. The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Feb 27: Comparison of Subnational Populations - Federalism and Autonomy (Roderick)

Required readings:

• Robert Agranoff. 2004. "Autonomy, devolution and intergovernmental relations". Regional & Federal Studies, Vol. 14, No. 1: 26-65.
• Charlie Jeffrey. 2001. "Sub-National Mobilization and European Integration: Does it Make Any Difference?". Journal of Common Market Studies, Vol. 38, No. 1: 1-23.
• André Lecours. 2004. "Moreno's multiple ethnoterritorial concurrence model: A re-formulation". Regional & Federal Studies, Vol. 14, No. 1: 66-88.

  Mar 1, 1:30-3:30p, Choi 270: Comparison of Social Processes (Tom)

  Required readings:

  • Mike Geddes. 2005. "Neo-liberalism and Local Governance -- Cross-National Perspectives and Speculations". Policy Studies, Vol. 26, No. 3/4: 359-377.
  • Martin Jänicke and Helge Jörgens. 2000. "Strategic Environmental Planning and Uncertainty: A Cross-National Comparison of Green Plans in Industrialized Countries". Policy Studies Journal, Vol. 28, No. 3: 612–632.
  • Arthur Mol. 2006. "Environment and Modernity in Transitional China: Frontiers of Ecological Modernization". Development & Change. Vol. 37, No. 1: 29-56.
  • H Weidner. 2002. "Capacity Building for Ecological Modernization: Lessons from Cross-National Research". American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 45; 1340.

  March 9: Paper Considering an Additional Case Due

  March 13: Comparison at the Individual Level (Kilim)

  Required readings:

  • Lee, Yong Wook and Hyemee Park. 2005. "The Politics of Foreign Labor Policy in Korea and Japan". Journal of Contemporary Asia, Vol. 35, No. 2: 143-165.
  • Lim, Timothy C. 2006. "Democracy, Political Activism and the Expansion of Rights for International Migrant Workers in South Korea and Japan: A Comparative Perspective". IRI Review, Vol. 11, No. 1: 155-206.
  • Seol Dong-Hoon. 2005. "Global Dimensions in Mapping the Foreign Labor Policies of Korea: a Comparative and Functional Analysis" Development & Society, Vol. 34, No.1 (June 2005): 75-124.
  • Kim, Joon K. 2004. "Towards a Formulation of the Republic of Korea's Foreign Worker Policy: Lessons from Japan and Germany". Asia-Pacific Population Journal, Vol. 19, No. 2: 41-68.

  March 20: Mixed Method Comparisons of Social Movements Across a Few States (Sophia)

  Required readings:

  • Foweraker, Joe. 2001. "Grassroots movements and political activism in Latin America: a critical comparison of Chile and Brazil". Journal of Latin American Studies, Vol. 33, No. 4: 839-865.
  • Heller, Patrick. 2001. "Moving the state: the politics of democratic decentralization in Kerala, South Africa, and Porto Alegre". Politics & Society 29, No. 1: 131-160.
  • Marx, Anthony W. 1996. "Contested citizenship: the dynamics of racial identity and social movements" in Charles Tilly, ed. International Review of Social History: Citizenship, identity and social history. Vol. 3. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press: 159-183.

  March 27: Qualitative Comparisons of Few Nation-States

  Required readings:

  • Peter Evans. 1995. Embedded Autonomy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

  Recommended readings:

  • Marion Fourcade-Gourinchas. 2001. "Politics, Institutional Structures and the Rise of Economics: A Comparative Study". Theory and Society, Vol. 30, No. 3.
  • Mauro Guillen. 2001. Limits of Convergence: Globalization and Organizational Change in Argentina, South Korea, and Spain. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

  April 3: Discourse Analysis in Cross-National Comparison

  Required readings:

  • Myra Marx Ferree, William Gamson, Jürgen Gerhards and Dieter Rucht. 2002. The Shaping of Abortion Discourse and the Public Sphere in Germany and the United States. New York: Cambridge University Press, Chpts. 1, 3, 4, 6-8, 13.

  Recommended readings:

  • Ferree, Gamson, Gerhards, and Rucht. 2002. "Four Models of the Public Sphere in Modern Democracies" Theory and Society, 31(3): 289-324.

  April 9, noon: Summary of Research Proposal to Seminar Participants Due

  April 10: Discussion of Research Proposals

  All participants should read all summaries distributed to be able to offer comments and suggestions.

  April 18: Final Research Proposal/Policy Analysis Due

  The Proposal/Policy Analysis should generally not exceed ten double-spaced pages of text, plus a properly formatted bibliography. The proposal should be turned in electronically in correct English including proper citations, etc. Margins should be no less than 0.75 in. in all directions and a 12pt font should be used. Any citation style may be used, but the Pacific Affairs styleguide is recommended. The file should also be sent to two peer reviewers, the two seminar participants appearing before and after the author on the list of participants, respectively (alphabetical by last name).

  April 25: Peer Review of Research Proposal/Policy Analysis Due

  All participants will review two research proposals/analyses and offer constructive comments on these two proposals. Such comments are very unlikely to be less than one page long and should place an emphasis on possible improvements rather than an evaluation. The comments should be sent to Julian Dierkes as well as the respective proposal author.

  Last updated: March 2007