Book suggestions wanted for course on international change

Apologies if you get this more than once (PSN/WSN/ahs):

 

I'm teaching a course on Sociology of International Change.  I've taught it before, but want to update it. There will be about 35-40 students. Only about half will be sociology majors, and they mainly with a social work or "criminal justice" emphasis.  Many of the students will not have much experience in reading intellectually "heavy" material yet, so for example, I haven't assigned Wallerstein, etc.  I realize that there are twelve million books out there on these topics, but I want to focus somewhere between the shallowness of a newspaper and the intense depth of a theoretical monograph. 

 

Topics I generally cover include, first, a  discussion of political economy and my perspective that imperialism in the past century does grow out of the contradictions of capitalism seeking cheap labor/raw materials (an aspect of cheap labor), markets, etc. as rates of profit fall at home.  (Yes, there was imperialism before capitalism, but it was driven by a different dynamic. It is the dynamic of today's world that is especially important to grasp.)  Along with that will be a discussion comparing and contrasting the view that it is  "globalization" versus the view that it is "imperialism."  (This comparison/contrast would be worthwhile for many of us to integrate into many of our courses.)

 

Then to specific topics:  I deal with famine, as created by political-economic factors mainly, as discussed by Moore, Lappe, Collins, etc.

 

Also will discuss US/Euro imperialism for profits, probably Parenti, who is polemical, but raises good issues.  (Maybe Chomsky, but I don't know....)

 

Also would deal with the collapse of the USSR bloc, the rise of religious ethno-nationalism, the "Triumph of America's New World Order" (seems to have lasted just a couple of years...), and some discussion, continent by continent of recent developments.

 

So, I'm open to suggestions on books. I don't want to overload them.  For example, there is a relevant book on the destruction of the Congo by Belgian imperialists "King Leopold's Ghost", and there are good books on the Rockefellers & Venezuelan oil, and so on. But rather than assign 9 books, I'm especially interested in anthologies, collections of readings that might deal with a number of topics. 

 

In any case, I'd appreciate whatever suggestions anyone out there might have about any books, articles, or films. If you do suggest a book (or film), it would also be helpful if you could tag on a short sentence giving some indication of how it might be relevant.  

 

As always, please send your ideas DIRECTLY TO ME-- spectors@netnito.net  rather than to the whole list.

 

Thanks,   Alan Spector

 

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