Globalization II: Migration, Colonialism, and Borders in the Modern World, 1800-Present

McGuinn Hall 121 T Th 10:30-11:45

Professor:
Catherine Warner, warnercc@bc.edu
Stokes Hall, S348
Office hours: Tues 12:30-1:30, Thurs 12-1, & by appointment

Teaching Assistants:
Holly Springer, springho@bc.edu
Stokes Hall S390A, Tuesday 2-4 & by appointment

Kyle Madsen, madsenk@bc.edu

Stokes Hall, S315B, Mon., Tues. 9 to 10 am & by appointment

Course Description:
We will examine the intensification of global communications and transportation and the
increased interconnectivity of global markets in the last two centuries by focusing on migration
and modern forms of colonialism. The industrial revolution, the spread of free market ideology
amidst various types of colonial and neo-colonial coercion (which occurred in several phases),
and the growing complexity of international finance shaped the economy on a global scale,
which in turn shaped movements of people across oceans and continents. Migration rates
skyrocketed in the nineteenth century—the role of people from Asia in long distance and inter-
regional migrations was unprecedented. Cheap labor and commodities from colonized and other
parts of the non-West fueled the growth of European economies and underscored the increase of
regional inequalities on a global scale. At the same time, an international community of nation
states, with more or less well-defined borders, emerged from the break up and rearrangement of
empires in the twentieth century. New border regimes produced new kinds of refugees and
restricted and shaped movements in the 20th century.

During the semester, we will think about how categories of identity used by states, often to
manage people, intersect with modern forms of self-making—how did people understand
themselves as globally connected (or isolated/disconnected) during such rapid periods of
change? Such questions will take us into the realm of gender and cultural history as we think
about the relationship between experience, representation, and globalization as a process.

Course Goals:
• Through the History Core, students will know how to use primary sources to interpret the past
and explain change over time. (This is the overarching program goal.)
• In addition, your professor asks that you develop historically nuanced, working definitions of
“modernity” and “globalization” (something you can explain in your own words) throughout
the semester.

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Academic Honor:
Academic integrity and honor are expected. It’s important for creating a community of trust
based on inclusiveness and equality. Here are the rules: http://www.bc.edu/offices/stserv/
academic/integrity.html

Access Statement:
If you will need to request accommodation in this course, or have questions about access, please
speak to us as soon as possible. We will do everything we can to make sure you have the
accommodations needed to participate in this course according to the university policy. For more
information: http://www.bc.edu/sites/accessibility/accommodations/for-students.html

Required Texts:
Sunil Amrith, Migration and Diaspora in Modern Asia. Cambridge University Press, 2011.
ISBN 9781139497039

Jane Burbank and Frederick Cooper, Empires in World History: Power and the Politics of
Difference. Princeton University Press, 2010. ISBN 9780691152363.

Grading:
It is unlikely that grades will be changed after the fact but we are generally happy to talk about
how to prepare for the next assignment. We are not allowed by federal law to discuss grades by
email. If you feel the need to request a grade change (and we genuinely hope that you do not feel
such a need!), then you MUST put it in writing in essay format (for details, contact your
professor). Your grader first reads your essay petition and if you cannot resolve it with your
grader, then you may come to Prof. Warner. Verbal requests will not be entertained.

Assignments:
No extensions will be possible without a very good reason. In exceptional circumstances, if late
work is accepted, a letter grade will be deducted.

Due Date Assignment Percentage of Grade

Thurs., Feb 22nd, 10:30-11:45 Exam 1 25%

Mon., March 26th, 12 Midnight OCE 1 & 2 (5% each) Total = 10%

Thurs., April 12th, 10:30-11:45 Exam 2 25%

Thurs., May 3rd, 12 Midnight OCE 3 15%

Mon., May 14th, 12 Midnight Exam 3 (Take-home Essay) 25%

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Out of Classroom Experiences (OCEs): Out of Classroom Experiences (OCEs) are designed to
encourage a more direct way to engage with historical concepts encountered in lectures and
readings.
Instructions for OCEs 1 & 2:
Write 2-4 sentences explaining how the OCE relates to modern forms of globalization. Take a
“selfie.” (If you don’t like selfies, be creative, but do take a picture or create a drawing, etc.
Some sort of visual impression is required.) Upload via Canvas.
Choose two from the following list:
• Find a site that commemorates the Native American history of Boston.
• View a cultural performance that addresses the topic of modern forms of colonialism or
imperialism. (This rules out British influence in North America!)
• Locate a piece of art work that deals with immigrant identities or multiculturalism. (Note: you
can discuss a work of public art such as a sculpture or a mural, a work in a museum, something
created by art students at BC or elsewhere, or within a local community. Think expansively
about art, where to find it, and who creates it!)
• Visit the New England Holocaust Memorial. https://www.nehm.org/visit/
• Attend one lecture at another university or venue OR two lectures at BC on any of the
following themes: modernity, gender, sexuality, migration, borders, race and/or citizenship.
• Got a better idea? Email Prof. Warner to discuss it—OCEs are a fairly open-ended assignment
and student initiative is encouraged.
Instructions for OCE 3:
More detailed instructions will be posted on Canvas. You will find and use your own primary
sources to write a short essay (about 500 words). You will conduct either an oral history
interview or use an internet archive as your primary source(s). Choose one of the following
options:
• An interview with an older relative or friend (must be over 50 years old—the older the
better!) who has migrated across national or cultural boundaries in their lives.
• An interview with a friend or relative who was affected by or joined with a social or political
movement at some point in their lives (examples include civil rights, feminist or anti-war
movements, political campaigns, etc.)
• Gather material from an online archive about immigrant or refugee experiences—for
example, The1947 Archive (http://www.1947partitionarchive.org) or Black Studies in Video
(https://search-alexanderstreet-com.proxy.bc.edu/blsv). The latter site must be accessed
through Boston College Libraries.
*If you conduct an interview, you must explain the project to your interviewee in detail and
obtain consent for the interview prior to asking any questions. You may choose to use initials or a
pseudonym for your interviewee if you wish; however, try to note down the year in which your
interviewee was born. See Canvas for more details.

Instructions for Exams:

• Exams 1 and 2 will be taken in class; notes and internet devices, including phones, will not be
allowed. In case of an urgent situation requiring you to have a phone out, please contact Prof.
Warner in advance of the exam.

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• Exams 1 & 2 include short answer questions to test knowledge of course content and an essay
question to test historical analysis (including interpretation of primary sources) as well as
course content. Prof. Warner will give you the essay questions TWO weeks in advance of the
exam along with a study guide to prepare for the short answer questions.
• Exam 3 is a take-home essay exam in which you analyze an assigned primary source. Limit
850 words.
• In all cases you will have the opportunity to choose one of two essay questions to prepare and
answer for the exams.
• Prof. Warner is happy to answer questions about writing essays but due to the high volume of
inquiries around exam time, Prof. W. will not answer questions after 5 pm the evening before
the exam.

Readings:
• The schedule below indicates the reading for each day of the week. Those marked “PDF” are
available on Canvas under “Files” or “Pages/Readings.”
• Readings are divided between primary and secondary sources. Secondary sources include
narrative histories, scholarly essays, and original research. When reading, try to identify the
sources the author or authors draw upon and the central set of arguments to help you
understand what they are trying to do with the text. Understanding the purpose and framing of
a text will help you to make sense of all of the details and to take notes on what is most
important. (I will not check your notes but I do suggest that you take notes on your readings to
prepare for class and for exams.)
• Primary sources are the evidence that historians use to write histories. They were created at the
time of the events they describe (or soon thereafter). They include letters, government
documents, literary works, art, architecture, material objects, oral history interviews, and many
other possible sources. Every Thursday we will set aside about 20 minutes of class time to
discuss primary sources.

Week 1. What is, and when was, modern globalization?

Jan. 16—Intro to Course

Jan. 18—The Modern World and Globalization: Historical Concepts and Debates
• Burbank and Cooper, “Chapter 8: Empire, Nation, and Citizenship in a Revolutionary Age,”
pp. 219-250.

Week 2. The Age of Revolution and Nationalism in European Empires, 19th Century
Jan. 23—Nationalist Revolutions in Latin America
• Julie Charlip, “Latin America in World History,” in The Cambridge World History: Vol. VII
(2015), pp. 526-541. PDF (Note: this is not the entire article.) PDF

Jan. 25— Law in the British Empire (19th c.); Guest Lecturer: Priyasha Saksena, S.J.D.
Candidate, Harvard Law

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 • Burbank and Cooper, “Chapter 10: Imperial Repertoires and Myths of Modern Colonialism”,
pp. 287-312 (part of the chapter)
• Primary Source: Henry Maine, “The Kathiawar States and Sovereignty,” pp. 320-325. PDF

Week 3. Anti-Slavery Movements & Indigenous Histories within 19th-Century Empires

Jan. 30—Abolition and Emancipation in European Empires and the United States
• Patrick Manning, “Emancipation, 1800-1900,” in The African Diaspora (2009), pp. 173-223.
PDF
• Primary Source: Absalom Jones, “A Thanksgiving Sermon,” (1808), pp. 10-14. PDF

Feb. 1— Indigenous Peoples, Citizenship, and Difference in the United States

• Burbank and Cooper, “Chapter 9: Empires across Continents,” pp. 251-271. (Note: this is not
the whole chapter)
• Primary Source: "“My Own Nation” (1899): Queen Lili‘uokalani." In Say We Are Nations:
Documents of Politics and Protest in Indigenous America since 1887 (2015), pp. 13-18. PDF

Week 4. Industrialization and Empire in Global Perspective, 19th Century

Feb. 6—Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective
• Robert B. Marks, “Chapter 4: The Industrial Revolution and Its Consequences, 1750-1850,”
in The Origins of the Modern World: A Global and Ecological Narrative (2002), pp. 95-121.
PDF

Feb. 8—European Colonialism and Global Connections in the Victorian Era

• Burbank and Cooper, Chapter 10, pp. 312-327. (the second half of the chapter)
• Mike Davis, Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World,
pp. 67-86, 99-124. PDF
• Primary Source: Report of the Indian Famine Commission, 1898, pp. 48-50. PDF

Week 5. New Patterns of Migration: Asia and the World

Feb. 13—Migration within and from Asia: An Overview
• Amrith, “Chapter 1: Asia’s Great Migrations, 1850-1930,” pp. 18-56.
• Burbank and Cooper, pp. 294-303.

Feb. 15—Asian Indentured Migration

• Gaiutra Bahadur, “The Women’s Quarters,” in Coolie Woman: The Odyssey of Indenture, pp.
25-40. PDF
• Primary Sources: Walton Look Lai, “Chapter 7: Social Adjustment to Plantation Life and
Society,” in Chinese in the West Indies, 1806-1995, 1998, pp. 165-190. PDF

Week 6. Orientalism & Exam I

Feb. 20—Orientalism & French Imperialism

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• Burbank and Cooper, pp. 303-305.
• Primary & Secondary Sources: Julia Clancy Smith & Charles D. Smith, Excerpts from The
Modern Middle East and North Africa, pp. 19-32, 48-52. PDF

Feb. 22—**Exam I, In class**

Week 7. Nationalisms and Empire c. 1900

Feb. 27—Making Nations in Europe
• Burbank & Cooper, Chapter 11, pp. 331-368.
• Tara Zahra, “Chapter 1: Travel Agents on Trial,” in The Great Departure: Mass Migration
from Eastern Europe and the Making of the Free World (2016), pp. 23-63. PDF

March 1—Nationalisms in Asia around the Turn of the Century

• Amrith, Chapter 2, pp. 57-88.
• Primary Source: Dadabhai Naoroji, “The Benefits of British Rule, 1871,” Available: https://
sourcebooks.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1871britishrule.asp (Read Online)
• Primary Source: Sun Yat-Sen, “Fundamentals of National Reconstruction,” in Conflict and
Cooperation: Documents on Modern Global History (2006), pp. 65-68. PDF

**March 5-9: Spring Break**

Week 8. Popular Culture, Mobility, and Gender: New Sensibilities Circa 1900
March 13—Caribbean Migration, African Diaspora, and Popular Culture, early 20th c.
• Lara Putnam, Radical Moves: Caribbean Migrants and the Politics of Race in the Jazz Age
(2013), pp. 21-48, 49-58, 70-81. PDF

March 15—Gender & Reform Movements

• Eileen Suarez Findlay, Imposing Decency: The Politics of Sexuality and Race in Puerto Rico,
1870-1920, pp. 53-76. PDF
• Primary & Secondary Sources: Julia Clancy-Smith & Charles Smith, The Modern Middle
East and North Africa, pp. 61-64, 84-93. PDF
• Primary Source: Ramabai Ranade, from Women Writing in India, eds. Susie Tharu and K.
Lalitha (1991), pp. 281-289. PDF

Week 9. Empire and World War

March 20—World War I and Critiques of Empire: India and Ireland
• Burbank and Cooper, Chapter 12, pp. 369-393.
• Sonya Rose,“The Politics of Service and Sacrifice in WWI Ireland and India.” Twentieth
Century British History, 2014, pp. 368–390. PDF
• Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, “Civilization”; “How can India Become Free?”; http://
www.mkgandhi.org/hindswaraj/chap06_civilization.htm; http://www.mkgandhi.org/
hindswaraj/chap14_indiafree.htm

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March 22—TBA (Either a make-up snow day or more on WWI)

**OCE 1 and 2 due by 12 midnight, Mon., March 26th**

Week 10. The Russian Revolution in Global History

March 27
• Burbank and Cooper, pp. 393-398.
• Dirk Hoerder, Cultures in Contact: World Migrations in the Second Millennium, pp.
322-330, 454-456, 463-468. PDF
• Primary Sources: “Vladimir Lenin, Imperialism, the Highest State of Capitalism, 1916”;
“Soldiers Write about the War, 1915-1916” in The Russian Revolution and its Global Impact,
authors/eds. Daly and Trofimov (2017), pp. 71-76. PDF

March 29: No class, Holy Thursday

Week 11. The Great Wars, Revolution, and International Networks

April 3—World War II and Displacement in Asia
• Burbank & Cooper, pp. 398-411.
• Amrith, “Chapter 3: War, Revolution, and Refugees, 1930-1950,” pp. 89-116.
• Primary Source: “Bolshevik Influence in China, 1920s,” in The Russian Revolution and its
Global Impact, authors/eds. Daly and Trofimov (2017), pp. 129-133. PDF

April 5—Refugees, Nations, and Borders in Europe after WWII

• Tara Zahra, “Chapter 4: The First Final Solution,” in The Great Departure: Mass Migration
from Eastern Europe and the Making of the Free World (2016), pp. 143-179.
• Peter Gatrell, “Chapter 4: ’Nothing Except Commas’: Jews, Palestinians, and the Torment of
Displacement,” in The Making of the Modern Refugee (2013), pp. 119-147. PDF
• Primary Source: “A Twitter Tribute to Holocaust Victims,” The Atlantic, Available: https://
www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/jewish-refugees-in-the-us/514742/
• Primary Source: “UNRWA Photo and Film Archive for Palestine Refugees;” Available:
https://www.unrwa.org/photo-and-film-archive

Week 12. WWII & De-colonization…and Exam 2

April 10—Post-Imperial Partitions: India, etc
• Yasmin Khan, The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan (2007), pp. 81-127.
PDF
• Primary Source: Kamla Patel, Torn from the Roots (2006), pp. 1-13, 144-159. PDF

April 12—**Exam 2, In Class**

Week 13. Resistance, Race, and Imperialism in the Global US, 20th century
April 17—Race and Resistance in the Fordist United States
• Fath Davis Ruffins, “Contesting the Nation, 1900-1960,” Many Voices, One Nation, eds. M.
Salazar-Porzio, J. Fragaszy Troyano, (2017), pp. 137-154. PDF

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 • Thomas C. Holt, The Problem of Race in the 21st Century (2000), pp. 59-96. (Note: this is a
quick read.) PDF
• Primary Source: “W.E.B. DuBois Discovers Soviet Russia (c. 1928)”, in The Russian
Revolution and its Global Impact, authors/eds. Daly and Trofimov (2017), pp. 173-175. PDF

April 19—The 1970s: US Imperialism/Anti-Imperialism and its Many Global Connections

• Thomas Borstelmann, The 1970s: A New Global History from Civil Rights to Economic
Inequality (2012), pp. 175-226. PDF
• Primary Source: Angela Davis, “Prison Interviews,” in If They Come in the Morning: Voices
of Resistance (1971), pp. 177-188. PDF
• Also available at https://bltc-alexanderstreet-com.proxy.bc.edu/cgi-bin/asp/philo/bltc/
getvolume.pl?S7848#DIV27 (If you read it on the BC Library site, you need to log in.)

Week 14. Citizenship, Nations, and Borders after WWII

April 24—Post-Imperial Remapping in Africa and Asia
• Amrith, Chapter 4, pp. 117-150.
• Frederick Cooper, “Decolonization and Citizenship: Africa between Empires and a World of
Nations” in Beyond Empire and Nation: The Decolonization of African and Asian Societies,
1930s-1970s (2012), pp. 39-68. PDF

April 26—The Cold War & War on Terror in Global Perspective; Guest Speaker: Matthew
Delvaux, Ph.D. Candidate, Boston College
• Robert D. Crews, Afghan Modern: The History of a Global Nation (2015), pp. 268-301. PDF
• Mohammed Hanif, “Not All Attacks are Created Equal,” https://www.nytimes.com/
2017/06/09/opinion/london-kabul-terrorist-attack.html?
rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Fmohammed-
hanif&action=click&contentCollection=opinion&region=stream&module=stream_unit&vers
ion=latest&contentPlacement=6&pgtype=collection (Read online)

Week 15. Neo-liberalism and the Global Present

May 1—Labor Migrants, New Flows of Capital, and Borders
• Amrith, Chapter 5, pp. 150-192.
• Primary Source: (Documentary) Made in L.A., 2007, Available: https://bc-
primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=ALMA-
BC51425648290001021&context=L&vid=bclib_new&search_scope=bcl&tab=bcl_only&la
ng=en_US

May 3—Is it Like Today?: Historians Try to Explain the Present

• Readings TBA
*OCE 3 due May 3rd, 12 midnight*

*Final essay due by May 14th, 12 midnight*

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