I’m starting to put together my syllabi for next year. And so I’ve been reading some new books that I plan to use for my classes. Currently, I’m working my way through an incredibly interesting book on Nepal: Many Tongues, One People by Arjun Guneratne.

It’s hard to believe how quickly time passes. Javi is almost a month old now (and fussier by the day). The lack of sleep is starting to slowly wear me down. I still have two major projects (book manuscript, article rewrite) to finish—because in two weeks grading papers will take over my life.

No baby news yet. We’re still waiting. K8’s parents are coming up today, since they’re getting anxious (and there’s not much else to do). Hopefully soon?

I like to read “pop” history books—either looking for readings for future classes or (more commonly) for ways to stretch my thinking about the things I like to teach. Here’s a few of the things I’ve recently been reading:

I recently ordered two books from Escaparate, an online Bolivian book distributor. They just arrived in the mail. I’m pretty impressed; it took a little more than two weeks. And the shipping wasn’t too pricy ($11.40 for two small books shipped overseas). Since Bolivian books are often quite cheap, it balances itself out. If you’re looking for Bolivian books (in any discipline), check them out.

I’m on the CEDIB (Centro de Documentación e Información Bolivia) email list. They just sent out a notice on a new book (by Nelson Antequera Durán), co-published w/ Plural Editores & the European Commission:

Territorios Urbanos. Diversidad cultural, dinámica socio económica y procesos de crecimiento urbano en la zona sur de Cochabamba
[Urban Territories: Cultural Diversity, Socioeconomic Dynamics, and Urban Growth Processes in Cochabamba’s Zona Sur]

If you’re in Cochabamba on 20 September, stop by for a free discussion of the book in the CEDIB auditorium (Calle Calama #255) at 7pm. Discussants will include a member of the Cochabamba municipal council & faculty from UMSS (Universidad Mayor de San Simón).

I’ve added three books to the “Pronto* Recommends” section of my Amazon bookstore. They’re some paperbacks by Samuel P. Huntington, Amartya Sen, and Mark Juergensmeyer on the issue of states, nations, and “civilizations” (from this previous post).

It’s perhaps fitting that today—on the anniversary of “9/11”—my Democracy & Democratization class is reading the first chapter of Samuel Huntington’s The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century (1991). It’s fitting because “9/11” is both the anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 2001 and of the US-supported (if not directly “backed”) Chilean military coup of 1973.

While Huntington’s work has been controversial, he’s made some important insights that aren’t easily dismissed—and shouldn’t be overlooked. One of them is this snippet on pages 29-30:

“… the future of democracy in the world is of special importance to Americans. The United States is the premier democratic country in the modern world, and its identity as a nation is inseparable from its commitment to liberal and democratic values. Other nations may fundamentally change their political systems and continue their existence as nations. The United States does not have that option.”

Most of the class discussion will focus on the Huntington’s introduction to the idea of “waves” of democratization, which they’re reading alongside Dankward Rustow’s 1970 classic article, “Transitions to Democracy: Toward a Dynamic Model.” But I hope we have a chance to parse out this Huntington nugget (which closely follows an argument that increased democratization throughout the world may bring more peace & less violence). Because what Huntington notes in this passage is that US political identity is wrapped up in our belief in liberal, democratic values. The US isn’t only the premier democracy (for all its faults), but the world’s premier case of “civic” (as opposed to organic, ethnic, or cultural) nationalism.

The US wasn’t founded on the belief that “the American people” should govern themselves (in the way that, say, the Serbian nation-state is explicitly Serbian and not for others in Serbian territory—this example could be applied to a host of “ethnic” nation-states), but on the belief that people should. Re-read the first line of the Declaration of Independence; it clearly implies a universal scope. And it suggests that the US has a founding mission to promote the spread of democracy.

Perhaps if we paid more attention to the struggle for freedom & democracy around the world, we wouldn’t be so surprised in international relations. And we may need to constantly remind ourselves that our first priority—or “prime directive”—as a state is to act in ways that promote democratic values around the world. Perhaps the last question made before any policy decision should be this: “Will this policy hinder or advance the cause of freedom in the world?”

I doubt it’s a coincidence (coming on the heels of the government’s attack on Bolivian social scientists), but a new book on MAS was publicly presented Saturday. The book is MAS y la democracia by Fernado Molina Monasterios (La Paz, Bolivia: Eureka!, 2007).

You may be able to find it soon from Escaparate Cultural, which distributes Bolivian publications. Molina has been around for a while (he also worked on the 1994 Ley de Participación Popular). I have his Bajo el signo del cambio (2006), Evo Morales y el retorno de la izquierda nacionalista (2006), Crítica de las ideas políticas de la nueva izquierda boliviana (2003), and a number of older works no longer available.

I’ve started adding sub-categories to my Amazon bookstore, building country-specific pages under the Latin America category. So far I’ve only added a few books on three countries: Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. If you have other (academic) titles you specifically recommend, please let me know. Even so, the sidebar to the right will give you other, related recommendations.

I just set up a new category in my Amazon Bookstore for books on democracy. They should appeal to both general readers & academics. Here are the first three:

Below is the list of articles I’m assigning in my undergraduate “Democracy & Democratization” course this Fall.

I recently noticed that at least a few of the books listed in my Amazon Bookstore have been purchased. So I thought I’d plug three books & mention that I’ve been adding a number of books to the various categories.

One of the perks of academic life is free books. Often, these are unsolicited new offerings from the big textbook presses. But sometimes I get a nice set of books that I’ve actually requested (though not always free) that are more personally intriguing—and/or useful to my own research interests. Today I received a hefty (and much-anticipated) package from Cambridge University Press.

It’s on the back burner—sort of (is anything ever really “on the back burner”?)—but I just got two potential textbooks sent to me by Sage. Both are potential texts for my Spring 2008 semester methods course; both are written by John W. Cresswell (U of Nebraska).

I’ll admit that I didn’t openly talk about the Virginia Tech murders, neither in my classes (as some of my colleagues did) nor among friends/colleagues. In part, frankly, because I’m never sure how one is supposed to (publicly) deal w/ such matters. In part, because I think the issue (cf. the Columbine murders) is often framed in a way I find socially distasteful. In short: social-collective masochistic entertainment.

During a recent visit to the Camp Hill B&N, on a lark, I purchased How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization, by Franklin Foer (a New Republic editor). I only started it last night, but I’m already heavily engrossed. Foer’s a good writer—and he’s well-read in social theory & political history.

It’s a little early, but I’m starting to think about books for Spring 2008, when I teach Latin American Government & Politics again. I’ve decided that country focuses (yes, I know it’s actually “foci”) are probably best (and well liked by students), but I want ones that highlight some distinct element of a “comparative politics” approach to the study of Latin America.

I’m particularly pleased that the Dickinson intramural faculty team (Team “A Useful Education”) won its first game—and in the playoffs, where it really counted! Sadly, I missed the excitement, since I was attending an evening presentation by Julio Carrión (U of Delaware), the Latin American Studies guest speaker.