AMST-A 201 U.S. Movements & Institutions
Topic: Crisis and American Democracy
First Summer Session 2007
Class number 12654 / 1:10-2:25 p.m. Daily / BH 148
Instructor: David Higgins
What are the relationships between American democracy and crisis? How do disasters (such as terrorist attacks) and emergencies (including natural disasters) threaten democracy, and to what extent are responses to crises in America truly democratic? How is democracy possible during a state of emergency, and how are states of emergency produced, extended, or resolved? What are the ethical stakes involved in ‘suspending’ democratic rights in a time of crisis, especially when these rights are suspended in the name of democracy itself? What are the relationships between terror and excitement, and how do they frame our responses to political decisions and cultural values?
