- From www.coursera.org
Paradoxes of War
- Self-paced
- Free Access
- Fee-based Certificate
- 13 Sequences
- Introductive Level
Course details
Syllabus
- Week 1 - Introduction/Welcome
The basic paradoxes of war: how it builds and destroys, produces love and hate are discussed. Outline of course and general expectations. - Week 2 - The Nature of War
War is a product of both “natural” instincts and a social creation involving the imposition of organization and authority structures. - Week 3 - The Causes of War
Causes of war may be described as material, cultural, and psychological. At the heart of war is the product of us-them dynamics. - Week 4 - The Experience of War
In order to understand the social creation of war we need to appreciate that this is an activity VERY few would engage in with control or inducement. - Week 5 - Making Warriors
Warriors are taught a set of values of which duty and honor are fundamental. These are taught through the imposition of discipline. - Week 6 - The War of Armies
Wars are about organized violence and this part of the course traces the managerial and technological developments necessary to culminate in total wars. - Week 7 - The Progress of Battle
Historical overview of battle formations from phalanx to gunpowder revolution to industrialized war. - Week 8 - The War of Societies
Wars can also be about societal survival and we look at three examples: conquest, genocide, and strategic bombing. - Week 9 - Social Aspects of War: Nation State and Nationalism
Wars help build states and nationalism - Week 10 - Social Aspects of War: Democracy, Citizenship, and Social Equality
Wars also develop citizenship and democratic demands - Week 11 - The Rise of the Rest
While the West was dominant for 500 years, beginning in 1945 new forms of war have challenged the technological and organizational supremacy of old empires. - Week 12 - New Challenges
Wars are not fought as they were yet militaries are still organized anachronistically. - Week 13 - Final Lecture
Summary of the class.
Prerequisite
Instructors
Miguel A. Centeno
Musgrave Professor of Sociology and Professor of Sociology and International Affairs
Sociology
Editor
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