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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "PL 358"
COURSE NAME: "Politics of Enchantment"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall 2022
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Eszter Salgo
EMAIL: [email protected]
 HOURS: TTH 10:00 AM - 11:15 AM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES:
OFFICE HOURS:
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The purpose of this course is to demonstrate that without reflecting on the imagination, emotions and desires of political actors (leaders and citizens), it is not possible to understand today’s world. While they have always been present throughout the history of politics, the role of feelings and fantasies, myths and charismatic authority has become even more crucial and visible in the twenty-first century. The course aims to investigate how extra-rational factors shape political decision-making and public responses through psychoanalytic and anthropological theories. Its interdisciplinary approach offers students the opportunity to better understand the deeper causes of the rise (or return) of nationalism, populism, authoritarianism and radicalization.
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

This discussion-based course is built on the premise that we need to move beyond the rational actor model and adopt a reflexive-interpretative approach when analyzing political events and social phenomena. It seeks to investigate the sacralization, emotionalization and dramatization of political agendas - how political actors (and entities) assume mythological connotations and become the object of a secular cult, faith, loyalty, and reverence. In the second part of the course students will analyze the many forms that the politics of enchantment can take and how visual propaganda can be used in both democratic and non-democratic systems. What is the role of paintings, films, digital images, sculptures, monuments, and buildings in generating awe and excitement? The case studies will cover topics such as the mythical narratives about the Russia-Ukraine war, the “messianic roots” of the European Union’s legitimacy, the myth of the Golden Age in contemporary nationalist movements, the transformation of Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping into heroic (divine?) figures (in the way they are imagined) and the carnivalesque nature of Italy’s Five-Star Movement.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

a) understand  the relationship between politics and the characteristics of human nature; b) show an ability to apply anthropological and psychoanalytical approaches to the study of politics and society; c) understand the sources of charismatic leadership; d) interpret verbal and visual political communication; e) critically assess the role of symbols, rituals and myths in politics; f) appreciate the importance of the aesthetic sources of politics; g) participate in the flourishing interdisciplinary conversation about the deep connections between psychology, aesthetics, anthropology and politics; h) use critical thinking, analytical skills and imagination to propose individual interpretations; i) use research skills (relying both on primary and secondary, verbal and visual sources and j)demonstrate effective written and oral communication skills.
TEXTBOOK:
NONE
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
Attendance and participation in discussions 20%
Research project 30%
Midterm exam 15%
Final exam 35%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course.
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.
-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
You cannot make-up a major exam (midterm or final) without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed. 
ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.
SCHEDULE

Week 1 
Class 1: Introduction
Class 2: Enchantment, disenchantment, re-enchantment: an individual journey

Week 2:
Class 3: Interpreting Max Weber’s concept of disenchantment 
Reading: Green, Two meanings of disenchantment and J.A. Josephson-Storm, The Myth of Disenchantment, Chapter 10
Class 4: Modern enchantments  
Readings: Joshua Landy & Michael Saler (2009), The Re-Enchantment of the World: Secular Magic in a Rational Age, Introduction; Lectures https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/events/master-narratives-of-modernity-disenchantment-and-secularity-and-a-more-adequate-narrative-of-western-secularity
Class 5: (Make-up day for November 24): The myth of disenchantment 
J.A. Josephson-Storm, The Myth of Disenchantment, Intro and chapter 1

Week 3
Class 6: Interpreting Max Weber’s concept of charisma 
Reading: Joshua Derman (2011) Max Weber and Charisma: A Transatlantic Affair, New German Critique, No. 113, pp. 51-88 and Iván Szelényi’s Yale Lecture “Weber on Charismatic Authority”
Class 7: Modernity and the sacred
Readings: Roberto Calasso (2014) Ardor, Chapter 1 and R. Calasso (2020) The Unnamable Present, Chapter 1 plus https://merionwest.com/2021/10/12/roberto-calasso-a-man-possessed/ and watch lecture Rene Girard lecture series, Stanford “Last superstition”

Week 4
Class 8: Modernity and the loss of sacred
Reading: Byung-Chul Han (2017) Psychopolitics, Verso and Joshua Pauling (2022) Philosophy as Enchantment: Exploring the Work of Byung-Chul Han
Class 9: Modernity and gnosticism 
Readings: Linda C. Raeder (2013), Voegelin on Gnosticism, Modernity, and the Balance of Consciousness, The Political Science Reviewer 344-370; Arpad Szakolczai (2021) On Imbecility as a Contemporary Mode of 
Exercising Power: Davos Thinking as a Version of Modern Gnosticism, International Political Anthropology journal, (2021) Vol. (14) 2, 141-155

Week 5
Class 10:  Sacralization of politics  
Reading: Emilio Gentile (2006) Politics as Religion, New York: Princeton University Press Chapter 1, Harald Wydra (2015) Politics and the Sacred, Cambridge University Press, Chapter 1 
Class 11: Fascism as a political religion
Readings: Roger Griffin (2008) Modernity, modernism and Fascism, 15:1, pp 9-24 

Week 6
Class 12: The sacred roots of democracy 
Reading: Harald Wydra (2015) Politics and the Sacred, Cambridge University Press, Chapter 4
Class 13: Generating enchantment through visual politics I
Reading: Peter Burk (2001) Eyewitnessing: The Uses of Images as Historical Evidence, Chapter 3 and 4
Class 14 (make-up for Oct 21/Nov 1):  Generating enchantment through visual politics II
Reading: Federica Caso, Caitlin Hamilton (2015) World Politics and Popular Culture, E-International Relations

Week 7
Class 15:   Review
Class 16:   Midterm exam (online)
October 21 Make-up for Tuesday, November 1 (anticipated to Oct 14!)

Week 8
Class 17: Politics of Enchantment in Russia 
Reading: J. A. Cassiday and E. D. Johnson Putin (2010), Putiniana and the Question of a Post-Soviet Cult of Personality, The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 88, No. 4 and Matthew Beale (2018) Brand Putin: and Analysis of Vladimir Putin’s Projected Images, Defence Strategic Communications, Volume 5, Autumn 2018
Class 18: Politics of Enchantment in China
Reading: Maria Adele Carrai (2021) Chinese Political Nostalgia and Xi Jinping’s Dream of Great Rejuvenation, International Journal of Asian Studies (2021), 18, 7–25, Brian Hart 2016 Creating the Cult of Xi Jinping: The Chinese Dream as a Leader Symbol, Cornell International Affairs Review, Volume IX Spring 

Week 9
No class on Tuesday (Nov 1)
Class 19: Politics of Enchantment in India  
Reading: Appadurai, Arjun (1990) Topographies of the Self: Praise and Emotion in Hindu India. In Language and the Politics of Emotion, edited by Catherine Lutz & Lila Abu-Lughod. pp. 92–112. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press and Salgo, Narendra Modi’s sacred gaze 

Week 10 

Class 20: Politics of Enchantment in Hungary

Reading: Salgò (2014) Psychoanalytic Reflections on Politics: Fatherlands in mothers' hands, Chapter 3, plus Szabolcs László (2020) Memory politics in an illiberal regime: Hungary’s new Trianon memorial, Financial Times (2021) The House of Hungarian Music pits art against politics 

 Class 21: Politics of Enchantment in Turkey

 Reading: Kraidi, Nocera, Torelli, (2014) The Turkish Touch. Neo-ottoman Hegemony and Turkish Television in the Middle East, Arab Media Report, and Senem B. Çevik (2019) Turkish historical television series: public broadcasting of neo-Ottoman illusions, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, Vol. 19, No. 2, 227–24

Week 11

Class 22: Oral presentations
Class 23: Oral presentations

Week 12

Class 24: The Politics of Enchantment of the ISIS 
Readings: Charles Winter (2015) The Virtual ‘Caliphate’: Understanding Islamic State’s Propaganda Strategy, Quilliam, Thorsten Botz-Bornstein (2017) The “futurist” aesthetics of ISIS, Journal of Aesthetics and Culture and Dauber C. E. 
No class on Thursday

Week 13
Class 25: The Politics of Enchantment of the European Union 
Reading: Eszter Salgó (2017) Images from Paradise: the Visual Communication of the European Union’s Federalist Utopia, New York: Berghahn Books, Introduction and Part I, Part II or Part III
Class 26: The Politics of Carnival
Reading: M. Lane Brune (2005) Carnivalesque Protest and the Humorless State Text and Performance Quarterly Vol. 25, No. 2, April 2005, pp. 136–155, Claire Tancons (2011) Occupy Wall Street: Carnival Against Capital? Carnivalesque as Protest Sensibility, E-Flux Journal 30 
Class 27 (make-up class for Dec. 8): Art, Politics and Enchantment in the United States
Reading: Eszter Salgó (2022) Simone Leigh’s Brick House: America’s Mighty-Mighty New Colossus, Milan: Postmedia Books

Week 14
Class 28: Concluding reflections
Reading: A. Szakolczai (2006) Sociology, Religion and Grace, Part I
Thursday: Holiday