Mexico and Canada: Politics, Economy and Society - JTM240

• Title: Mexico and Canada: Politics, Economy and Society
• Czech title: Mexiko a Kanada: Politika, ekonomika a společnost
• Guaranteed by: Department of North American Studies (23-KAS)
• Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
• Actual: from 2022
• Semester: winter
• E-Credits: 6
• Examination process: winter s.:
• Hours per week, examination: winter s.:1/1, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: 16 / unknown (20)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: Mgr. Ing. Magdalena Fiřtová, Ph.D.; Mgr. Lukáš Perutka, Ph.D.
• Teacher(s): Mgr. Ing. Magdalena Fiřtová, Ph.D.; Mgr. Lukáš Perutka, Ph.D.
• Class: Courses for incoming students
• Incompatibility : JMMZ319

Annotation

Last update: Mgr. Ing. Magdalena Fiřtová, Ph.D. (25.09.2023)

This course explores why it is important to study Mexico and Canada if we want to better understand the nuances of cross-border dynamics on the North American continent. We will analyze these countries from four different perspectives: politics, economics, society, and foreign relations. Emphasis will be placed on the key current issues facing Mexicans and Canadians today. Individual topics will also address ties with their northern/southern neighbor, the United States, as many of the current issues (emigration, drugs, economic cooperation under the NAFTA/USMCA, Keystone XL, etc.) are transnational in nature and need to be studied from a broader perspective. This course is highly recommended, but not exclusively, to MA students of Territorial studies with a North American specialization.

Aim of the course

Last update: Mgr. Ing. Magdalena Fiřtová, Ph.D. (25.09.2023)

-        Improve student’s understanding of a broader North American context.

-        Increase student’s knowledge of Mexico and Canada and major current issues facing Mexicans and Canadians.

-        Improve student’s ability to see links across borders, studying similar topics from a different national perspective.

-        Improve student’s skills of critical reading, active constructive discussion and sound analytical writing.

Course completion requirements

Last update: Bc. Sára Lochmanová (05.10.2023)

Grading is based on the Dean's Measure no. 20/2019: https://fsv.cuni.cz/deans-measure-no-20/2019

• 91% and more   => A
• 81-90%             => B
• 71-80%             => C
• 61-70%             => D
• 51-60%             => E
• 0-50%               => F

More in SMĚRNICE S_SO_002: Organizace zkouškových termínů, kontrol studia a užívání klasifikace A–F na FSV UK.

Literature

Last update: Mgr. Ing. Magdalena Fiřtová, Ph.D. (25.09.2023)

Mandatory readings for each class are attached.

Mexican Module, recommended literature:

Adams, John A. Bordering the Future: The Impact of Mexico on the United States. Praeger, 2006.

Beezley, William, Meyer, Michael C. The Oxford History of Mexico. Oxford University, 2010.

Boullosa, Carmen, Wallace, Mike. A Narco History. How the United States and Mexico Jointly Created the ''Mexican Drug War''. OR Books, 2016.

Castañeda, Jorge. Manana Forever?: Mexico and the Mexicans. Vintage, 2012.

De Vega, Mercedes (ed.) Historia de las relaciones internacionales de México, vol 1-7, Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, 2011.

Delano, Alexandra. Mexico and Its Diaspora in the United States: Policies of Emigration Since 1848. Cambridge, 2011.

Gómez, Laura. Manifest Destinies. The Making of Mexican American Race. New York University, 2007.

Haber, Stephen. Mexico since 1980. Cambridge University, 2008.

Hamnett, Brian. A Concise History of Mexico. Cambridge University, 2004.

Hufbauer, Gary (ed). NAFTA Revisited: Achievements and Challenges. Columbia University Press, 2005.

Kašpar, Oldřich. Dějiny Mexika. Lidové Noviny 2009.

Kingslover, Ann. Nafta Stories: Fears and Hopes in Mexico and the United States. Lynne Rienner, 2001.

Mace, Gordon (ed.) Regionalism and the State: NAFTA and Foreign Policy Convergence. Ashgate, 2011.

Munck, Ronaldo. Contemporary Latin America. Palgrave, 2003.

Opatrný, Josef. Mexiko: Stručná historie států. Libri, 2016.

Raat, Dirk; Brescia, Michael. Mexico and the United States. Ambivalent Vistas. University of Georgia, 2010.

Rodríguez, Jaime (ed.) Common border, uncommon paths: race, culture, and national identity in U.S.-Mexican relations. SR Books, 1997.

Russell, Philip. The History of Mexico. From Pre-conquest to Present. New York, 2010.

Skidmore, Thomas. Modern Latin America. Oxford, 2013.

Smith, Peter. Talons of the Eagle: Latin America, the United States, and the World. Oxford, 2012.

 

 Canadian Module:

 

Burney, Derek H. and Fen Osler Hampson Brave New Canada. Meeting the Challenge of a Changing World, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2014.

Courtney, John and David E. Smith. The Oxford Handbook of Canadian Politics, 2010.

Fiřtová, Magdalena. Kanada: Stručné dějiny států. Libri, 2014.

Harrison, Kathryn.  Racing to the bottom? : provincial interdependence in the Canadian federation. UBC Press, 2006.

Kasoff, Mark and Patrick James, eds., Canadian Studies in the New Millennium. University of Toronto Press, 2013.

Lipset, Seymour. Continental Divide, The Values and Institutions of the United States and Canada, Routlage 1990.

Rovná, Lenka. Dějiny Kanady. Nakladatelství Lidové noviny, 2012.

Whittington, Michael and Glen Williams. Canadian politics in the 21st century, Nelson College Indigenous, 2003.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teaching methods

Last update: Mgr. Jiřina Tomečková (26.09.2023)

The course combines lectures and interactive seminar work. It is taught in a full-time format.

 

Requirements to the exam

Last update: Mgr. Ing. Magdalena Fiřtová, Ph.D. (13.01.2024)

1. Attendance with active class participation. Maximum two uncertified absences, one in Canadian block, one in Mexican block (30%)

2. Individual student project (Mexican OR Canadian paper) 40 %

3. Final exam (30%)

To pass the course the student needs to obtain at least 50% per each assignment.

 

 1. Attendance and active class participation (30%)

Students must prepare for classes by reading the required texts (in the case of Canadian topics it means reading both mandatory/ backgrounder texts as well as shorter texts for discussion), which will be followed by lectures and other activities during interactive seminars. Failure to achieve a minimum of 15 points automatically results in an F grade.

0 points - The student has more than two uncertified absences per semester. 

15 points - The student attends classes but does not actively participate.

21 points - The student attends classes, and demonstrates that he/she has read the required texts, but participates only sporadically  - she /he asked a question or contributed to the debates only on 4 or fewer occasions. 

30 points - The student attends classes, demonstrates that he/she has read the required texts, and is very active - she/he contributed to discussions at least on 5 occasions.    

2. Individual Student Project (40%) - Student chooses Canadian OR Mexican paper.

Option A: Canadian Project

Students are to write an individual term paper using a methodology of content OR discourse analysis.  It means that students will have to choose one current or historical topic, and identify a sample of texts appropriate for the analysis. You can choose between discourses by political actors (official statements, official documents, political parties manifestos) or media (TV, online or print media, social media), or social movements (NGO campaigns).  The required content analysis methodology is best explained here, or simply contact Magdalena Firtova for methodological guidance. This methodology requires using both primary resources (political platforms, speeches, government documents, news articles) and academic secondary literature (books and academic journals).   The paper of approximately 10 pages (aprox. 18 000 characters with spaces, including resources and footnotes). The paper should be structured as a standard academic paper - introduction with a clear research question, methodology and sample definition, and results (including contextual interpretation of your results, and conclusion). The deadline for submission is by January 12, 2024.  Please send your paper to the email of Magdalena Firtova. Late submission is still eligible for a 0,5 point deduction from the final grade for each day. Be diligent in using resources, quoting, and managing your citations (ideally Chicago footnote style). 

The paper will be evaluated according to the following rules:

Rubrics: Points

Thesis statement in the introduction: a clear presentation of the purpose and topic of the paper	5
Organization: structure of the paper, flow of ideas	10
Analysis: quality of arguments, coherence, plausibility	10
Evidence: how presented, use of literature, relevance	10
Methodology: content analysis, codes (concepts, themes, categories, words)	5
Style: grammar, clarity, word choice, sentence structure	5
Referencing and Bibliography: coherent style (ideally Chicago Manual Style)	5

 

I will use the rubrics to transparently grade your paper. If you find that the required methodology of qualitative content analysis is too complicated for you, you can still handle a coherent, well-structured, well-resourced (try to work with some primary documents) and strong, evidence-based paper (but you will lose 5 points).

No plagiarism – if you have something to quote, use the quoting. If you are not familiar with the ethics code, read it. If you are not sure about plagiarism, check the following code: http://www.bu.edu/academics/policies/academic-conduct-code/ - the part about Plagiarism. Plagiarism (including autoplagiarism) is absolutely unacceptable behavior in the academic sphere which is defined by the Code of Ethics, Disciplinary Rules for the Charles University Students, Disciplinary Rules of the FSV UK, and Dean's Measure No. 18/2015. This Decree regulates the procedure for the detection of student plagiarism by internal and external instructors at the Institute of International Studies, FSV UK.

Should you have any questions – you can ask us in class, or by mail. You can also visit us in the offices C418 and C419. Magdalena's office hours are on Tuesday and Thrusday at 11:00-12:15.

Option B: Mexican Project

The final project is on a certain problem of Mexico and its most probable future development. It has to have standard features of an academic paper like references, footnotes, and bibliography – Chicago Manual of Style is recommended: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html - notes and bibliography part. The work should be around 18 000 characters with spaces including bibliography and footnotes.

Besides this:

1)    Deadline is the 12 of January 2024 at the stroke of midnight

2)    Focus on the important information and relevant to your topic. You will have to use internet sources so be extra careful evaluating their validity. There are a lot of strange sources; some are even misleading on purpose.

3)    We know that future development is a little bit problematic, but you should analyze the current state and make the most probable prediction. For instance, how will the education reform develop and how would/should the Mexican school system look like in 10 years.

4)    The current state should be like 25% of the extent, the prediction 75%. The second part is the more important one.

Evaluation (what is going to be evaluated)

1)    The structure – your work has to have a good structure – introduction, main part, and conclusion. All the parts have to stick together, even the paragraphs.

2)    Style and grammar – the academic paper/project has some stylistic rules you should obey – We include one example from one of our past students, how it should like (see dropbox link below).

3)    No plagiarism – if you have something to quote, use the quoting. If you are not familiar with the Ethic code, read it. If you are not sure about plagiarism, check this code: http://www.bu.edu/academics/policies/academic-conduct-code/ - the part about Plagiarism. Plagiarism (including auto-plagiarism) is absolutely unacceptable behavior in the academic sphere which is defined by the Code of Ethics, Disciplinary Rules for the Charles University Students, Disciplinary Rules of the FSV UK, and Dean's Measure No. 18/2015. This Decree regulates the procedure for the detection of student plagiarism by internal and external instructors at the Institute of International Studies, FSV UK.

Also here I present some examples (generally the document is great to read, but examples are from page 21):

https://arts.uottawa.ca/sites/arts.uottawa.ca.history/files/history_essay_guide.pdf

3. Final Exam (30%)

The sit-in exam will test your understanding of the required texts and concepts. It will consist of open questions. The dates will be announced via SIS system before Christmas. If you fail your exam, you are granted two more attempts (resit).

Syllabus

Last update: Mgr. Ing. Magdalena Fiřtová, Ph.D. (01.11.2023)

5. 10. Introduction, Canadian identity and history of Canada since Confederation ( Magdalena Fiřtová)

Mandatory Backgrounder:

S. Lipset, Continental Divide, Chapter 3 (Canadian Identity), Routledge, 1990, Available in the SIS.

For discussion:

Nimijean, Richard, The Paradoxical Nature of the Canadian Identity, Teaching Canada n.23, 2005, 25-31.

 

12. 10. Political System of Canada: the End of Brokerage Politics? (Magdalena Fiřtová)

Mandatory Backgrounder:

Eagles and Manna: Politics and Government, in Canadian Studies in the New Millenium, by M. Kasoff. Available in the SIS.

For discussion:

John Geddes, This is what's wrong with Canada's Left, Macleans, January 11, 2019, https://www.macleans.ca/politics/this-is-whats-wrong-with-canadas-left/

John Geddes, What's actually standing in the way of right-wing populism in Canada?, Macleans, February 8, 2022, https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/whats-actually-standing-in-the-way-of-right-wing-populism-in-canada/

Recommended:

Karimi, The Flaws of our electoral system, Policy Options, December 2019, https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/december-2019/the-flaws-of-our-electoral-system-showed-up-in-the-october-election/

Marland, Election candidates have become brand ambassadors, Policy Options, September 2019, https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/september-2019/election-candidates-have-become-brand-ambassadors/ or longer, well-written academic research by Alex Marland, and Angelia Wagner, Scripted Messengers: How Party Discipline and Branding Turn Election Candidates and Legislators into Brand Ambassadors, Journal of Political Marketing, January 2019,  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15377857.2019.1658022

Stephanie Hastick, The Canadian Senate and the election of senators, Federalism-E Volume 23, 82-94, https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/fede/article/view/15367/10195

 

19. 10. Indigenous Peoples of Canada: Politics of Reconciliation (guest lecture by Denisa Krásná)

Mandatory

Christine Welsh: Finding Dawn (2006); Available at: https://www.nfb.ca/film/finding_dawn/

Deer, Sarah and Mary K. Nagle. “The Rapidly Increasing Extraction of Oil, and Native Women, in North Dakota.” The Federal Lawyer, April 2017: 34-37. https://www.fedbar.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Extraction-pdf-1.pdf 

Recommended by Denisa Krasna

Hargreaves, Allison. “Finding Dawn and Missing Women in Canada: Story-Based Methods in Antiviolence Research and Remembrance.” Studies in American Indian Literatures, 27.3 (2015): 82–111., www.jstor.org/stable/10.5250/studamerindilite.27.3.0082.

Lindeman, Tracey. “Canada: remains of 215 children found at Indigenous residential school site.” The Guardian, 28 May 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/28/canada-remains-indigenous-children-mass-graves

Paquin, Mali I. “Unsolved murders of Indigenous women reflect Canada’s history of silence.” The Guardian, 25 June 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jun/25/indigenous-women-murders-violence-canada

Glen Coulthard, "From Wards of the State to Subjects of Recognition?", in Theorizing Native Studies by Audra Simpson et al (ed), Duke University Press, 2014, pp. 56-86, pdf in SIS.

Erica Violet Lee, Reconciling in the Apocalypse, March 2016, https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/reconciling-apocalypse

The Colonialism of the Present,  An interview with Glen Couthard, Jacobin, 2015,  https://jacobin.com/2015/01/indigenous-left-glen-coulthard-interview/

Taiaiake Alfred and Jeff Corntassel, “Being Indigenous: Resurgences Against Contemporary Colonialism” Government and Opposition: An International Journal of Comparative Politics 40, 4 (2005) 597-614. (e-brary).

Glen Coulthard, “Place Against Empire: Understanding Indigenous Anti-Colonialism,” Affinities: A Journal of Radical Theory, Culture, and Action, Volume 4, Number 2, Fall 2010, pp. 79-83.

 

26.10. Economic and Political Regionalism of Canada: The End of Laurentian Thesis? (Magdalena Fiřtová)

Mandatory Backgrounder: Michael Broadway, Canada: Too Much Geography?, Chapter 1, pp. 8-35, Available in the SIS.

For Discussion:

Berdahl, Loleen. “The Persistence of Western Alienation.” Institute for Research on Public Policy, May 27, 2021, https://centre.irpp.org/research-studies/the-persistence-of-western-alienation/

 

2.11. No class due to fire tests in Jinonice Campus

9. 11. Canadian Society: Migration and Multiculturalism (Magdalena Fiřtová)

Backgrounder: Bradshaw, Leah. 2021. "Identity Politics and Multiculturalism: A United States/Canada Comparison." Zeitschrift für Kanada-Studien 41: 87-99, pdf in SIS.

For discussion:

Alexia Fernández Campbell, The Philosophical Differences on Immigration Between Canada and the U.S., The Atlantic, June 24, 2016,  https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/06/the-philosophical-differences-on-immigration-between-canada-and-the-us/488534/, or pdf Immigration reader.

Tony, Keller, Canada Has Its Own Ways of Keeping Out Unwanted Immigrants,  The Atlantic, July 12, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/07/canada-immigration-success/564944/, or pdf Immigration reader.

Recommended:

Irene Bloemraad, Understanding Canadian exceptionalism in immigration and pluralism policy, Migration Policy Institute, July 2012, http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/CanadianExceptionalism.pdf

Andrew Griffith, Building a Mosaic: The Evolution of Canada’s Approach to Immigrant Integration, MPI, Migration Policy Institute, November 1, 2017, https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/building-mosaic-evolution-canadas-approach-immigrant-integration

 

4. 1.2024  Foreign policy of Canada ( Magdalena Fiřtová)

Backgrounder: Carment, Nimijean, "Assessing Canada's Liberal Internationalism", in Canadian Political, Social and Historical (Re)visions in the 20th and 21st Centuries, Berlin: Peter Lang, 2020.

Recommended:

 “The United-States and Canada: Outlook for Bilateral Relations in 2021,” Canada Institute, Woodrow Wilson Center, December 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7y7qJv1rfI.

Bow, Brian and Adam Chapnick, "Teaching Canada-US Relations: Three Debates," International Journal, June 2016, see pdf.

Nord, D. and Smith H.: Canadian Foreign Policy, in Canadian Studies in the New Millenium, by M. Kasoff. Available in the SIS, the book is available in e-brary.

"Canada-U.S. Relations," Outburst-CPAC, November 2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_5dlK1Wk08.

 

 

16.11.  Mexican history since the revolution (lecturer Lukáš Perutka)

23.11. Political system of Mexico – end of one-party rule? (lecturer Lukáš Perutka)

30. 11. Economy of Mexico – last bastion of neoliberalism? (lecturer Lukáš Perutka)

7.12..  Mexican society and minorities (lecturer Lukáš Perutka)

14.12.  Drugs, cartels, and violence in Mexico (lecturer Lukáš Perutka)

21.12.  Foreign relations of Mexico (lecturer Lukáš Perutka)

 

The Mexican presentations and example of a paper are available from this link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/kp2p5t7puevxv1f/AABPAb5iu8ksg7oFQv67yI6Ha?dl=0

The Canadian ppt presentations will be uploaded after each class at: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12N-IwikuwZ_Mhkekw1jqvDTkDvqsDHxa?usp=sharing