Theories of social and political transformation:

THEORIES OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION:

MODERNITY AND POSTMODERNITY

Essay proposals

Name	Grade	Comment
Армеева		The research question should be reformulated along the lines of “Does the existence of virtual reality reproduce social norms or encourage individualization?” One clear definition of “virtual reality” should be chosen and explained. The objectives and examples given in the proposal do not fully correspond to the question. It would be helpful to choose one or two specific spheres of virtual reality (like social networks or Wikipedia or online registrations) and analyze them.
Бабенко		The language of the essay should be more scientific. The topic of the essay should be widened. We suggest the following title: “Changes in Technology and Society in Late Modernity and Their Impact on Art Nouveau Painting”.
Баранова		Formulate one specific research question. Specify the aim. More attention should be paid to international conflicts. Important questions: what is the changing role of the nation state in new wars? What is happening to the concept of national sovereignty on the international arena? What are humanitarian interventions and how is this new?
Букина		Please include the title of the paper at the top of the proposal. The essay cannot be comprised of summing up articles – you must analyze concepts yourself, using and quoting the articles as a foundation. “Global democracy” should not be analyzed in terms of whether it is “successful or not,” as it is not a current political reality. It should be analyzed instead in terms of its potential prospects in the future and its potential limitations (i.e., its problems and hurdles).
Васейко		The “problem” of the research should be reformulated to be less deterministic and to match the goal, object and subject. For example, “the problem at hand deals with understanding the ultimate effects of virtual reality on social cohesion. The research question that springs from this problem is whether virtual reality enables social cohesion or threatens it.”
Вологодская		In addition to theory, empirical examples must back up your ideas. Joseph Nye and his analysis of the changing role of American power can be a good step towards finding evidence for your claims.
Вьюгина		Define what “postmodern” is in the “theory” part of your paper.
Вязовцева		Address the problem of the “democratic deficit” with regard to the EU. Why do you think the EU is the main case study for a prospective global democracy? Justify your choice of studying the EU.
Городилина		Make your topic of research more narrow and define your terms. For example, how would you measure the influence of media on society? What is “freedom” in your essay? What is media and how has it changed? Focus on the evolution of media in Modernity and Postmodernity.
Губайдулина		A lot of huge abstract claims with little empirical explanation or definitions. Most importantly, what is “power”? This is in the title, but remains unexplained. Define all your terms!
Гуц		A discussion of the points “for” and “against” virtual reality is too simple. Discuss not what is “for” or “against” it, but rather its specific influences on society. Include empirical examples.
Егорова		In the first part of this paper, the concept of dromology needs to be discussed in terms of other theories, its greater historical context, and in relation to similar concepts. Objectives should be formulated clearer (what concrete aspects of dromology do you intend to explain?).
Иволга		Very good.
Камоликова		Probably the recent elections to the Coordination Council of the Russian Opposition may be analyzed as an example of growing political role of the Internet.
Климов		Attention should also be paid to different examples and case studies supporting the arguments of the paper.
Койсина		The concept of dromology should also be analyzed within the context of other similar theories.
Конкина		It would be interesting to analyze the social and political consequences of the proliferation of intertextuality in contemporary culture.
Королева		You should define the goal and objectives of the research and use a wider list of literature.
Кострова		The essay should be based on a wider list of sources. Using only the texts from the course syllabus is not enough.
Лекух		You should study the magic realism not only in literature, but also in cinematography, painting, etc.
Окунева		You should explicitly define the goal and objectives of the research.
Попов		The work on this topic demands using a wider list of sources and focusing on several case studies.
Сальникова		The theoretical analysis should be combined with several case studies.
Сотников		You should analyze both the future of the printed book as a physical object and as a certain style of writing. Thus, the goal and objectives of the essay should be reformulated.
Сошинская		More attention should be paid to analyzing case studies.
Кудреватых		Add sources from the readings and use concepts introduced in class and in the syllabus. It may be useful to address the concept of “real virtuality.”
Кузнецова		The work should be based not on summaries of others’ works, but should also be a coherent attempt at theorizing about the topic on your own. Be specific about main ideas and examples of the limits and prospects.
Кулемякин		It may be helpful to mention new actors more “informal” and less organized than IGO’s and NGO’s alone. Consider terrorist organizations, transnational mafia, migration flows. Be sure to look at works by Stephen Krasner, as well as Keohane and Nye’s “Transnational Relations and World Politics”.
Курняева		How does this topic relate to the course? We suggest reformulating the topic as something like “Women’s Rights in Modernity and Postmodernity”. Within postmodern or constructivist theories of political science there is a feminist strand of theory you could work with (see Ann Tickner, Lorraine Code, John Hoffman).
Логинова		Very good.
Локшина		Very good. Be sure to focus on the relationship between democracy and globalization and the effect of one on the other, as laid out in the first half of the proposal; do not get sidetracked or distracted.
Лысова		Mention the broader context of the meaning of “organized crime as a network” – what does it mean for the nation state and how is this different from previous interpretations? Is the interpretation new, or is the actual organization of crime qualitatively new?
Матвеев		In your conclusion, be sure to not only summarize what other authors have written, but formulate your own understanding of the right “ratio” between development and environmentalism.
Метельская		Perhaps use the Castells texts from the syllabus of the course in your essay. Be concise about the specific ways in which values created in “traditional groups” are different from values created in “virtual groups,” but also keep in mind that virtual reality and “real” reality sometimes overlap.
Попова		You should analyze Harvey’s theory in the context of other similar concepts and try to focus on some case studies.
Савин		Your paper seems to be about how politics begin to transcend the state in the postmodern era – perhaps then it is not “politics” that are in crisis, it is the nation state? Be specific on how the state and rationality are related. There are a lot of theories and theorists in your paper, but make sure to relate each to your central question in a very clear way.
Саломатина		Be sure to define what you mean by “virtual reality.” Avoid simplistic divisions of virtual reality as “good” or “bad”. Analyze rather how virtual reality is good or bad for social cohesion specifically. Perhaps focus more on your interesting theme of how virtual reality helps people with disabilities – this is a unique approach.
Стенькина		You forgot to mention the topic of the essay. The concept of dromology should also be analyzed within the context of other similar theories.
Стефова		Given the speed of the development of the Internet, the list of literature should contain more recent books and articles.
Стрельникова		It is incorrect to call the concept of “risk society” a “provocative” and “controversial” one.
Тангян		You should also study the technological reasons for the phenomenon of media convergence. The list of literature should be edited more carefully.
Тарасова		The text is too short. You should prove the topicality of the research and use a wider list of literature. Using the texts only from the course syllabus is not enough.
Удалова		You should also compare the political, economic and social role of cities in Modernity and Postmodernity.
Утемова		You should also analyze the Internet as one of the key elements of “the McLuhan galaxy”.
Хорова		You should analyze Harvey’s theory in the context of other similar concepts and try to focus on some case studies.
Чиндин		It would be better to focus on only one type of Postmodern warfare (e.g. cyber war, terrorism, etc.). The list of literature should be more comprehensive.
Шпилевая		You should not only compare several official security concepts, but also look at the evolution of the concept of a “privatized warfare” during the last decades. It would also be interesting to look at the debate around the concept of the privatization of war in other countries (e.g. Russia, China, etc.).
Юсова		The topic is too narrow. We suggest widening it and writing an essay on “Euthanasia and the Problem of Death in Postmodernity”.
Бабкина		Include the name of your paper as your title in your proposal. Your questions at the end of the proposal are too broad. Do not talk about virtualization as a tool for socialization or as a threat – focus your paper instead on the relationship between dromology and virtual reality. Be clear about identifying this relationship.
Богачев		How is this topic related to the course? Situate the Roman Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church not in terms of their attitudes towards democracy, but in terms of their ability to situate themselves in a changing world at large. How are these traditional institutions affected by postmodern trends? How do they adapt, if they adapt at all? Perhaps choose one of these institutions and analyze it in a “postmodern” context.
Бурвикова		Do not take postmodernity for granted. “The advent of postmodernity” is a highly contested and theoretically questionable category of analysis. Define this “advent” and explain what you mean. Define “postmodern society.” If this is a chronological category for you, identify it as such and state your assumptions.
Волков		Theoretical analysis should be supplemented with some statistics and case studies.
Гарифуллина		Formulate a proposal not in the form of a narrative, but rather in a clear academic structure.
Горовая		Mention how globalization relates to the changing role of the nation state in globalization between modernity and postmodernity.
Зверева		You use the concepts of “state power” and “state capacity” interchangeably. These concepts are different. Choose to either examine power or capacity. Perhaps this topic is better formulated as “Evolution of State Power”; in this case, focus on state power – this is conceptually much more clear.
Козлов		How do you define “war” in your essay? It would be helpful to focus only on information wars as opposed to physical conflicts. This will make your case for the impact of the Internet on war much stronger. Include empirical examples of information wars.
Поляков		Use academic writing. Focus your question. Why Marxism? Useful categories for your paper are “Modernity” and “Postmodernity.” Divide your paper into two parts and analyze how technology advanced and influenced society in Modernity versus how this happened in Postmodernity.
Почивалова		Mention the idea of a “tragedy of the commons” – this was a foundational theory on environmental issues in world politics.
Слугин		Be sure to define all your terms (for example, “socialization”).
Тагирова		The concept of dromology should also be analyzed within the context of other similar theories.
Чижевский		Theoretical analysis should be supplemented with some statistics and case studies.
Шапиро		The language of the essay should be more academic. The topic might be reformulated into “The Digital Divide in Contemporary Russia”.

443: Краснов, Передерина

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