Week 1
The Politics of Exclusion

SOCI 229

Sakeef M. Karim
Amherst College


FAR RIGHT POPULISTS, TRUMPISM, AND THE SOCIOLOGY OF EXCLUSIONARY POLITICS

A Gentle Introduction

A Few Quick Questions

1. What is your name and major?

2. Are there any highlights or lowlights from your summer that you’re willing to share?

3. What do the terms far right and exclusionary politics mean to you?

An Odd Introduction

My Summer

London’s Tower Bridge

My Summer

Republik Österreich Parlamentsdirektion

My Journey

My Journey

• United States
• Canada
• Bangladesh

Image can be retrieved here

Image can be retrieved here

Image can be retrieved here

All places that have, in recent years, been unmoored by the politics of exclusion in different ways.

My Research

Exclusionary Politics

Karim and Lukk’s The Radicalization of Mainstream Parties in the 21^st Century

My Research

Personal Culture of Immigrant-Origin People

Islam and the Transmission of Cultural Identity in Four European Countries

This Class

The Syllabus

soci229.netlify.app

Office Hours

Appointment Policy

All meetings, even during office hours, must be scheduled in advance via Google Calendar.

Readings

Course Readings

All readings can be accessed via the eReserves page on our course website.

Evaluations

Note: Scroll to access the entire table

Task	Description	Weight	Deadline or Evaluative Time Horizon
Response Memos	On a weekly basis, students will engage with—and respond to—questions posed on our Moodle Discussion Board.  Responses must be between 250-400 words, or a penalty will be applied.	10%	5:00 PM on Mondays. Evaluated from Week 3 onwards.
Participation	Students must actively participate in class discussions by raising their hand to share their thoughts or meaningfully contributing to small group conversations.	10%	Evaluated during class sessions throughout the term.
Midterm Paper	Students may work individually or in groups of 2 to 3 to submit a short paper (10 pages, double-spaced, 12-point font) summarizing at least one major topic from Part I of the course. To earn an A, the paper should analyze at least two major topics and explore their connections. Students choosing to work in groups must meet with me—both before and after the due date—to discuss how the work will be or has been divided. Other stylistic conventions and expectations will be detailed in the rubric, which will be uploaded on Moodle at least three weeks before the deadline.	30%	Friday, October 25th at 8:00 PM.
Final Paper Proposal	Students are required to submit a term paper on a topic of their choice, subject to my approval as the course instructor. The chosen topic must be related to the politics of exclusion as conceptualized in this class. To streamline this process, students should first submit a brief (3-5 page) proposal that outlines their selected topic, explains its relevance to the course, and highlights the key arguments they intend to advance.	10%	Friday, November 22nd at 8:00 PM.
Final Paper	As noted in the cell above, your term paper must focus on a topic related to exclusionary politics and must be approved by me, the course instructor. Papers should be 10-20 pages long, double-spaced, and written in 12-point font. Other stylistic conventions and expectations will be detailed in the rubric, which will be uploaded after midterm.	40%	Wednesday, December 11th at 8:00 PM.

Norms, Rules, Regulations & More

Accessibility and Accommodations

If you require accommodations, please contact Student Accessibility Services as soon as possible and submit an application through the new AIM Portal. More generally, if you have any suggestions about how this class can be more accessible and inclusive, please let me know via e-mail or during office hours.

Class Policies

• Honor Code
• Generative AI
• Attendance
• Electronics
• E-Mail
• Late Assignments

Please review the Amherst College Honor Code, which can be accessed in its entirety here.

Violations of the Honor Code will be promptly reported to the Dean of Students. As Section 1.1 of the Honor Code indicates, plagiarism is a serious offense. In most cases, students who plagiarize the work of others will fail this class and may face additional disciplinary penalties. Moreover, as detailed in Sections 1.2 to 1.4 of the Honor Code, students must respect others in the classroom, including those whose views deviate from their own. Failure to do so will prompt disciplinary action.

Generative AI Policy

If you use a GAI tool (like ChatGPT) and do not cite it, it is a form of plagiarism.

You are expected to attend each and every class. If you do not, you will lose points for participation. That said, I am aware that you are all human beings whose lives are often fraught with uncertainty. If something comes up, please let me know and I will do my best to be as accommodating as possible. Extended absences may, however, require additional documentation (e.g., note from a physician).

In my experience, students generally use laptops and tablets to shop online or browse Twitter and TikTok, not to take notes or streamline learning. Therefore, the use of laptops and tablets in class is prohibited unless you have received prior approval from me or via Student Accessibility Services. In light of this policy, I strongly encourage you to bring a pen and notebook to class.

On weekdays and non-holidays, I will respond to e-mails within 48 hours. If I fail to meet this standard, please send me a follow-up message. On weekends and holidays, I will not respond to e-mails unless you have an emergency. If you do, please include EMERGENCY in the subject line.

Assignments must be submitted on time. A late submission will result in a penalty of 5% for each day beyond the deadline. However, as noted, I am well aware that life can present unexpected challenges. If you anticipate missing a deadline or are in the midst of an emergency, please inform me as soon as possible. Extensions may be granted on a case-by-case basis.

General Expectations

• Read carefully but efficiently.

• This is not a research seminar. You do not have to read or scrutinize methods sections—unless that is of interest, of course.

• Participate in class conversations. We’ll all learn more that way.

• Have fun.

The Politics of Exclusion?

Key Building Blocks

As I will argue throughout this course, the far right is characterized by—and heavily propagates—the politics of exclusion. Over the next few months, we will unpack what this means in more concrete terms.

For now, I will leave you with a high-level (and rather crude) definition —

Far right movements, discourses, and frames generally rely on ethno-nationalist and authoritarian appeals. Among far-right actors who valorize direct and participatory forms of (unmediated) democratic governance but are hostile to representative democracy, populist claims-making is also commonly invoked — at least in the Global North (Bonikowski 2017; Mudde 2019; Rydgren 2007).

Note: Far-right actors and movements are increasingly defined by their opposition to the liberalization of ideas around gender and sexuality, too (Butler 2024) — a proposition we’ll revisit in Week 6.

Next Week

• We will discuss populism in some detail.

• We will also revisit the material assigned in Week 1 in light of the insights offered by our readings for Week 2.

Enjoy the Weekend

References

Bonikowski, Bart. 2017. “Ethno-Nationalist Populism and the Mobilization of Collective Resentment.” The British Journal of Sociology 68 (S1): S181–213. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.12325.

Butler, Judith. 2024. Who’s Afraid of Gender? First edition. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus; Giroux.

Mudde, Cas. 2019. The Far Right Today. Cambridge, UK: Polity.

Rydgren, Jens. 2007. “The Sociology of the Radical Right.” Annual Review of Sociology 33 (Volume 33, 2007): 241–62. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.33.040406.131752.