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Essay Instructions: Question 1

Write 400 words explaining what you understand by the term 'Indianisation' in the context of Southeast Asian history.
Note: Read the question carefully. There are many different uses of the term 'Indianisation' ??" US frontier policy in the 19th century, multinational company strategies to penetrate the Indian market, or efforts to increase the proportion of Indians in the officer corps by the British Raj in the 1920s and 1930s. You are asked to discuss the term only in relation to Southeast Asia.

Question 2
Write 400 words explaining whether or not it is preferable to use the term 'mandala' rather than 'state' to refer to the political units found in 'traditional' East and Southeast Asia.
Note: In answering this question you need to discuss both East and Southeast Asia.

Question 3 1200 words
Classical States; Social Organisation
'The term "ruling class" probably never had more clear applicability and descriptive power than in the case of the Chinese empire.' (Blecher, China: Politics, Economics and Society, p. 6)
Discuss this statement with reference to a traditional East or Southeast Asian society of your choice. Was there a 'ruling class' in the selected society? What was its social basis? Through what mechanisms did it maintain and reproduce itself? What was its relationship to other classes?

Essay Instructions: Please note this paper consists of TWO short answer questions (each 400 words) and ONE essay topic (1200 words). The short answer questions are included first with the essay topic following thereafter.

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS.

1. Write 400 words explaining what you understand by the term 'Indianisation' in the context of Southeast Asian history.

Note: Read the question carefully. There are many different uses of the term 'Indianisation' ??" US frontier policy in the 19th century, multinational company strategies to penetrate the Indian market, or efforts to increase the proportion of Indians in the officer corps by the British Raj in the 1920s and 1930s. NONE of these are relevant to the PAIS113 unit. You are asked to discuss the term only in relation to Southeast Asia.

2. Write 400 words explaining whether or not it is preferable to use the term 'mandala' rather than 'state' to refer to the political units found in 'traditional' East and Southeast Asia.

Note: In answering this question you need to discuss both East and Southeast Asia.


ESSAY QUESTION (approx 1200 words).
The term "ruling class" probably never had more clear applicability and descriptive power than in the case of the Chinese empire.' (Blecher, China: Politics, Economics and Society, p. 6)

Discuss this statement with reference to a traditional East or Southeast Asian society of your choice. Was there a 'ruling class' in the selected society? What was its social basis? Through what mechanisms did it maintain and reproduce itself? What was its relationship to other classes?

NOTE: please pay attention to, and address the sub-questions when drafting the essay,

Please only use academic journal and books. (i.e. no wikipedia and random internet websites).

If you are not sure about these questions please feel free to contact me and I will be glad to clear up any confusion.

Essay Instructions: One of Marx's basic claims is that ideas are historically changing and that ideolgies reflect or are a product of their time. More specifically, he contends that all ideas and ideologies are products of the dominant political economy (in Marx's time, this means that they are products of the bourgeois society). Hence his famous declaration that "the ruling ideas of ever epoch...are the ideas of the ruling class," and that "law, morality, religion are...so many bourgeois prejudices, behind which lurk in ambush just as many bourgeois interests." Moreover, he argues that the dominant "culture" of any epoch is "for the enormous majority" a "mere training to act as a machine." In this paper, I want you to critically examine the truth of these claims today. Although Marx is primarily concerned with matters of "class," also consider whether his claims ring true about our dominant ideas of race and gender. In the course of this paper you should first explain what Marx means by such claims and then find current examples to help illustrate the truth or falsity of his claims. Finally, consider how one might critique these dominant, ruling ideas and ideologies.

Essay Instructions: Provide a brief overview of the main concepts of Conflict Theory. Then, consider Conflict Theory when answering the following:
If Karl Marx were alive today, what would he think about the prosperity enjoyed by the working classes in industrialized societies? Would he alter his vision of the capitalist system? Why or why not?

What would Marx probably say about NAFTA and labor production? How is this agreement likely to affect the "masses" within the partner countries? How will this affect cultures between the Untied States, Mexico, and Canada? Lastly, will it further increase wealth for the ruling classes while further marginalizing the poor. Explain why or why not.