September 14, 2010 America in the Asian Century Its tenuous recovery from the Great Recession as well as uncertainty in Iraq and Afghanistan are among the reasons cited as to why the influence of the United States in Asia is bound to erode in the 21st century. What are the key global, regional and domestic issues that will accelerate or prevent this decline? Speakers * Cui Liru, President, Chinese Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, People’s Republic of China; Regional Agenda Council on China * Thomas L. Friedman, Columnist, Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, USA * Taro Kono, Acting Secretary-General, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Japan * Moon Chung-In, Professor of Political Science, Yonsei University, Republic of Korea * Charles E. Morrison, President, East-West Centre, USA * Kurt Tong, Senior Official to Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), US Department of State Moderated by * Steven Clemons, Director, American Strategy Programme, New America Foundation, USA; Global Agenda Council on Geopolitical Risk

Foundations of Modern Social Thought (SOCY 151) Along with the macro-level shift from traditional forms of authority to legal-rational authority, Weber’s theory of class identifies a macro-level shift from status to class determining life chances. In feudal times, under traditional forms of authority, monarchs or others in power conferred high status upon individuals and material wealth followed; first a man would be named a nobleman, and then he would get his estate. In the modern capitalist era, individuals obtain their monetary or material wealth and their class position vis-à-vis the market determines their life chances. Weber, in contrast to Marx, argues that class is a modern phenomenon. However, this does not mean that our modern and contemporary world does not have versions of status. Like remnants of traditional and charismatic authority co-mingled with legal-rational authority in the state and other institutions, status still determines life chances to a certain extent. The influence of status is somewhat subsumed under Weber’s category of social class. Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: open.yale.edu This course was recorded in Fall 2009.