Week 15 Final Reflections on Course

Please use this opportunity to reflect on a theme or concept we discussed in this course about capitalism. This may be something that intrigued you, that was new to you, or that you felt you learnt more about.

Week 14 - Sorry to Bother You

How is this movie a critique of American capitalism?

Week 13 & 14 - Indebted

how does Zaloom discuss the American middle class, especially in relation to planning and taking on student debt? How are decisions around student loans informed by specific moral norms and expectations?

Week 12 - Development and Microfinance

How do these readings discuss and critique Development and/or Microfinance? How has the neoliberal turn in the 1970s and 1980s influenced development discourse?

David Harvey Interview

Harvey sees neoliberalism as an expansion of capitalism (in his words, a “political project”) that was designed to limit the power of the workforce, across the world. With it, liberal ideas were replaced with supply-side economics which seeked to deregulate industries in order to accrue more capital more quickly. Workers are of course often victims of deregulation because regulations protect workers too, and without them, workers do not have as much of a legal stance from which to fight back.

I interpreted Harvey’s view of neoliberalism as sort of a modern undoing of Fordism and going back to how things were before many existing laws and regulations were created. But in the modern day this undoing is done by creating more laws, but ones that protect corporations (like how the corporate class was intentionally made able to buy elections more easily). He actually refers to the steps that were being taken towards neoliberalism as “curbing labor”.

Neoliberalism is different from capitalism because neoliberalism is global. Because it is global, there is an element of sectionality. The U.S., Brazil, China, and Germany all have somewhat of an equal say because they are each big powers in their respective greater regions, all while certain groups of corporations are just as powerful and complex politically as an actual country. In neoliberalism, these powers can coexist. In capitalism, those with power must all be on the same page or it will fail. Also, neoliberalism is more extreme than capitalism in that it does not seek to protect people or the environment unless necessary.

David Harvey Interview

Harvey defines neoliberalism as a product of the capitalist class working to put labor movements and labor power down during the 1970s. He said that a large part of the capitalist’s class ability to enact policies of neoliberalism and to start to undervalue labor was the usage of floating currencies, as a opposed to gold standard or other versions of set rate currency. This change worked to strengthen finance capital, and it eventually became more valuable than labor capital. How would maintaining a set rate currency have acted to maintain the value of labor capital? Or is there a way to return to a set rate currency? And if so, would that act to re-value labor capital?

David Harvey Interview: American Universities as Neoliberal Think Tanks

Within the interview with David Harvey, he discusses the rise (or creation, more or less) of neoliberalism in the United States in the 1970s. Harvey states that the United States' capitalist upper class needed to create think tanks of-sort because they could not rely on the higher education infrastructure in the states to act in the way they needed, or to emphasize the needs of a late-capitalist society, as these institutions were too progressive, or liberally minded.

In this answer, Harvey states that now, the American universities don't act as they used to, and thusly, we don't really need these think tanks because the universities will do the work of capitalists for them, and bring forth the "ideals" of neoliberalism, commerce, and capitalism.

Do you see this at work on our campus? Does Ohio University fit into this mold of a neoliberal think tank? Can you think of universities that are key examples of becoming a capitalist think tank?

Week 11 - David Harvey on Neoliberalism

[Interview] How does Harvey define neoliberalism and how does he distinguish it from capitalism? What is the political history and struggles behind the rise of neoliberal policies?
[Spaces of Hope] What are some of the main aspects of globalization, according to Harvey (CH4)? How do changes in global capitalism effect the spatial and human geography of the city of Baltimore (CH8)?

David Harvey Interview

In this interview, author David Harvey gives a very well thought out argument as to what neoliberalism is and why people need to understand the concept. He begins by giving his interpretation of  what neoliberalism is, calling it a “…political project carried out by the corporate capitalist class as they felt intensely threatened both politically and economically towards the end of the 1960s and 1970s.” He explains that this “project” was carried out to stem the flow of revolutionary and communist movements that were occurring all over the globe. The capitalist class was looking for a way to regain control over the laboring classes. I think that the most important part of his interview was at the very end, where he stated that “The reorganization process and turn to flexible accumulation during neoliberal times has produced a Left that is also, in many ways, it’s mirror: networking, decentralized, non-hierarchical.” This mirror element between the Left and neoliberalism is a key factor in why he believes that the Left needs to focus more on ending capitalism rather than ending neoliberalism. He argues that in the Global North, there hasn’t been enough resistance to neoliberalism because people are more focused on securing individual freedoms over collective freedoms. There have been places where the struggle to improve daily life has been fought, but in the Global North, there isn’t really a sense that capitalism in itself is the problem.

Week 8 (Post Facto) - American Factory

In the documentary "American Factory," what are some of the challenges posed by contemporary developments in factories run by multinationals? What do the workers at Fuyao Dayton gain or loose by joining this new company? How do the challenges of the American workers reflect those of workers outsourced the world over? How might the ills of outsourced labor effect American labor conditions in the future?

Week 7.1 and 7.2 - Labor, Neoliberalism, Gender

The readings (by Ong and Hoffman) this week focus on different types of labor in a neoliberal economy. In each of the readings, how does gender matter? What is its role in the respective economy? What are the characteristics of labor in the respective readings? How do spiritual beliefs emerge in the Malaysian factory and does this say about the pressures of neoliberal economy on women in the Global South? What shape does labor take in Mayengema's mining sites (Hoffman Reading)? How is masculinity and the body shaped by this type of labor? 

Work of Waiting 6.1

According to June Hee Kwon, the social relationship of migrant workers to their respective waiting partners in the aftermath of the Korean Wind, emphasizes the unrecognized distinction between the labor of the waiting, alongside the chosen spouse migrating to Korea for better opportunity. Social relations are different for the Korean Chinese because their marriage or kinship is highly reliant on remittance through their partners. Kwon's case studies of the families separated due to lack of work and the economic interdependence faced by  Yanbian "botolis," greatly signifies the toxic nature of capitalism and the eventual drift or resentment it causes among these families. 

The case-study I found most interesting was of Mr. Ho whose wife was the sole breadwinner of the family, ultimately shifting her personality to regard money as the most important thing in her life. Mr Ho's account stressed the constructive and destructive natures of money, which transformed the bond between him and his wife, to what was once held by patriarchal constructs is now subjecting Mr. Ho to feelings of feminization and insecurity due to the dominant role of his wife (490). Kwon's analysis of this remittance-based relationship provided an insight into specific capitalistic economies that pushes vulnerable individuals into depths of money oriented relations, where the migrant worker becomes the dominant figure and those who are waiting as constantly dependent and powerless without their spouses.

Blog Post 6.1

How are social relationships shaped by different aspects of capitalism? How do different configurations of social relationships shape specific capitalism economies, global or local?

“Were those transfers gifts or compensation? If gifts, Kritzik had to pay gift tax on the money; if compensation the sisters had to pay income tax” (Zelizer 829). This quote from the first case described by Zelizer showcases that a simple exchange of funds in an interpersonal relationship can be monitored and have legal repercussions. The connection of money, taxation, and capitalism creates a market for legal action to be taken. For personal matters such as receiving a divorce, getting married, or just being in a long term relationship, court is often included. With court comes court fees, lawyer fees, and many more costs.  This creates a sense that personal relationships are ruled by capitalism as these are all seen as necessary services. As well as the idea of womens sexulaity being owned by men being connected often with divorce. The type of defined relationship also calls into question how one is taxed. If a domesticate partners exchanges money, then it is tax free. Where as a lover-mistress or patron-prostitute exchange would be taxed. Although in differing ways. In the lover-mistress scenario it is the lover who is taxed (which resembles the ideologie that it is the man’s duty to finance his female counterpart). While in the patron-prostitute scenario it is the prostitute that is taxed for “income” (which appears as a punishment for sexuality). These legal cases all boil down to the label of the social relationship. After deciding the social relationship, the legal rulings are made. Thus showcasing that capitalism has shaped social relationships to the point that social relationships now define the compensation. 

Work of Waiting blog post

In June Hee Kwon’s article The Work of Waiting, she discusses the concept of the transnational family which is a “…increasingly common contemporary social form…” (pp. 480). I thought that this form of living was interesting because of the fact that people going to different countries to obtain wealth and get jobs to send money back home is not a recent phenomenon, but it seems to definitely be linked to the rise of capitalism. The part that I thought was the most important was the “waiting” factor that many people have to endure while waiting for their loved ones to return and the isolation and fear that comes with that waiting. On the one hand, “…waiting and remittances represent a coeval embodiment, both promise and love, in support of a family’s future through a deferral of togetherness” (pp. 493) but there is also a fear that a person’s partner will ask for a divorce or have an affair. It is important to focus on both parties in these kinds of relationships because people need to know the effects that transnational labor migration has of the people who have to stay behind, which I often find is lost in these kinds of narratives.

Money and Intimacy Blog Post

Through “Money and Intimacy,” Zelizer takes up the notion of the three different lenses in which we can view social relationships: “hostile worlds”, “nothing but”, or “differentiated ties.” Zelizer notes that all of these are answers that have been given in social science but contends that the most appropriate way to view the relationship between social relationships and money is “differentiated ties.” As illustrated in “Money and Intimacy,” social relationships are not always hostile when combined with money, and these relationships are also more substantive than just economic transactions. With both of these then, it is harder to actually see them as ways that we should view relationships and money. 

I think an important take-away from the reading to help us understand how capitalism can affect social relationships was Zelizer’s citation of Clifford Geertz, who prescribed to the idea that money being involved in social relationships can actually make them more impactful or valuable. Within the scope of American late-capitalism, I think that using this viewpoint is important. Within late capitalism, we have seen and discussed the way that individuals are impacted by the economy and the fragile relationship they often have with the economy and their own bank account. Students now are choosing to take a leap of faith in a romantic relationship by investing what (usually) little money they have, and this undoubtedly is a testament to Geertz’s commentary.

Week 6.1 & 6.2 Social Relations and Capitalism

In any of the readings assigned this week, how are social relationships shaped by different aspects of capitalism? How do different configurations of social relationships shape specific capitalism economies, global or local?

Week 5.2 - Millenial Capitalism (Commarof)

What are the specific characteristics of "millenial capitalism" (also known as neoliberalism)? what are some changes in labor and consumption post the 1990s? How does spirit and religious ethic play into this new phase of capitalism?

Comparison: South African post-colonialism

While I was reading the “Occult Economies and the Violence of Abstraction” article, I thought that the events that took place in South Africa in the late 1990s would b1990slar to the Salem Witch trials in the 1690s. When I finished the article, I discovered that this wasn’t the case at all. In Salem, the majority of people accused of witchcraft were teenage girls, some were as young as five. In South Africa, most of the people accused and murdered for witchcraft were older women. The ages of the people killed and accused were not the only differences, for one, the reason behind the accusations in South Africa came from the fact that they were living in a post-colonial world. Another key difference was the fact that the accusations of witchcraft in Salem were very Christian in their origins, while in South Africa, accusations occurred because of the renewed appeal of enchantment, the occult, and the role of apartheid in their post-colonial society. The final key difference that I found when trying to compare these two instances of witchcraft accusations was the political and economic realities of both societies. While these accusations were occurring, South Africa was fresh out of apartheid and it still to this day functions as a post-colonial, capitalist country. Salem, on the other hand, was not a capitalist economy yet and functioned under a completely different set of economic rules. Overall, while both communities had “witchcraft” accusations and deaths, the context for these events is important to understand why they occurred.

Week 5. 1 - Weber's Spirit of Capitalism

What, according to Weber, is the "spirit of capitalism"? How is it described in this chapter? How does this spirit of capitalism differ from economic traditionalism?

Week 4.2 - Sweetness and Power, Consumption

What, according to Mintz, are some cultural and social factors that contributed to the rise of consumption of sugar in Britain?

Week 3.1 & 3.2 - Sweetness and Power

This book's premise is a simple question: how did sugar transform from a rare and pricy spice to one of the most ubiquitous global commodities? In the sections assigned for this week, what are some of the social and cultural factors that led to this transformations? What are the economics behind the transformation of sugar into a global commodity?

Sweetness and Power | Intro-Ch.1

Throughout the introduction of Mintz's Sweetness and Power, he spends a few paragraphs on the sheer enrapturement that is felt within the Carribean with sugar cane. He discusses specifically Barrio Jauca (in Puerto Rico), where he mentions that he felt as though he was standing "in a sea of cane" (xviii). Mintz continues to describe how nearly every part of life is centered around sugar cane, despite Puerto Rico being only a small amount of the consumption of the good. When Mintz describes that even when looking around at the workers, a lot of them are also chewing on the cane, it paints a surreal picture of a life that is truly centered around one good. While it's clear that American society is just as focused more generally on Late Capitalism and revolves around its notions, when I tried to think of anything in modern America that compares to this exact enrapturement of Barrio Jauca with sugar cane, I drew a blank. Is there anything you can compare sugar cane to in our modern times here?

Week 2.2 - Late Capitalism

What, according to these readings, are some basic features of late capitalism?

Anth 4250/5250 - Week 2.1 - Capitalism: Making Money with Money

How does Keith Hart describe the dynamics of money, markets, and political power in the modern era?