Week 2.2 - Formalists and substantivists

What are the main differences between the formalists and the substantivists? How do they see the relationship between economy and society?

Week 2 - The History of the notion of "Economy"

In brief, describe how the notion of "economy" has changed over history. Use specific examples to describe what economy has meant in a particular time/context.

Week 12 & 13 - Mushroom at the end of the world

What does Tsing mean by the statement that precarity is the predominant mode of living in the contempary world (describe using examples)? How does Tsing describe the commodity chain of the matsutake mushrooms? How are different lives entangled in the accumulation and circulation of the mushrooms? What can the study of the matsutake mushroom global market tell us about the limits and unintended possibilities within the capitalist economy?

Week 11 - Gender and Finance

Discuss how John Osburg describes the performance of masculinity by Chinese entrepreneurs (Chapter 2). How do sexuality and the market play out for women involved in the beauty economy (Chapter 5)?

Week 10 - Credit / Debt and Microfinance

In this week's readings, Ananya Roy notes how "economies of need are transformed into economies of profit and how collective resources are recalibrated as channels of privatization" (p. 107). Use examples from the readings (both Roy and Elyachar) to describe how these processes are taking place. Discuss in particular how microfinance is one growing area of global capital that exemplifies this predicament.

Week 9 - Globalization and Uneven Development

In Space of Hope, David Harvey outlines some of the characteristics of post-1970s global capitalism, what we have also come to describe as "neoliberalism". Describe some of these features. In chapter 8, Harvey focusses more specifically on the city of Baltimore and describes the transformations of the city and its urban geography. What are some of the historical transformations that have impacted the deterioration of Baltimore city? How do broader changes in the economy effect these changes in Baltimore as well as other postindustrial cities.

Week 7 - Work in a Neoliberal Economy

What's it like to "work" in a neoliberal economy? How does gender play into contemporary forms of labor in different parts of the world? What are some characteristics of neoliberalism as an economic system and as everyday experience?