Week 10 - Capitalism as a Social Problem Lecture Notes PDF

Week 10 Capitalism as a Social Problem Sociology 1210 Dr. Elisabeth Rondinelli Learning Objectives Define capitalism and its central myths Understand the core structural features of capitalism Understand some key cultural ideas that sustain the power of capitalism...

Week 10 Capitalism as a Social Problem Sociology 1210 Dr. Elisabeth Rondinelli Learning Objectives Define capitalism and its central myths Understand the core structural features of capitalism Understand some key cultural ideas that sustain the power of capitalism Exam 2: November 21, in class Use weekly study guides; an additional exam resource will be made available in Brightspace What is capitalism and what are its central myths? capitalism: an economic and social system in which the means of production (land, machines, workplaces) are privately owned by some (who do not produce) but used by others (workers) who produce goods and services and who sell their labour in return for wages Sociologists say economists are wrong when they see capitalism only in terms of economic mechanisms; sociologists show that it is actually a complicated system of social relations  The Central Myths of Capitalism it’s an economic system that operates solely via economic mechanisms and therefore exists separately from the social world you have to be an economist to understand it and therefore change it it is a system based on merit and you can explain how it functions based on what people deserve and what they’ve worked for and earned (‘the meritocratic myth’)  Sociologists study capitalism as a social system, rather than an accumulation of individuals acting and behaving in a certain way and abiding by neutral rules of ‘the market’ Sociologists focus on the cultural aspects of capitalism, asking: How does culture reproduce capitalism? What are the powerful factors that reveal how and why capitalism remains unchanged and unchallenged? Sociologists focus on the social structural aspects of capitalism, asking: How are social relations and distribution structured under capitalism? How unequal is the distribution and how is the distribution maintained? How do other institutions work together to support and reproduce it? What are the core structural features of capitalism? I. Contradiction II. Dispossession III. Alienation and conflict IV. Market VI. Intersectional V. Neoliberalism discipline inequalities Karl Marx (1815-1883) Capitalism & the Working Class  I. Social relations under capitalism are grounded on social class, exploitation, contradiction and conflict social class: division between social groups based on their relationship to the means of production (land, machinery, capital, buildings) owning class: own the means of production working class: do not own the means of production; they trade their labour for a wage from the owning class exploitation: the owning class pay workers just enough to get them to return to work, pocketing the rest of the profits for themselves contradiction: what benefits the owning class does not benefit the working class. Examples: machine efficiency; cutting wage to increase profits; working faster for same wage; replacing full-time labourers with part-time labourers conflict: the history of capitalism is one of direct struggle and conflict between workers and owners “The history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggles”  II. Capitalism is built upon the dispossession of workers dispossession: workers are dispossessed of the means of production (land, machines, workplaces) that would allow them to produce the goods of life they need to sustain themselves primitive accumulation: process by which the commons is converted into private property, creating a privileged class of people that is protected by law England, enclosure movement 18 /19 century th th consequently, capitalism is a system of ‘market compulsion’: the system leaves the worker no choice but to sell their labour for a wage for survival  III. The relation between the worker and work under capitalism is one of alienation alienation: a harmful distance that is created between the worker and themself, other workers and the product of their labour 4 forms. Alienated from: The product you make The act of labour Fellow human beings (other workers) One’s essential human nature (which for Marx was to be creative, social)  IV. Workers can be made to accept labour under capitalism via market discipline market discipline: the process of instilling specific habits and behaviours in people through various institutional social relations that make the exploitation of people under capitalism possible What institutions? Schools, workplace, state forces (police, law, prisons; see McNally) habits: obedience, being dependable, pleasing authority, work ethic, time management market discipline methods: system of rewards and punishment, laying people off or firing them, docking wages, threat of unemployment; company closure shows interconnectedness of systems “Capitalism is a system of social relations that involves certain forms of life – habits and behaviours – that must be instilled in people in order to reproduce these alienated social relations” (McNally 114) “The coercive power of the state will regularly be mobilized…every time social discipline seems to be waning” (McNally 117) – state control  V. Under capitalism, almost every essential aspect of our life is driven by neoliberalism neoliberalism: practices, ideas, and policies associated with making all aspects of our public and personal lives subject to markets necessary services (education [tuition!], child care and parental leave, health care) become ‘sold’ on the markets instead of being government provided state promotes corporate profit rather than serving to provide for public welfare neoliberal society: a society in which all aspects of our public and personal lives are subject to markets  VI. In order to understand capitalism, we need to think intersectionally The impacts of capitalism are felt differently depending on gender and race - In Week 13: gender pay gap, glass ceiling, second shift: these are products of gendered capitalist relations - In Week 12, we will examine the racialized dimensions of capitalism What cultural ideas sustain the power of capitalism? ideology: a specific set of cultural ideas used to explain, justify, maintain the status quo and inequality under capitalism Individualism – keeps people occupied with questions about how individuals behave, what they do, how they think; with this focus, we are not asking questions about social structure Meritocratic myth – people achieve positions, wealth, prestige as a result of their work ethic, skills, and capacities; our wealth, power, prestige is solely an achieved status Johnson’s metaphor of the race The individualist would say: The people who ran faster deserve more because they are more qualified, more dedicated, and behaved in a particular way that made them win. The slowest simply didn’t run fast enough; they are unfit, unqualified, didn’t do what they needed to do to win. They need to learn to run faster. But: the structure of the road, the rules of the race, the statuses and relative positions of the runners (those who come in knowing the rules, who have a knowledge of and resources to be prepared for the race) remain unquestioned. Meritocracy and the Self-Made Myth Meritocracy relies on claims that those who succeed are those who work hard and are smart (and so, what about those who fail?) - Also relies on certain ideas of upward social mobility: - “Hustle” will save you - Those runners who win are self-made  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBkBiv5ZD7s Minute 2:00 The wealthiest households (top 20%) hold more than two-thirds (67.1%) of all net worth in Canada, while the least wealthy households (bottom 40%) hold 2.8%. Top 1% own 20% of all wealth (the total amount of money you possess. Wealth can come from sources such as savings, investments, housing, and inheritance) Richest 38 families own more than 11 million Canadians combined (almost a third of our national population) Bottom 20% own less than 1% (7,600,000 people); bottom 10% don’t own anything, but owe debt CEOs in Canada earn 206x more than the average worker Week 10 Key Concepts and Ideas Capitalism Market discipline/state control Social class (owning; working) Neoliberalism and neoliberal society Means of production Ideology Wealth Conflict and contradiction Meritocratic myth Exploitation Dispossession Primitive accumulation Market compulsion Alienation