SWLF 3105 (Week 4)

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SWLF 3105 (Week 4)

• Two important thoughts as we begin
• What is the state?
• Are there new aspects of capitalism you have
  discovered through Harmans work?

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Agenda for this week

• Brief review of key themes last week (Harman,
  50-67 77-105)
• Writing discussion. How frustrating wasor
  isthe first paper?
• Analysis of course readings (Course pack, pp.
  1-17)
• Announcement regarding class speaker in SWLF 1005
  (Mary Laronde, ROJ Project, Union of Ontario
  Indians).
• Update concerning class field trip

3
Key themes/ideas from last week

• Surplus value (necessary labour time vs. surplus
  labour time)
• Three approaches to extracting surplus value
  absolute SV, relative SV, immiseration
• There are limits to the degree of SV available
  (51)

4
Key themes/ideas from last week

• Economic booms and slumps. Monetarist and
  Keynesian explanations for these. Limitations in
  both.
• The real barrier of capitalist production is
  capital itself (H, 59). What does this mean?

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Key themes/ideas from last week

• How does capitalism survive slumps?
• What is the concentration of capital? Why does
  this happen, and what are the consequences?
• The golden age of capitalism and an end of
  ideology refer to what?

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Key themes/ideas from last week

• What does Harman mean when he refers to todays
  new phase of capitalism?
• For Harman, how effective is social democracy in
  limiting capitalisms excesses?
• What is the case for capitalism?
• Is there a realistic alternative to capitalism?

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Your paper and Harmans book

• Correcting my errors here
• You do have a choice in answering these
  questions together or seperately
• (a) Is capitalism a meritocracy (where rewards
  go to individuals who deserve them)?
• (b) Is the state in capitalist society a
  defender of the predominance of a particular
  class or a distinterested, neutral referee that
  solves disputes between competing groups?

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Recall writing - my expectations

• Research You must demonstrate your grasp of the
  course material. This research must be conducted
  professionally and documented closely.
• Writing style a clear argument (thesis), formal
  language, thorough editing, and a coherent
  presentation of ideas. Note a thorough editing
  process is the only way to successfully
  accomplish this.
• Critical thinking this assignment is merely
  about describing your favourite approach but
  analyzing the most persuasive arguments against
  taking up the work you describe. Neglecting to
  do this will result in a poor grade.

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And

• Have fun!!!
• If you find writing a boring task, grading your
  work will likely yield a similar experience
• Push the limits of your usual thresholds
• for editing and creativity.

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Questions for today

• What is relative surplus value? (50-53)
• Why does Harman conclude that workers make a
  terrible mistake when they accept the
  capitalists argument that increased productivity
  will protect jobs? (50)

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Questions for today (about the state)

• What is the state?
• What is pluralism? What does it say about the
  state and interest groups?
• Do you find the pluralist argument persuasive?
  Does competition between political parties work?

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Pluralism in action post-secondary education
policy

• Question How is tuition fee policy decided?
• Who are some of the interest groups active in
  helping to shape policy in post-secondary
  education?
• What impact have these groups had? Do they have
  a similar or differential impact on social policy
  in post-secondary education?
• Do you think political parties are widely
  representative of wider public attitudes around
  post-secondary eduction?

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Questions for today

• 5. How does capitalism manage to survive periodic
  slumps? (59-62)
• 6. How does the concentration of capital affect
  the system as a whole? (63-67)

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Questions for today

• 7. (a) Why, in the period 1945-1973, did many
  analysts believe that crises were a thing of the
  past and that class struggle was withering away?
  (78)
• (b) Why did Keynesianism seem to fail after
  1973? (79-81)
• 8. Why, in the mid-1970s, did governments find
  themselves increasingly powerless just as crises
  erupted on a scale not known for half a century?
  (81-84)

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Questions for today

• 9. Why does he suggest that, on the one hand,
  capitalism entered a new phase in the 1990s, yet
  on the other hand, the way it operates is not
  new. It is, in its essentials, exactly the way
  described by Marx? (85-91)
• 10. Why does he argue that social democratic
  parties (like Labour in the UK and the NDP in
  Canada) have abandoned any hope of reforming
  capitalism and now echo right wing politicians?
  (91-99)

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Questions for today

• 11. Is the choice we face in organizing our
  economy really, as he suggests, one between
  socialism or barbarism? (99-105)
• 12. Capitalism has created an enormous amount of
  wealth in the last century or so. Given this,
  does it matter who owns the means of production?

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Questions for today

• 13. Does competition necessarily entail a race
  to the bottom? Can we not compete while also
  maintaining standards for welfare, health,
  safety, and so on?
• 14. Is the attempt to abolish (or even
  dramatically reform) capitalism a hopeless
  project?

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Questions for today

• 5. (a) Is it fair to suggest that capitalists are
  just as big parasites as the feudalists they
• replaced? (22-24)
• (b) Could the economy function as well (or
  better) without capitalists?
• 6. How do people end up losing access to means of
  production? (27-29)

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Questions for today

• Is it true that capitalisms dynamism is
  inseparable from its inhumanity and
  irrationality or can we have capitalism with a
  human face? (29-31)
• 8. What produces the business cycle, the
  movement from economic booms to economic slumps
  and back again? (32-35)

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Questions for today (continued)

• 9. How does mainstream economics explain
  economic crises? (35-39)
• 10. How does capitalism eventually drag itself
  out from slumps? (39-44)
• 11. Why has there been a long term tendency,
  over several business cycles, for slumps to get
  deeper and longer and for booms to get shallower
  and shorter? (45-48)

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Questions for today (continued)

• 12. What is absolute surplus value? (48-50)
• 13. (a) Is capitalism based on essentially free
  and equal social relations or does it necessarily
  involve inequality and coercion?
• (b) If the latter, could it be reformed to
  function without inequality and coercion?

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Writing my expectations

• Research You must demonstrate your grasp of the
  course material. This research must be conducted
  professionally and documented closely.
• Writing style a clear argument (thesis), formal
  language, thorough editing, and a coherent
  presentation of ideas. Note A thorough editing
  process is the only way to successfully
  accomplish this.
• Critical thinking this assignment is merely
  about describing your favourite approach but
  analyzing the most persuasive arguments against
  taking up the work you describe. Neglecting to
  do this will result in a poor grade.

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Components of a good paper

• Introduction aimed at peaking your readers
  interest, providing some context to your paper
• Thesis your argument, stated plainly and
  succintly
• Road map following on your thesis, details about
  where you intend to go
• Body the bulk of your paper, proceeding from
  point to point
• Moment of critical reflection critique your
  case
• Conclusion tying the threads together, summarize
  your journey.

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Writing common mistakes

• Joels marking acronyms
• AWK awkward phrasing, run-on sentence
• REP repetitive use of certain words
• SP the quotation being used is lacking a signal
  phrase
• ? I am unclear about your point here.

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Writing common mistakes

• Its / its
• Accept / except
• Affect / effect (as a verb)
• Affect / effect (as a noun)

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Writing common mistakes

• Conscience / concsious (as a noun)
• Lead (the metal) lead (to guide) led (past
  tense of lead
• Loose / lose
• Passed / past

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Writing common mistakes

• Principal (the school official) principal (most
  important) principle (moral beliefs)
• Than / then
• Their / there / theyre
• Which / who
• Whos / whose

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For next week

• Readings Week 3.
• Bring along at least one thing you have read that
  you think represents good writing at the
  university level.
• Enjoy these last few days of warmer temperatures