Globalization and CultureLabor & Consumption I

Week 4September 17, 2014

Marxism 101

● history & class struggle● proletariat & bourgeoisie● commodity● use value & exchange value● labor power● wage labor● social reproduction● reserve army● surplus value

David Harvey: Neoliberalism

Premises of neoliberalism as a theory:

● market forces will maximize human well-being

● for that to happen, we need an institutional framework of private property rights, individual liberty, free markets, and free trade

● the state’s job is to create and preserve that framework

Keynesianism

● Named after John Maynard Keynes● Keynes called for state intervention - especially

government spending during economic crisis to raise employment and stimulate consumption

● State has to balance market forces● Broadly, Keynesianism describes a philosophy

that is put in action as “social welfare state” policies

● Social welfare includes state spending on schools, education, health, employment.

Naturalization of Neoliberalism

Neoliberal economic theory becomes attached to principles of individual freedom and liberty● In US, this takes on an especially strong

libertarian tone● Harvey argues that business elites join

forces with the Christian Right (“moral majority”) in the 1980s - what was the result of this partnership?

Key Examples

● Chile● New York City’s fiscal crisis of 1970s ● US invasion of Iraq

Redistributive vs Generative

Harvey argues that neoliberal policies have not actually produced greater wealth. Instead, the net result of neoliberal policies has been a redistribution of wealth to a smaller and smaller elite class.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vttbhl_kDoo

Accumulation by Dispossession

On page 15, Harvey discusses Marx’s notion of “accumulation by dispossession.” What did Marx mean by that term, and how does Harvey update it for the contemporary moment?

Tourism, Consumption,and Neoliberalism

Amazing Scalpels and Swagger Jacking:Aren Aizura and Stephen Crockett

● What did you write in your prompt this week about these two articles?

● In Aizura’s article, what are the visitors to the clinics paying for? What services do the workers provide?

● In Crockett’s, what are the businesses in DC selling?● How does this relate to our first conversation about

globalization and culture? What roles does culture play in these cases?

● Is this good, bad, both, neutral? Why?