STRUCTURALISM/MARXISM
Dec 18, 2015
STRUCTURALISM/MARXISM
Lecture Outline
Structuralism The Marxist Perspective The Marxist IPE Theories
Imperialism Modern World Systems Theory Dependency Theory Intellectual Hegemony
States and Markets
Limited State Role
StrongState Role
Classical Keynesianism Neomercantilism Mercantilism Socialism CommunismLiberalism KeynesQuesnaySmith
Neoliberalism/NeoconservatismHayek Friedman
Why Structuralism?
Marx: History, Class, and Capitalism
The mode of production Conflict or Cooperation
Primitive Communism Slavery Feudalism Capitalism Socialism Communism
Marx: History, Class, and Capitalism
The mode of production Conflict or Cooperation
Primitive Communism Slavery Feudalism
Capitalism Socialism Communism
Conflict between social classes: bourgeoisie and proletariat
Why does Capitalism Produce Conflict? Competition (“Capitalism contains the seeds of its own demise”)
The law of falling rate of profit: As individual capitalists seek greater market share, they will invest in laborsaving production techniques. This reduces the rate of profit because surplus value can only be created by human labor
The law of disproportionality: Supply and demand change unevenly, causing periodic overproduction (underconsumption).
The law of concentration: Over time, wealth becomes increasingly concentrated, further diminishing the purchasing power of the proletariat.
Class Conflict and Crisis of Capitalism
Revolution and Transition to Socialism
IPE Theories within the Marxist Tradition
Vladimir Lenin Immanuel Wallerstein
Andre Gunder Frank
Antonio Gramsci
The focus: Colonialism and its impact on the crisis of capitalism
The focus: The historical development of global economic system since mid-fifteenth century
The focus: Structures of dependency between industrial and least developed countries
The focus: The maintenance of hegemony through consent
Imperialism http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/video/wmp/mini_p01_02_d_220.html http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/video/wmp/mini_p01_03_c_220.html
Vladimir Lenin, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism, 1917
Imperialism (through colonialism) delayed the capitalist crisis (since it brings new markets, cheaper raw materials and cheaper labor)
A reflection of Marx’s analysis of domestic power relations at the international realm.
Imperialism is another stage between capitalism and socialism Capitalism Imperialism
Competition Monopoly
Production (+emergence of exploitative finance relations)
BASIS FOR MODERN WORLD SYSTEMS THEORY AND DEPENDENCY THEORY
Modern World Systems Theory Immanuel Wallerstein, The Modern
World System (three volume book, 1974, 1980, 1989)
Global economic structures determine how world works
Division of labor among states creates dependencies:
Capital-rich Western industrial countries (Exploiter)
Resource-abundant developing countries (Exploited)
In-between these two categories: both exploiter and exploited.
Dependency Theory
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/video/wmp/mini_p02_05_220.html
Andre Gunder Frank, Capitalism and Underdevelopment, 1967
The global economic structure leads North-South dependence at the expense of the South
There are three eras of dependency in modern history: colonial dependence, financial-industrial dependence, and dependency through MNCs.
Because LDCs remain dependent on industrial nations (or MNCs) they are systematically underdeveloped
The reasons for underdevelopment should be found in colonial history.
Intellectual Hegemony
Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1971
Hegemony is maintained through coercion and consent (Gramsci is more interested in the consent part)
Ideas over economic structures: Intellectual hegemony creates consent by convincing the masses, via propaganda, to have the same interests as the dominant class and serve those interests.
Organic intellectuals as a hope to overturn the dominant classes