POL 326 - Capitalism and Its Critics

“Do we still live in a bad old capitalist system or in a new evil one?” This is the central question motivating the course. The answer depends on how we define capitalism. Is it simply a mode of production that exploits workers? Or do we understand it more broadly as a complex adaptive system that appropriates value through multiple forms of domination? What is the central logic of a capitalist economy? What are the origins of capitalism? We will begin to answer these questions by first exploring the analytical foundations of a capitalist economy: private property, wage labor, markets, competition and crisis. We will then debate key questions such as: What is the relationship between capitalism and freedom, between imperialism and capitalism? How do race and gender shape capitalism? How have tech behemoths like Google, Amazon and Facebook challenged the fundamental logic of capitalism as we know it, if at all? How does the rise of artificial intelligence complicate theories of capitalism? We will conclude by reflecting on the realities of capitalism, and what lies beyond it.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group II
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Not offered: 2024-25
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

Evaluate data and/or sources.
Analyze institutions, formations, languages, structures, or processes, whether social, political, religious, economic, cultural, intellectual or other.
Think in sophisticated ways about causation, social and/or historical change, human cognition, or the relationship between individuals and society, or engage with social, political, religious or economic theory in other areas.