JSIS B 408/508 A/ HSTCMP 408/508 A: Global History of Capitalism

Course Syllabus

Fall 2023

TuTh 1:30-3:20pm

Mary Gates Hall 85

Rev. Oct 3, 2023

Jackson School of International Studies

Professor James Lin

Pronouns: he/him

jyslin@uw.edu

Student Office Hours: By appointment, over Zoom or in-person.  Please email me to make an appointment.

Course Description:

Capitalism, sometimes used to describe an economic system and other times used to describe an ideology, is arguably one of the most important influences on modern society.  From class, gender, race, and politics, capitalism intersects with all aspects of human and even non-human life.  Yet, despite almost universal agreement that we live in a capitalist era, there is disagreement and diversity in understandings of capitalism and its value to society.  What is capitalism?  Why are its meanings debated?  How did we arrive at the current capitalist moment?

Each week, readings focus on various themes related to capitalism, including classic theories of capitalism to modern (re)interpretations.  We will explore different facets capitalism: how it gave rise to commodities, markets, and money; how capitalism structures states and international relations; how society integrated capitalist concepts of pricing, risk, debt, and growth; how capitalism reinforced racism and colonialism and vice versa; how capitalism is inextricable from human-caused climate change and non-human ecologies.  Readings proceed roughly chronologically from the 19th century to the present.  Some examine capitalism at the local or community level, while others explore capitalism at the international and global scale.  Different case studies will cover North America, the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, and East Asia.

This course is a reading seminar.  Class sessions will heavily focus on intensive discussion and analysis of the readings, with little to no formal lecture from the instructor.  Though capitalism inevitably deals with questions of economy, no training or prerequisite in economics or economic history is required for this course.

By the end of the course, students should have a comprehensive understanding of the broad field of political economy and “new histories of capitalism,” as well as critical analysis skills to evaluate and contextualize the history of capitalism.

WEEKLY TOPICS AND READINGS

Readings to be completed by class meeting

September 28: Course Introduction

Module 1: Theory

October 3: What is capitalism?  Why study capitalism?

• Mau, Søren Mads. Mute Compulsion: A Marxist Theory of the Economic Power of Capital. London: Verso, 2023. Excerpt from Ch. 1 (pp. 1-18). PDF.
• Wood, Ellen Meiksins. Empire of Capital. London: Verso, 2003. Ch. 1 (pp. 9-25). PDF.

October 5: Social Theory and Capital Accumulation

• Clarke, Simon. Reading guide to 'Capital.’ (p. 24)
• Heinrich, Michael, and Alex Locascio. An Introduction to the Three Volumes of Karl Marx’s Capital. New York: Monthly Review Press, 2012. Ch. 2, 4, and 5 (excerpts) (pp. 29-38, 81-98, 123-129)
• Marx, Karl. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy. Penguin Books, 1990. Excerpt from Ch. 25 (pp. 772-781). PDF.

October 10: World Systems

• Wallerstein, Immanuel. World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction. Duke University Press, 2004. Ch. 2 and 3 (pp. 23-59)

October 12: The Capitalocene

• Moore, Jason W. “The Capitalocene, Part I: On the Nature and Origins of Our Ecological Crisis.” The Journal of Peasant Studies 44, no. 3 (May 4, 2017): 594–630.
• Sewell, William H. “The Capitalist Epoch.” Social Science History 38, no. 1–2 (2014): 1–11.

Module 2: Capitalist Society

October 17: Money and Land

• Demuth, Bathsheba. Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait. WW Norton & Company, 2019. Ch. 7 (pp. 199-227). PDF.
• Zelizer, Viviana A. The Social Meaning of Money: Pin Money, Paychecks, Poor Relief, and Other Currencies. Princeton University Press, 2017. Excerpt from Ch. 1 (pp. 1-18). PDF.

October 19: Securities

• Ott, Julia C. When Wall Street Met Main Street: The Quest for an Investors’ Democracy. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 2011. Introduction, Ch. 1, 3 (pp. 1-35, 55-74).

October 24: Risk

• Levy, Jonathan. Freaks of Fortune: The Emerging World of Capitalism and Risk in America. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 2012. Prologue, Ch. 5 (pp. 1-6, 150-190).

October 26: Pricing

• Cook, Eli. The Pricing of Progress: Economic Indicators and the Capitalization of American Life. Harvard University Press, 2017. Introduction, Ch. 6 (pp. 1-16, 159-190).

October 31: Financialization

• Jakes, Aaron G. Egypt’s Occupation: Colonial Economism and the Crises of Capitalism. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2020. Introduction (excerpt) and Ch. 3 (pp. 1-18, 84-112).

Module 3: Global Capitalism

November 2: Racial Capitalism

• Johnson, Nic. “The Imperial Fed,” Phenomenal World, March 30, 2023.
• Lumba, Allan E. S. Monetary Authorities: Capitalism and Decolonization in the American Colonial Philippines. Duke University Press, 2022. Introduction and Ch. 3 (pp. 1-11, 67-93).

November 7: Zones

• Slobodian, Quinn. Crack-up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy. Metropolitan Books, 2023.  Ch. 3-4 (pp. 63-99).

November 9: Commodity Chains

• Petrulis, Jason. “‘A Country of Hair’: A Global Story of South Korean Wigs, Korean American Entrepreneurs, African American Hairstyles, and Cold War Industrialization.” Enterprise & Society 22, no. 2 (June 2021): 368–408.

November 14: Neoliberalism

• Slobodian, Quinn. Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism. Harvard University Press, 2018. Introduction (excerpt) and Ch. 7 (pp. 1-7, 218-262).

November 16: State Capital

• Lu, Juliet. “Grounding Chinese Investment: Encounters Between Chinese Capital and Local Land Politics in Laos.” Globalizations 18, no. 3 (April 2021): 422–40.
• Lu, Juliet. “Strategic Resources and Chinese State Capital: A View from Laos.” Made in China Journal 5, no. 1 (January 2020): 154–59.

Module 4: Capitalism and its Discontents

November 21: Growth

• Macekura, Stephen J. The Mismeasure of Progress: Economic Growth and Its Critics. University of Chicago Press, 2020. Introduction, Ch. 4 (pp. 1-10, 104-137).

November 23: Thanksgiving (No Class)

November 28: Globalization

• Lan, Pei-Chia. Global Cinderellas: Migrant Domestics and Newly Rich Employers in Taiwan. Duke University Press, 2006. Ch. 4 “Crossing Borders & Gender Divides” (pp. 125-159)
• Tsing, Anna Lowenhaupt. Friction: An Ethnography of Global Connection. Princeton University Press, 2004. Ch. 2, “The Economy of Appearances” (pp. 55-77)

November 30: Sovereign Debt

• Roos, Jerome E. Why Not Default?: The Political Economy of Sovereign Debt. Princeton University Press, 2019. Ch. 1-3 (pp. 21-67)

December 5: Corporations

• Welker, Marina. Enacting the Corporation: An American Mining Firm in Post-Authoritarian Indonesia. University of California Press, 2014. Introduction (excerpt), Ch. 3 (pp. 1-18, 99-128)

December 7: Investment Banking

• Ho, Karen. Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2009. Ch. 7 (pp. 295-324)

December 12: Long essay due via Canvas

Class Format:

This class is conducted in-person.  Students are expected to participate in class to fully benefit from course activities and meet the course’s learning objectives.  Students should only register for this class if they are able to attend in-person.  To protect their fellow students, faculty, and staff, if you feel ill or exhibit possible COVID symptoms, please do not come to class.

When absent, please notify me in advance (or as close to the class period as possible in the case of an unexpected absence).  Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, some class participants will face unseen burdens, such as caretaking responsibilities, that may affect the ability to participate.  Please feel free to let me know at any time if you are experiencing responsibilities or hardships outside of class that will affect in-class performance.

Some have received permission to enroll simultaneously in this class and another class with a time conflict.  For those who have been granted permission, the following policy will apply. For each class session you will miss, please write a 500 to 600-word short essay summarizing the reading due for that day and a discussion and analysis of the themes that would have been relevant for in-class discussion.  Please post this before the start of class to the Canvas discussion board for all other class members to read.  I expect this should take you roughly 2 hours to think about and write, which is the amount of class time you'd be missing.  If you fall into this category, this assignment will be considered as part of the weekly discussion grade (see below section on Grading).

Assignments:

1. Reading and participation

Each week, students will be expected to have read the assignments and come to class prepared to discuss the readings.  Active participation in class discussion demonstrates having completed the reading assignments, and thus discussion constitutes an important portion of grading.  Students will be graded upon frequency and substance of contributions to the discussion.

2. Short essay

Students will submit a total of three short essays over the course of the quarter.  Each short essay will discuss all of the readings for two sessions, due before the readings are discussed in class.  This means you need to read in advance.  Each short paper must cover a different module, so please plan in advance which weeks you will submit a short essay.

Short essays will be between 800 and 1000 words and will summarize and evaluate the readings critically, offering analysis of the argument, methods, evidence, context, etc.  Further details are in the Canvas assignment description.

3. Long essay

The long essay follows the same format as the short essay, except it will cover all the readings within one course module.  The long paper will cover the module that you did not write on for the short essays.

The long essay will be 2000 to 2200 words.  Further details will be provided in the Canvas assignment description.

Grading:

Late submissions: Once an assignment is late it will incur a penalty of 5% of the total assignment value, and a further 5% will be deducted for every subsequent 24 period until the assignment is submitted.  If you have extenuating circumstances or obligations, such as, but not limited to, employment, military duties, illness, or care for a family member, please let me know in advance (if possible) for an exemption.

This course uses the following grading scheme, which converts percentage grades into 4.0 grades:

2.7 or higher is required for graduate students to earn "S" in "S/NS" grading

2.0 or higher is required for undergraduate students to earn "S" in "S/NS" grading

Course policies: 

• Plagiarism and academic integrity

The University takes academic integrity very seriously. Behaving with integrity is part of our responsibility to our shared learning community. If you’re uncertain about if something is academic misconduct, ask me. I am willing to discuss questions you might have.

Acts of academic misconduct may include but are not limited to:

• Cheating (working collaboratively on quizzes/exams and discussion submissions, sharing answers and previewing quizzes/exams)
• Plagiarism (representing the work of others as your own without giving appropriate credit to the original author(s))
• Unauthorized collaboration (working with each other on assignments)

Concerns about these or other behaviors prohibited by the Student Conduct Code will be referred for investigation and adjudication by (include information for specific campus office).  Students found to have engaged in academic misconduct may receive a zero on the assignment (or other possible outcome).

• Access and Accommodations

If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please communicate your approved accommodations to me at your earliest convenience so we can discuss your needs in this course. If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), you are welcome to contact DRS at 206-543-8924 or uwdrs@uw.edu or disability.uw.edu. DRS offers resources and coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities and/or temporary health conditions.  Reasonable accommodations are established through an interactive process between you, your instructor(s) and DRS.  It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and ccessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law.

• Religious Accommodation

Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).

• Inclusivity

Our classroom is a safe space for all students regardless of race, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, size, religion, or political affiliation. Please feel comfortable and welcome to approach me with any concerns you may have about these issues. If you’d prefer that I call you by a different name/pronoun than is indicated on your official records, please let me know. In all cases, students’ preferences of address will be honored.  All students in the classroom are expected to treat each other with respect and tolerance.

• Safety and Mental Health:

College is a time to grow not just your intellectual capacity and resources but also your emotional resources and resilience. Cultivating relationships with your classmates, academic counselors, and instructors will help you feel anchored, seen, and heard. Additionally, take time to develop a practice that nurtures your mental wellbeing: it may be journaling, taking walks, downtime with friends and family, joining an RSO or a faith-based community. To support you, free of charge, UW has a centralized website (https://wellbeing.uw.edu) which links to three different centers:

• The Counseling Center offers a number of resources for students ranging from meditation classes, stress management workshops, individual and group counseling, and crisis services. See http://www.washington.edu/counseling.
• LiveWell offers resources for student coaching, survivor support and advocacy, handling alcohol or drug issues, and suicide prevention. http://depts.washington.edu/livewell.
• Call SafeCampus at 206-685-7233 anytime – no matter where you work or study – to anonymously discuss safety and well-being concerns for yourself or others. SafeCampus’s team of caring professionals will provide individualized support, while discussing short- and long-term solutions and connecting you with additional resources when requested. We are available 24/7. https://depts.washington.edu/safecamp.

• The UW Food Pantry:

A student should never have to make the choice between buying food or textbooks. The UW Food Pantry helps mitigate the social and academic effects of campus food insecurity. We aim to lessen the financial burden of purchasing food by providing students with access to food and hygiene products at no-cost. Students can expect to receive 4 to 5 days’ worth of supplemental food support when they visit the Pantry. For information including operating hours, location, and additional food support resources visit www.uw.edu/anyhungryhusky.

• Land Acknowledgement:

We acknowledge that the University of Washington exists on Coast Salish territory, the traditional homelands of the Duwamish, Suquamish, Tulalip and Muckleshoot nations, and other Natives peoples.

Accessing Readings:

All required readings for the course are available as free to access ebooks or as PDFs on Canvas.  You are not required to purchase any books.

Many readings are available as ebooks or journal articles, which need to be accessed via UW Library proxy or VPN. I have embedded URLs in the syllabus for your convenience, which should route you through the library proxy automatically (you will be prompted to log in with your NetID if not logged in already).  If any embedded link does not work, you will need to open the ebook through the proxy yourself. For help with this, please visit https://www.lib.washington.edu/help/connect

For readings not accessible via UW Library proxy, I will upload PDFs to the “Files” section of Canvas.