marx, 'economic and philosophic manuscripts of 1844' questions
In the syllabus, I instruct you to read pages 279 to 309 and 334 to 341. If you get a chance to read pages 322 to 334 and 345 to 358 to really be prepared for discussion this Wednesday (we'll finish up questions on the 'Introduction' and 'The Jewish Question,' and talk about alienation and the evolution of capitalism) and Thursday (we'll talk about 'The Manuscripts').
The following are some questions for you to think about when you are reading (also, here's a definition of 'political economy' for you):
Wages of Labor (pp. 279-95)
1.) What does Marx have to say about the conditions of the worker in times of prosperity? Surely they are better than in a depression, right? (see p.284-6)
2.) What does he say about the question of skilled laborers (a question raised in class last week)? (see p.289).
3.) Take the grocery store example on the bottom of page 299. What happens to competition in the free market? What are the differences between 'big capitalists' and 'small capitalists,' 'circulating' and 'fixed capital?'
4.) Take a look at this visual representation (and corresponding article) on media consolidation and think about how this relates to our discussion last week on ideology.
5.) Why do we spend so much money on Erectile Dysfunction and Weight-loss medication when there's still AIDs?
Estranged Labor (pp. 322-34)
1.) The nature of man vs. beginning with a ‘material fact’?
2.) The relationship between the system of estrangement and the money system?
3.) What are the forms of alienation of capitalism?
4.) What is the “product, result, and necessary consequence” of alienated labor?
Private Property and Communism (pp. 345-58)
1.) What does Marx mean when he says that communism is the “positive supersession” of private property (p.349)?
2.) What does he mean when he says that private property makes people “one-sided”?
The following are some questions for you to think about when you are reading (also, here's a definition of 'political economy' for you):
Wages of Labor (pp. 279-95)
1.) What does Marx have to say about the conditions of the worker in times of prosperity? Surely they are better than in a depression, right? (see p.284-6)
2.) What does he say about the question of skilled laborers (a question raised in class last week)? (see p.289).
3.) Take the grocery store example on the bottom of page 299. What happens to competition in the free market? What are the differences between 'big capitalists' and 'small capitalists,' 'circulating' and 'fixed capital?'
4.) Take a look at this visual representation (and corresponding article) on media consolidation and think about how this relates to our discussion last week on ideology.
5.) Why do we spend so much money on Erectile Dysfunction and Weight-loss medication when there's still AIDs?
Estranged Labor (pp. 322-34)
1.) The nature of man vs. beginning with a ‘material fact’?
2.) The relationship between the system of estrangement and the money system?
3.) What are the forms of alienation of capitalism?
4.) What is the “product, result, and necessary consequence” of alienated labor?
Private Property and Communism (pp. 345-58)
1.) What does Marx mean when he says that communism is the “positive supersession” of private property (p.349)?
2.) What does he mean when he says that private property makes people “one-sided”?
posted by { jw } at 3:00 PM
1 Comments:
to add to the "estrangement" ... it does not only refer to labor but to the relationship between the people. the owners either just pretended that the factory workers are happy or truly believed that they are happy because of the estrangement that capitalism creates between people when private interest is more important than the common interest. thus the American guy can put his family pix up and truly believe that he is working for the people - his people - and not feel guilty for the conditions of people in China but merely believe that the difference of the standard of living is a natural thing of capitalism and therefore is good, since he is on the top of the food chain.
Post a Comment
<< Home