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Economics 305: Marxian Economics University of Massachusetts Amherst Spring 2020

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Economics 305: Marxian Economics University of Massachusetts Amherst Spring 2020 ECONOMICS 305: MARXIAN ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST SPRING 2020 INSTRUCTOR: Deepankar Basu LECTURE: M, W, 2:30-3:45pm OFFICE: 310 Crotty Hall (HERTER HALL 211) PHONE: 5-6359 OFFICE HOURS: TUE, 2pm-4pm EMAIL: [email protected] (or by appointment) ABOUT THE COURSE This course will introduce students to the study of political economy from a Marxian perspective. The course can be divided into three parts. In the first part, students will learn about Marxism, about Karl Marx and about some questions of method. In the second part, students will learn the key concepts of Marxian political economy like commodity, value, money, capital, surplus value, accumulation of capital, reserve army of labour, crisis tendencies in capitalism. In the third part of the course, students will become familiar with contemporary debates in Marxian political economy around issues of social reproduction and gender oppression, class analysis of modern capitalism, and the ecological crisis. REQUIRED MATERIAL: The required reading material for this course consists of: • lecture notes • articles in journals • chapters in books All material will be posted on the course webpage on MOODLE. ACCOMMODATION FOR DISABILITY: Reasonable requests for accommodation to disabilities will be entertained. However, students are responsible for requesting accommodations in a timely manner and must first be recognized as eligible for the accommodation through Disability Services, UMass. For more information see http://www.umass.edu/disability/ ACADEMIC HONESTY: Academic misconduct like cheating, plagiarism, etc., will be taken very seriously in this course, and can lead to an overall F grade. For more details about university policies relating to academic misconduct see http://www.umass.edu/honesty/ COURSE WEBSITE: I will maintain a course website on MOODLE. Extra readings, notes and announcements will be posted on this website. I would recommend that you visit the website regularly for up-to-date information about the course. ASSIGNMENTS: 1. GROUP PROJECT (15 POINTS): The class will be divided into 5 groups, each consisting of 5 students. Every group will have to choose a topic of contemporary relevance and analyze it from a Marxist political economy perspective. (a) Every group should choose a topic before the Spring break and discuss it with me during my office hours. 1 (b) Every group will have to submit a write-up about the project. The write-up should explain the issue that was investigated, why it was chosen, what the findings of the investigation are, and the contribution of each member of the group to the project. (c) Every group will have to make a 15 minute presentation in class on April 29, 2020. 2. RESPONSE PAPERS (45 POINTS): You will be required to write three short papers – about 1500 words long – to questions I have given below. Please submit printed, paginated, and stapled copies of all assignments. All papers must be typed in double space with one-inch margin and font size 12. Each response paper is worth 15% of the total grade, so that the responses are together worth for 45% of the total grade. The dates for submission of the responses and in-class discussions are given below. Late submissions will not be accepted. • 18 February: What is the Marxian labour theory of value? In answering this question, you should explain the following concepts: commodity, use value, exchange value, value, abstract labour, socially necessary labour, social labour. Reference: Lecture Notes, Chapter 3.1 and 3.8. • 30 March: What do you understand by ‘crisis’ in a capitalist economy? Two types of economic crises that are observed in capitalist economies are ‘crises of deficient surplus value’ and ‘crises of excess surplus value’. Explain the difference between the two. Explain the two main mechanisms – profit squeeze and rising organic composition of capital – that can lead to crises of deficient surplus value. Reference: Basu, D. (2019). “Reproduction and Crisis in Capitalist Economies”. In The Oxford Handbook of Karl Marx. • 15 April: Three approaches to class analysis are simple gradational, Weberian and Marxist. Explain the key differences between the three approaches. Explain the main components of Marxian class analysis in detail. Reference: Wright, E. O. (1997). “Class Analysis”. In Class Counts: Comparative Studies in Class Analysis. 3. IN-CLASS WRITING ASSIGNMENTS (40 POINTS): There will be 5 in-class writing assignments. These assignments will involve writing short responses to a few questions about the material discussed in the previous few classes (about a particular topic). Each writing assignment will be about 30 minute long and worth 8 points. Dates and topics are given in the detailed schedule. CURVE: Overall letter grades for the course will be awarded according to the following scoring scheme: 92-100: A 85-91: A- 80-84: B+ 75-79: B 70-74: B- 65-69: C+ 60-64: C 55-59: C- 50-54: D 0-49: F NO MAKE-UP ASSIGNMENTS: Please note that this course does not have make-up assignments. Reasonable accommodations for absences (due to illness or other emergencies) will be allowed only on 2 the basis of proper documentation. ELECTRONIC ETIQUETTE: Electronic devices, including laptops, phones, ipads, tablets, etc. cannot be used in the class. For special learning needs that require the use of electronic devices in class, please get in touch with me. TENTATIVE SCHEDULE FOR LECTURES AND ASSIGNMENTS Date Topic Readings Assignment Part 1: Introduction and Methodological Issues 1/22 What is Marxism? Who 1. Lenin, V. I. (1919). The Three Sources and is Karl Marx? Three Component Parts of Marxism. 2. Engels, F. (1869). Karl Marx. 1/27 Marx’s Route to Political Lecture Notes, Chapter 2: “Some Economy and the Methodological Issues”. Structure of Capital Part 2: The Logic of Capital 1/29 Labour and Value Lecture Notes, Chapter 3.1: “The Commodity”. In-class 1: Introduction 2/3 Labour and Value Lecture Notes, Chapter 3.1: “The Commodity”. 2/5 Labour and Value Lecture Notes, Chapter 3.8: “Labour as the Substance of Value” 2/10 Value and Money Lecture Notes, Chapter 3.2: “Money, or the Form of Value”. 2/12 Labour Theory of Value Summary and Recap 2/17 HOLIDAY 2/18 Capital and Surplus Value Lecture Notes, Chapter 3.3: “Capital, or Self- Paper 1 Due in Valorizing Value”. Class 2/19 Capital and Surplus Value Lecture Notes, Chapter 3.3: “Capital, or Self- Valorizing Value”. 2/24 Production Under Lecture Notes, Chapter 3.4: “Production under In-class 2: Capitalism Capitalism”. capital and surplus value 2/26 Production Under Lecture Notes, Chapter 3.4: “Production under Capitalism Capitalism”. 3/2 Capital Accumulation Lecture Notes, Chapter 3.5: “Accumulation of Capital”. 3/4 Reserve Army of Labour Lecture Notes, Chapter 3.5: “Accumulation of in the US Capital”. 3/9 Primary Accumulation of Lecture Notes, Chapter 3.6: “Primary In-class 3: 3 Capital Accumulation of Capital”. capital accumulation 3/11 Crisis Tendencies in Basu, D. (2019). “Reproduction and Crisis in Capitalism Capitalist Economies.” In The Oxford Handbook of Karl Marx. Chapter 15. 3/23 Crisis Tendencies in Basu, D. (2019). “Reproduction and Crisis in Capitalism Capitalist Economies.” In The Oxford Handbook of Karl Marx. Chapter 15. 3/25 Crisis Tendencies in Basu, D. (2019). “Reproduction and Crisis in Capitalism Capitalist Economies.” In The Oxford Handbook of Karl Marx. Chapter 15. SPRING BREAK Part 3: Contemporary Debates 3/30 Social Reproduction and Bhattacharya, T. (2020). “Liberating Women Paper 2 Due in Gender Oppression from “Political Economy””. Monthly Review Class 71(8). Access here. 4/1 Social Reproduction and Vogel, L. (2014). “The Reproduction of Labour- Gender Oppression Power”. In Marxism and Oppression of Women. Towards a Unitary Theory. BRILL. Chapter 10. 4/6 Class Analysis of Wright, E. O. (1997). “Class Analysis”. In Class In-class 4: Contemporary Capitalism Counts: Comparative Studies in Class Analysis. social Cambridge University Press. Chapter 1. reproduction 4/8 Class Analysis of Wright, E. O. (1997). “Class Analysis”. In Class Contemporary Capitalism Counts: Comparative Studies in Class Analysis. Cambridge University Press. Chapter 1. 4/13 Class Analysis of Wright, E. O. (2015). “Preface”. In Contemporary Capitalism Understanding Class. Verso. 4/15 Class Analysis of Wright, E. O. (2016). “Is the Precariat A Class?” Paper 3 Due in Contemporary Capitalism Global Labour Journal 7(2):123-135. Class. 4/20 HOLIDAY 4/22 Marxism and the Foster, J. B., Clark, B. and Holleman, H. (2019). Ecological Question “Capitalism and Robbery: The Expropriation of Land, Labour and Corporeal Life”, Monthly Review 71(7). Access here. 4/27 Relevance of the Marxist Wright, E. O. (2019). “The Continuing In-class 5: Tradition Relevance of the Marxist Tradition for Marxism and Transcending Capitalism”. In The Oxford Ecology Handbook of Karl Marx. Chapter 41. 4/29 In-Class Group Presentations 4.
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