FOURTH EDITION
GLOBAL PROBLEMS AND THE CULTURE OF CAPITALISM
RICHARD H. ROBBINS State University of New York at Plattsburgh
Boston New Ifork San Francisco Mexico City Montreal Toronto London Madrid Munich Paris Hong Kong Singapore Tokyo Cape Town Sydney CONTENTS
Preface xiii
PART I INTRODUCTION: THE CONSUMER, THE LABORER, THE CAPITALIST, AND THE NATION-STATE IN THE SOCIETY OF PERPETUAL GROWTH 1 A PRIMER ON MONEY: THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE 4 Step 1: The Development of Commodity Money 7 Step 2: The Shift from Commodity to Fiat or Credit Money 9 Step 3: The Necessary Conversion of Nonmonetary into Monetary Capital 11
CHAPTER ONE Constructing the Consumer 14
REMAKING CONSUMPTION 16 Marketing and Advertising 17 The Transformation of Institutions 19 The Transformation of Spiritual and Intellectual Values 22 The Reconfiguration of Time, Space, and Class 24 KINDERCULTURE IN AMERICA: THE CHILD AS CONSUMER 27 The Role of Children in Capitalism 2 7 The Social Construction of Childhood 29 EXPORTING THE CONSUMER 36 CONCLUSION 39
CHAPTER TWO The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism 40
A PRIMER ON THE ECONOMIC ELEMENTS OF CAPITALISM 42 The Baptism of Money 45 VI CONTENTS
THE CONSTRUCTION AND ANATOMY OF THE WORKING CLASS 46 Characteristics of the Working Class 46 The Growth of Overseas Assembly Plants 5 2 The Creation of Free Labor 55 The Segmentation of the Workforce 56 Control and Discipline 60 Resistance and Rebellion 63 CONCLUSION 64
CHAPTER THREE The Rise of the Merchant, Industrialist, and Capital Controller 66
THE ERA OF THE GLOBAL TRADER 69 A Trader's Tour of the World in 1400 69 The Economic Rise of Europe and Its Impact on Africa and the Americas 75 The Rise of the Trading Companies 81 THE ERA OF THE INDUSTRIALIST 83 Textiles and the Rise of the Factory System 86 The Age of Imperialism 88 THE ERA OF THE CORPORATION, THE MULTILATERAL INSTITUTION, AND THE CAPITAL CONTROLLER 93 The Rise of the Corporation 93 Bretton Woods and the World Debt 97 The Power of Capital Controllers 104 CONCLUSION 107
CHAPTER FOUR The Nation-State in the Culture of Capitalism 109
THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE STATE 111 The Evolution of the State 111 The History and Function of the Nation-State 113 CONSTRUCTING THE NATION-STATE US Creating the Other 115 Language, Bureaucracy, and Education 117 Violence and Genocide 121 CONTENTS VU
SPIN, FREE TRADE, AND THE ROLE OF ENERGY IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY 124 Manufacturing Consent: Spin 127 Markets and Free Trade 132 Energy and Technology 135 CONCLUSION 139
PART n THE GLOBAL IMPACT OF THE CULTURE OF CAPITALISM: INTRODUCTION 141 A PRIMER ON MARKET EXTERNALITIES: POLANYI'S PARADOX 143
CHAPTER FIVE The Problem of Population Growth 147 THE MALTHUSIANS VERSUS THE REVISIONISTS 150 The Case of India and China 151 The Issue of Carrying Capacity 155 The Ideology of Malthusian Concerns 156 DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION THEORY 159 A Primer on the Determinants of Population Growth and Decline 161 Some Examples of Demographic Change 164 POPULATION GROWTH IN THE PERIPHERY 167 Wealth Flows Theory 168 The Social Implications of Wealth Flows Theory 170 The Question of Gender and Power 172 Problems and Prospects 174 CONCLUSION 175
CHAPTER SIX Hunger, Poverty, and Economic Development 177
THE EVOLUTION OF FOOD PRODUCTION: FROM THE NEOLITHIC TO THE NEOCALORIC 178 From Gathering and Hunting to the Neolithic 179 Capitalism and Agriculture 181 The Neocaloric and the Green Revolution 182 VU1 CONTENTS ,
THE POLITICS OF HUNGER 186 The Anatomy of Famine 188 The Anatomy of Endemic Hunger 190 SOLUTIONS AND ADAPTATIONS TO POVERTY AND HUNGER 196 Economic Development 196 The Nature and Growth of the Informal Economy 201 The Nature and Scope of the Informal Economy of Drugs 204 CONCLUSION 210
CHAPTER SEVEN Environment and Consumption 211
THE CASE OF SUGAR 217 Sugar Origins and Production 218 Uses of Sugar 218 The Development of the Sugar Complex 219 The Expansion of Sugar Consumption 220 The Mass Consumption ofSugar 221 Modern Sugar 223 THE STORY OF BEEF 223 The Ascendancy of Beef 225 The Emergence of the American Beef Industry 226 Modern Beef 230 The Internationalization of the Hamburger 232 Environmentally Sustainable Cattle-Raising 233 EXPORTING POLLUTION 235 CONCLUSION 237
CHAPTER EIGHT Health and Disease 239
A PRIMER ON HOW TO DIE OF AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE 242 THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CULTURE AND DISEASE 248 Gathering and Hunting to Early Agriculture 248 "Graveyards of Mankind" 249 Diseases of Environmental Change 253 CONTENTS IX
AIDS AND THE CULTURE OF CAPITALISM 256 How Did the Disease Spread? 259 Who Gets Infected with AIDS? 262 Who Gets Blamed? 265 CONCLUSION 267
CHAPTER NINE Indigenous Groups and Ethnic Conflict 268
THE FATE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES 271 Some Characteristics of Indigenous Peoples 272 The Process of Ethnocide 273 THE GUARANI: THE ECONOMICS OF ETHNOCIDE 281 History and Background 282 Contemporary Development and Guarani Communities 284 DISADVANTAGED MAJORITIES AND THEIR REVENGE 286 Leveling Crowds 288 Genocide as an Externality of the Market 290 CONCLUSION 297
PART m RESISTANCE AND REBELLION: INTRODUCTION 299 A PRIMER ON TERRORISM 302
CHAPTER TEN Peasant Protest, Rebellion, and Resistance 307
MALAYSIA AND THE WEAPONS OF THE WEAK 308 Malaysian Peasants and the Green Revolution 309 Fighting Back 311 Obstacles to Resistance 313 Protest and Change 314 KKUYU AND THE MAUMAU REBELLION 315 The British in East Africa 316 The White Highlands 317 The Roots of the Rebellion 319 The Rebellion 321 X CONTENTS
"State of Emergency" 322 The Oath and the Detention Camps 324 Independence 326 THE REBELLION IN CHIAPAS 328 Poverty and Inequality in Chiapas 329 The Rebellion and the Global Economy 331 The Revolt and the Reaction of the Mexican Government 332 The Future of Peasants 334 CONCLUSION 334
CHAPTER ELEVEN Antisystemic Protest 335
PROTEST AS ANTISYSTEMIC: THE TWO WORLD REVOLUTIONS 336 The Revolution of 1848 337 The Revolution of 1968 339 THE PROTESTS OF LABOR: COAL MINERS IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY PENNSYLVANIA 341 The Coal Industry and the Worker's Life 341 Worker Resistance and Protest 345 Destroying Worker Resistance 346 GLOBAL FEMINIST RESISTANCE 348 Gender Relations in the Culture of Capitalism 349 Strategies of Protest 352 ECOLOGICAL RESISTANCE MOVEMENTS 355 Earth First! 356 Chipko and the Tragedy of the Commons 357 CONCLUSION 359
CHAPTER TWELVE Religion and Antisystemic Protest 360
INDIGENOUS RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS AS PROTEST 362 The Ghost Dance 363 The Cargo Cults 364 Zionism in South Africa 365 CONTENTS XI
THE GLOBAL CHALLENGE OF ANTISYSTEMIC RELIGIOUS PROTEST 369 Islamic Fundamentalism 370 Protestant Fundamentalism in North America 373 "TERROR IN THE MIND OF GOD" 3 78 Some Examples of Religious Violence 380 Understanding Religious Violence 385 CONCLUSION 386
CHAPTER THIRTEEN Constructing the Citizen-Activist 387
WHAT ARE THE REAL DANGERS? 387 The GNP and the Construction of the Doctrine of Perpetual Growth 388 The Depletion of Natural Capital 390 The Depletion of Political Capital 3 92 The Depletion of Social Capital 396 Capital and Public Policy 397 ACTIVITIES OF CrnZEN-ACTIVISTS 399 Indices and Goals for Well-Being 400 The Means and Prospects for Change: Attaining Zero Economic Growth 402 Rebuilding and Maintaining Natural Capital 403 Restoring Political Capital 404 Rebuilding Social Capital 405 CONCLUSION 407
REFERENCES 409 NAME INDEX 423 PLACE AND CULTURE INDEX 427 SUBJECT INDEX 433 CREDITS 447