Module 2 Question

Write a 5-7 page paper (double spaced, 12 point font, standard margins) on one of the following topics. Your title page and bibliography (and any other pages that are not writing) do not count towards the page count. Please cite all your sources, with an accepted citational standard of your choice. For sources, you may only use:

• Readings assigned in class.
• Other writing by authors assigned in class.
• Sources which address the exact same topic as readings assigned in class (e.g. West African deindustrialization; gender roles in Iriquois Confederacy, etc.).

1.   Powered hierarchies based on social difference have existed long before industrial capitalism. However, these systems have interacted with industrial capitalism in particular ways – at times entrenching their power and at other times shifting that power. Using examples, as well as theory, from class and from the readings, trace how industrial capitalism has interacted with racism and white supremacy; with patriarchy; and with the division between the Global North and Global South. How has capitalism exacerbated some of the power differentials between groups, and how has it shifted that power over time?

2.   Social Structures of Accumulation (SSA) Theory posits that while capitalism is fundamentally unstable and prone to crisis, the accumulation process can find medium-term stability through the coalescence of sets of institutions – an SSA. Eventually, a crisis occurs which reflects the contradictions of these institutions, and the resolution of that crisis occurs when a new institutional framework can resuscitate the profit rate and accumulation. Looking at both the Global North and Global South begin with institutions of Monopoly Capitalism and trace the history of the Great Depression of the 1930s, Regulated Capitalism, the stagflation crisis of the 1970s, Neoliberal Capitalism, and the financial crisis of 2008 and ensuant Great Recession, showing how each followed from the previous. Use examples to reinforce your points.

Answer

Powered hierarchies based on social difference, such as racism and white supremacy, patriarchy, and the division between the Global North and Global South, have long existed alongside industrial capitalism. In some cases, industrial capitalism has exacerbated the power differentials between these groups, while in others it has led to shifts in power.

One example of how industrial capitalism has interacted with racism and white supremacy is through the exploitation of cheap labor. During the period of colonialism and imperialism, European powers often relied on the exploitation of cheap, non-white labor in their colonies as a source of profits. This exploitation has continued in …Order a customized and more comprehensive answer here

At the same time, however, industrial capitalism has also led to shifts in the power dynamics between racial groups. For example, the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, which was fueled in part by the economic demands of African Americans for access to better-paying jobs and greater economic opportunities, led to …Order a customized and more comprehensive answer here

Industrial capitalism has also interacted with patriarchy in complex ways. On the one hand, the growth of the industrial economy has led to the expansion of employment opportunities for women, as more and more women have entered the workforce. This has in turn led to greater economic independence and autonomy for women, as well as greater social and political power. On the other hand, industrial capitalism has also often reinforced…Order a customized and more comprehensive answer here

The division between the Global North and Global South, or the developed and developing world, has also been shaped by industrial capitalism. The countries of the Global North, which have a long history of industrial development, have typically been more economically and politically powerful than those of the Global South. The exploitation of resources and cheap labor in the Global South by the Global North has contributed to this power differential, as…Order a customized and more comprehensive answer here

Overall, industrial capitalism has interacted with social difference in complex and often contradictory ways, sometimes exacerbating power differentials between groups and at other times leading to shifts in power. Understanding… Order a customized and more comprehensive answer here