SOCI 323: Economic Transformations in Capitalist Society - Week 4 Notes
SOCI 323: Economic Transformations in Capitalist Society
Week 4: Expropriation I
Instructor: Chris Hurl
Email: chris.hurl@concordia.ca
Regime of Accumulation
The concept of the Regime of Accumulation is defined as a “relatively stabilized institutional matrix, in which the accumulation dynamic is shaped and channeled by a specific organization of its background conditions.” (p. 117)
Key components that influence this regime include:
A specific organization of public power, which encompasses political membership and citizenship rights.
A specific organization of social reproduction, including various family forms and gender orders.
A specific ecological organization characterized by different methods of generating energy, extracting resources, and disposing of waste.
The aforementioned arrangements channel the accumulation process in particular ways, thereby enabling it to continue uninterrupted for a certain period.
Capitalism and Its Variants
Different Forms of Capitalism
Mercantile Capitalism:
Characterized by long-distance markets with low levels of commodification.
The focus is on expropriation and generating profits through trade practices such as buying cheap and selling dear.
Liberal Capitalism:
Features laissez-faire markets combined with the commodification of labor.
Introduces the concept of free labor, achieved through legal arrangements centered around employment contracts.
State-led Capitalism:
Markets are regulated by the state.
Financialized Capitalism:
Emphasizes the role of finance in capital accumulation.
Public/Private Dichotomy:
Reference to the growing distinction between household production and market engagement across global regions.
Comparative Dynamics
Global North vs. Global South:
In the Global North, family and production functions often overlap within household dynamics, whereas the Global South faces dispossession and dismantling of kinship structures.
Housewifization and the family wage are notable phenomena tied to labor commodification in the context of liberal capitalism.
The concept of expropriation is examined alongside exploitation, noting how these terms have blurred due to the rise of free labor contracts and increasing policing along racialized lines in the labor market.
Research Focus and Key Literature
Plan for Today
Discussion of Ellen Meiksins Wood's work titled “The Agrarian Origins of Capitalism,” focusing on:
The transition from mercantile to liberal capitalism and the implications of market dependence.
The enclosure of the commons and the philosophical underpinnings of improvement.
Karl Polanyi's The Great Transformation, which presents crucial ideas regarding market embedding and disembedding, especially with regard to fictitious commodities like land, labor, and money, and how they contribute to social movements.
Market Dependence
Definition: Market dependence provides the market with an unprecedented role in capitalist societies, positioning it not merely as a mechanism of exchange or distribution, but as the principal determinant and regulator of social reproduction, termed allocative markets.
Historical Context
Mercantile Capitalism (1500s-1700s)
Profits emerged from transporting goods from regions of lower prices to those with higher prices, emphasizing long-distance trade and expropriation strategies.
Domestic relations in Europe largely remained unaffected by markets, maintaining subsistence agriculture alongside market operations.
Surplus labor was mostly extracted through extra-economic means, drawing from noble entitlements and existing political privileges.
Liberal Capitalism (19th Century)
The rise of laissez-faire capitalism indicated minimal state intervention in the economy, fostering the concept of the invisible hand proposed by Adam Smith.
Rise of free labor, centered around employment contracts leading to exploitation, marked a significant shift from direct subsistence dispossession to economic surplus extraction.
The English Exception
Distinguishing Characteristics of England
By the 16th century, England was unified under a strong state compared to fragmented power structures in other European territories.
Land ownership concentration among big landlords encouraged economic power usage, compelling tenants to produce cost-effectively against the backdrop of potential dispossession if unable to meet rent obligations.
Philosophical Underpinnings of Improvement
Improvement is captured within John Locke’s framework, asserting the relationship between labor and property ownership, where cultivation and productivity laid claims to land based on individual effort.
Locke emphasized that labor was a divine command necessary for survival and economic improvement, thus linking the act of labor to property rights.
Enclosure of the Commons
Improvement necessitated the reconfiguration of property concepts:
Resulted in larger landholdings and the elimination of customs that hindered the efficient use of land, contributing to greater agricultural productivity.
The period from the 16th to the 18th century witnessed pressures to extinguish customary rights, which intensified dispossession and birthed a class of propertyless workers, setting the stage for an industrialized workforce.
Karl Polanyi: Key Figure
Biographical Notes
Karl Polanyi (1886-1964) was an Austro-Hungarian economic anthropologist and author of The Great Transformation (1944).
He stood in opposition to the laissez-faire market principles espoused by Friedrich von Hayek, who claimed that free markets ideally functioned without intervention.
Economic Theories
Markets traditionally embed social relationships and norms, opposing a view that the market operates independently from ethical considerations, exemplified by the notion of the just price.
Disembedding refers to the separation of economic and political spheres, suggesting capitalism advanced a distinct disembedded view of the market, where social relations serve economic interests, aligning with Smith's idea of the invisible hand.
Market Dynamics and Contradictions
The Limits of Marketization
Not all life aspects are marketized, demonstrating coexisting non-marketized zones that are essential for capitalism's existence.
Fictitious Commodities: Polanyi argues that essential societal needs – land, labor, and money – have been commodified even though they are not produced for sale, highlighting a contradiction at the heart of capitalism.
The Double Movement theorizes that society actively seeks to protect itself against the risks posed by purely self-regulating markets by restricting market organization concerning fictitious commodities while extending it to genuine ones.
Presentations
Assigned Presenters
Atina Forte
Michael Johnson
Haily Manca
Iona Martinez Lopez
Lauren Munro
Sung Kyun Ahn
Adam Adonna
Next Class: Expropriation
Required Reading
Johnson, "The Pedestal and the Veil"
Smallwood, Saltwater Slavery
Key characteristics of expropriation include:
State Involvement: Generally involves the state or an authority taking property from individuals or groups.
Compensation: Often requires compensation to the original owners, though this can vary based on context and jurisdiction.
Legal Framework: Expropriation is typically regulated by laws and policies that dictate the circumstances and procedures under which it can occur.
Economic Policy Tool: Used as a mechanism to achieve broader economic or social objectives, like urban development or resource management.
Examples of Expropriation:
Land Reform: Governments may expropriate land from large landowners to redistribute it to poorer farmers.
Urban Development Projects: City governments might take private property to clear areas for new housing, parks, or infrastructure projects.
Resource Extraction: States may expropriate mineral rights or oil reserves from private companies to increase public revenue or nationalize resources for public benefit.
Nationalization: The takeover of private businesses or industries (e.g., oil companies) during periods of political upheaval or economic crisis to serve national interests.