Lecture 7

Ellen Meiksins Wood: An Opposing View of Markets and Globalization

What is Meiksins Wood’s argument

• Prof’s argument: capitalist economy - market economy, labour…
    * Investment in cash crops system

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• Wood’s argument: relationship between producers and capital is what’s important

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How is her theory different than Wallerstein's?

• Capitalism: when the actual producers don’t own the means of production, surplus they make is taken through market mechanism (not coercion)
• Most of the population purchases their necessities on the market
• Important in the relations in rural England→ 1st emerges here
• This relationship is determinative of what capitalism is - Marxist perspective
• 15th century

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How does her different concept of capitalism affect her view of globalization?

• Spanish + Portuguese: snatch and grab → no investment
    * Imperial expansion was not motivated by capitalism because it hadn’t happened yet; not what motivated them

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• England
    * Ireland: land reforms → profit motive + investment in production
      * Development of agricultural production

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Ideology and Social Action

What is ideology?

• Different definitions

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• All definitions share some patterns
    * Ideas
    * Reason why these ideas exist
    * Connects to general social group
    * Stabilizes society
    * System of beliefs/thoughts

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• Systems developed so that we interact with the world

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• Intentionally constructed ones
    * Ex: legal ideology

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• Ones that exist in a Darwinian situation, society-wide
    * Ex: patriarchal worldview → allowed men to maintain their positions of power

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What is ideology critique?

• Talk about theory on 2 grounds:
    * Theory is false, doesn’t represent the world correctly
    * Here is its social function
      * Track how social functions change = really useful

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How does it work, what should you focus on?

• Ideas about what is good or bad
• Reflect views of the dominant social group

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Ideology and Globalization

Some examples of ideologies that helped with building the modern, globalized world

• Theory of property
• Imperial glory
• Free trade - mercantilism
• Economic thought
• Dehumanization of Indigenous people

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• Wood's criticism of Locke:
    * Locke’s theory of property: apply moral right to property after you mix your labour with it. If they do not doing this → no right to their land
    * Very advantageous for a market economy
    * Social role: okay to take the land
    * Ideology of improvement!!
      * Reflection of the status quo and stabilizes what empires are doing
      * Not the bad guy

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Examples:

• Shariah bank systems: take medieval concept and apply it in the modern world
    * Organize the economy of Islamic world → have a purpose

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• Slave ideology in the U.S.
    * Dred Scott Case
      * Judges wanted to reinforce the system of racial domination

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• ^^Paper^^: what ideas and ideologies were used to advance globalization
    * What about this ideology gives you an advantage

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