week 2
belly of the world
suring slavery black womens b odies were controlled and exploided. the children these women would be treated as the slaves owner property so the child would be enslaved from the moment they are born
the women had no legal power to protect their children so the children would be taken and sold and so they were able to grow slavery
its also important to know that enslaved women were forced to do labour faced sexual violence, had forced pregnancies seperated them from their children and so much more and so we should recognise how black women resisted slavery int heir own ways instead of just trhought activisim
escaping
poisoning their slave owners,preventing pregnancy and more
on slave ships women where treated like objects not humain beings as they were sold ,used and abused
but even after slavery ended they continued to suffer as they still didint have the same power and oppurtunities as white people
they usually did domestic work to gain money and unfortunatly that position was very dangerous especially since they were so overworked they couldent take care of their own children
they were the ones expected to care for everyonw and didint get that same care in return
Re thinking racial capitalism
the author compares society to a large house with alot of rooms (society under racial capitalisism)
some people are pushed into less comfortable areas and are never allowed in the main living room (comfort and success)
not everyone has an eual oppurtunity to enjoy the benifits and that wasent an accident.
racial capitalisim is a systhem where capitalisism and rasicim work together
some people belive that evryone can eventually achieve the same level of comfort and success and others belive they need to create their own version of success as some people are kept out of oppertunities not simply cause their not working hard enough
melamed describes racial capitalsim as a systhem that creates antirelationality because capitalisim divides people and weakens relationships of caring for eachother.
the author also says how racial capitalisim pushescommunities to the magins of society
she also says there are three ways to understand racial capitalisim
capitalisim has always been envolved in racisim
idea from cedric robinson who said capitalisim was never about making everyone the same it was made and maintain to create these diff groups
his w0ork helped bring attention to black peoples historiesand their role in changing capitalisim. he also encouraged people to think about capitalisim as something that developed through connections between different parts of the world
capitalisim creates groups that are excluded
how does capitalsims create spaces and population that are considered less then others
capitalisim shapes how people think of themself
capitalism can also affect how people see themself
Fraser also explains capitalsim through three things
exchange
a worker sells theirs labour to an employer for wages
exploitation
workers produce value but receive less money then their worth
expropriation
people are deprived of land, resources,right, and more
the author also wanted to add another point
expulsion means being pushed out of opportunities for both exploitation and expropriation
race is how society categorises and treats people based on race and class is the persons position in the economic systhem and is connected to wealth, income, and work. and this mix can create inequality
the author dosent say shes trying to create one therory that explains evrything but is trying to describe how capitalisim works in diff situations cause to solve a problem we need to understand whats acc happening and that we should work together to create change and freedom
capitalisim aslo can create a sense of hope because people always find a way to adapt survive and create new opportunities. peiple still practice capitalisim because it creates financial success, better lifestyle and moe so this desire can encourage people to sontinue participating ij this systhem
the author thinks these six idea are what people think usually about capitalisim but we should always uestion if what we think is true
Capitalism only causes suffering.
capitalisim can create pleasure and pain
Capitalism develops in the same way everywhere.
capitalisim takes diff forms depending where it exist
Capitalism constantly expands and takes over more areas.
ineuality is not necessarily something capitalisim eventually eliminates
Capitalism encourages democracy and consumer societies.
capitalisim can affect people when they are not traditional workers
Capitalism changes all social relationships to fit its own system.
capitalisim can create chared struggles while also creating divison
Capitalism replaces all older social systems.
capitalisim can adapt to many enviroments
racial exploitation is nit always seen everywhere in the sense thaty capitalisim can take many different forms and because of this racial exploitation is not identical in every society
there is not one theory that can explain racial capitalisim everywhere and so we should be looking at specific situations . the author also says we cannot undertsand the development of capitalisim when looking at europe as if they developed independently. especially since people moved through contries and regions and migrant workers played an important role in economy.
there is no one idea that people or every contry needs to develope in the same way and not one specific group will always be the main force behind revolutionary change
some types of groups and work are considered more valuable then others and the rest are ignored even though many types of work are needed for society to funcntion.
womens work is often ignored like cooking meals at home or helping with the children
reproductive labour
there is a big erasure of womens labour as it makes it easier for capitalisim to benifit from their work without paying them
sanyal argues that they are apaprt of the “wasteland”
she also argues that the poor communities are the earlier stages of development and will become fully developed in the future
there are formal economys meaning contracts wages and more and informal economy meaning street vending, temp work and more
marxist thinker said that the exploitation trhough slavery and colonisim is iomportant when capitalisim first developed and thats its not a thing anymiore but yet harvey says it still continues
racial inequality dosent just happen between jobs but also through the people that work there
Necropolitics is the political power that determines who is exposed to death, violence and conditions that make them feel like they are dead
mbembe says that some places people lives are valued less and thats where we see more violence poverty and other. groups can also face police violence,unfair treatment and more within distant contries
both biopolitics (manages and protects life) and necropolotics can exist at the same time at the same place like a city can give great healthcare but some people might experience homelessness
but the problem is that people excluded from society may not always be able to move and find work and wealthy economies might acc not want all these workers
the author also says there is a diff between being exploided and being excluded. being exploited means being paid very little or being treated unfairly while still participating in work when being excludoing is being denied access to work and ressouces all together
the author also says that racisim and be connected to fear and anxiety because groups can be treated as threats because their presence challenges the systhem.
one point the author bring up is that to enforce racisim it acc cost money for example they need to pay for policing and barder control and other things so why does capitalisim continue to support this and thats because we still exploit these women and other groups
the author also expresses how theirs not enough jobs for evryone so unemployment is very real. also normal full-time employment is not normal experience for most workers world wide either usualy 1 in four workers are what is considerd traditionally “full time” or standard employment (Surplus population)
this is because things are being automated
profit could be threatened if markets are overcrowded businesses cant find nre customers and other so they would need to create new products, find new maket reduce labour cost and more.
The problem is no longer only that workers are exploited. It is also that many people are not given reliable access to work in the first place.
scarcity may also encourage systhems to exclude certain groups from resources / work / and social protection.
edge population are people who exist on margins of capitalisim so not co pletly isolated from. it but not included. exclusion from work and resources are also racialized . having access to work dosent mean they will have access ro rights,safety, and social power
proletarianization = the process by which people become dependent on on capitalsim for their survival. some people also think all working people share common interest but the author says capitalisim will still divide them.
Jodi dean says the working class is weaker because declining trade union, increasingly individualistic work. so the workplace has become individual instead of collective class issues stiegler argues the economic model is built around mass population and its declining
capitalism can affect peoples knowledge of how to live like advertiser and consumers can influence people to want things they didint previously need or desire. enviromental crisis and limited resources may encourage more exclusion and can intensify inequalities. this is mostly because they take away resources away from people and when that happens they may not gain access to secure another economic systhem. and they do this to people because capitalisim can grow from this.
hall says we should be careful if we use the word primitive accumulation = describes how capitalsim begin taking land from people and forcing them away from their traditional way of living and turning them into workers
capitalsim aslo developes unevenly as racial diff develop through unequal relationships as some groups receive protection and oppertunities and others get violence/exclusion and other.
li also explains how letting people die and or isint just about acc killing them but it can be a form of slow violence simply because of the conditions of neglet and poverty
powerful groups will use racisit ideas to created the group they want power from as inferiour. but people should always remeber that bounderies between groups are not always permanent meaning people can move from priviledge to marginalised positions
the walls have eyes
in 2021 contries like syria and iraq tried to enter europe through belarus. because they want safety for a better life, poland then built fences toi stop them from entering, and so theybecame traped in the forest between belarus and poland so they froze and diesd of hunger and sickness.
Ibrahim is syrian who fled to germany and ask why did they need to freeze the forest why did all these things need to happen?
when russia invaded ukranians fled to other places but even then people noticed racisim and discrimination as some poeple were stoped before boarding trains, increased police attention and more
this is representative of how society seperates people into groups of us vs them
technologie is also used to control boarder and use at surveillance. it can also be used to exclude certain groups and make it harder for them to find safety.
the governement will say they need to use it to keep people safe but they really just take away peoples rights.
the technologies that were used during covid-19 are now used for migration control
Technology can reinforce existing racism and inequality instead of treating everyone equally. as some will benifit like faster travel, easy boarder crossing and some dont cause they have surveillance,tracking and other
inclusive exclusion = goverment may recognize that someone exist but will still exclude them from having the same rights as everyone else.
Not everyone is treated equality across boarders as wealthy immigrants are more accepted then migrants from poorer contries.
Securitization of migration = Treating migration as a security threat instead of mainly a humanitarian or social issue.
the goverment will exaggerate the number of migrants entering the contry so people will be more afraid and suppert stricter immigration policies
Border externalization = When a country moves its border control efforts into other countries
the us is trying to control migration before people even reach the us border
contries will use hte carrot stick methode take for example the us reduced financials to el salbvador/ honduras and guatemala because they beloved they werent doing enough to reduce migration
Offshoring detention = Sending migrants to detention centres in another country instead of keeping them in your own country.
Governments use detention to discourage people from seeking asylum ( arriving safely in a new country and formally asking its government for legal protection because you are fleeing war)
countries such as the UK, EU member states shift responsibility for refugees onto other countries.
Voluntary return = When migrants agree to return to their home country.
The author argues that this isn't a completely free choice because the person may feel they have no other option.
The author argues that powerful countries have contributed to instability in other countries through colonialism, imperialism, and military intervention.
in class
capitalisism produce spaces for us so we feel like we are choosing and are outside capitalisism but tis not true
makes us feel lare certain way so we feel like we are not living ijn a capitalisism structure
for the marginalised who are suppost to be the laboureres they are also participents
capitalsism makes rasicim and other things that happenbed in “the past” is now rectified but this is not true
there is a local = everyday racisim and global = garment workers,children in mines, manifacturing of weaponry
in every contry capitalsisim looks different based on the contries culture and other.
racial capitalisism is adaptable = example intersectionality is about wha steuctures oppress you everyday not what cultures or identitioes do you intersect with.
capitalsiism will always reshape itself to give us “choice” and or make themselves tolarable
favor individualisism rather the unity cause community is hard and you should enjoy being alone (disconnect you from those around you so organising and resisting is that much harder)