POLI 276 - Contemporary Marxist Theories

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

The capitalism that Karl Marx critically analyzed continues to rule the earth and its population. However, dramatic shifts in production, finance, technology, politics, culture, indeed in the planetary environment itself, have reshaped capitalism, its operation and its impacts. This course will explore Marxist theories of 21st century global capitalism. We will pay particular attention to how emergent forces of gender, race and ecology have influenced contemporary Marxist theorists, as well as new approaches to the problematic character of class struggle and revolutionary potentials within a global capitalism led by the corporate rich of finance and information technology. Authors to be considered may include, among others, Wendy Brown, Nancy Fraser, Silvia Federici, Cedric Robinson, Immanuel Wallerstein, Giovanni Arrighi, Domenico Losurdo, William Connolly, and Bruno Latour. Sidney Plotkin.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS