Module Outline (updated 08.05.18)
In recent years, and especially since the financial crisis of 2008, the social consequences, moral acceptability, and even the long-term viability of capitalism have come under renewed scrutiny. Is capitalism the best way of organizing the economic life of society, so as to secure individual freedom and economic prosperity? Or does it lead to the pillaging of nature and exploitation of human beings, socially damaging levels of inequality, and the morally regrettable transformation of everything of value into a commodity for sale? And if it does lead to fundamental problems, can it be reformed or do we need a non-capitalist economy (and what would that be)?
In this module, we will study the views of both defenders and critics of capitalism. In exploring the arguments around capitalism as an economic system and form of life, we will study a range of texts, both historical and contemporary, from authors such as Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Friedrich von Hayek, Karl Polanyi, Michael Sandel, Wolfgang Streeck, and Nancy Fraser.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the module students should be able to:
• explain the main theories, models and concepts applied in the analysis and critique of capitalism;
• summarize normative debates about capitalism, and its dominant contemporary form, neo-liberalism;
• explain and critically assess the arguments made by advocates and critics of capitalism.
By the end of the module, students should also have acquired a set of transferable skills, and in particular be able to:
• define the task in which they are engaged and exclude what is irrelevant;
• seek and organise the most relevant discussions and sources of information;
• process a large volume of diverse and sometimes conflicting arguments;
• compare and evaluate different arguments and assess the limitations of their own position
or procedure;
• write and present verbally a succinct and precise account of positions, arguments,
and their presuppositions and implications;
• be sensitive to the positions of others and communicate their own views in ways that are
accessible to them;
• think 'laterally' and creatively - see interesting connections and possibilities and present
these clearly rather than as vague hunches;
• maintain intellectual flexibility and revise their own position if shown wrong;
• think critically and constructively.
In recent years, and especially since the financial crisis of 2008, the social consequences, moral acceptability, and even the long-term viability of capitalism have come under renewed scrutiny. Is capitalism the best way of organizing the economic life of society, so as to secure individual freedom and economic prosperity? Or does it lead to the pillaging of nature and exploitation of human beings, socially damaging levels of inequality, and the morally regrettable transformation of everything of value into a commodity for sale? And if it does lead to fundamental problems, can it be reformed or do we need a non-capitalist economy (and what would that be)?
In this module, we will study the views of both defenders and critics of capitalism. In exploring the arguments around capitalism as an economic system and form of life, we will study a range of texts, both historical and contemporary, from authors such as Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Friedrich von Hayek, Karl Polanyi, Michael Sandel, Wolfgang Streeck, and Nancy Fraser.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the module students should be able to:
• explain the main theories, models and concepts applied in the analysis and critique of capitalism;
• summarize normative debates about capitalism, and its dominant contemporary form, neo-liberalism;
• explain and critically assess the arguments made by advocates and critics of capitalism.
By the end of the module, students should also have acquired a set of transferable skills, and in particular be able to:
• define the task in which they are engaged and exclude what is irrelevant;
• seek and organise the most relevant discussions and sources of information;
• process a large volume of diverse and sometimes conflicting arguments;
• compare and evaluate different arguments and assess the limitations of their own position
or procedure;
• write and present verbally a succinct and precise account of positions, arguments,
and their presuppositions and implications;
• be sensitive to the positions of others and communicate their own views in ways that are
accessible to them;
• think 'laterally' and creatively - see interesting connections and possibilities and present
these clearly rather than as vague hunches;
• maintain intellectual flexibility and revise their own position if shown wrong;
• think critically and constructively.