You May Ask Yourself An Introduction to Thinking

You May Ask Yourself An Introduction to Thinking Like a Sociologist Dalton Conley SECOND EDITION Chapter 14 Capitalism and the Economy

Working in America © 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. • Workers are more productive than ever, yet job insecurity is high. • As a result, many people are working longer hours, especially people at higher income levels, in order to prove loyalty or achieve marginal benefits.

Working in America • Creative class © 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. – a category of workers in many different occupations and industries united by the fact that creativity is central to their productive work – fast-growing, well paid segment of the workforce, now in high demand

© 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. A Brief History of Capitalism • The feudal system came before capitalism in Europe. • This system began to change as early as the fifteenth century with the enclosure movement, which forced people off what had been public land sent them looking for work in cities.

© 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. A Brief History of Capitalism • In the eighteenth century, new farming technologies led to an agricultural revolution that: – helped increase the population and the value of land. – innovated manufacturing and transportation technology because of an increased labor pool to fill new jobs.

© 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. A Brief History of Capitalism • The agricultural revolution and industrialization changed society in specific ways: -from barter to the use of a legal currency to buy and sell goods -from agreements between individuals to contracts between corporations

Theorizing the Transition to Capitalism © 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. • Adam Smith was an economist who believed that: – Competition helps maintain a cohesive society. – Specialization increases productivity and innovation. – Using money, rather than barter, makes trading more efficient.

Theorizing the Transition to Capitalism • Georg Simmel believed that: © 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. – Changing from piecework payment to wage labor to a salary would depersonalize exchange. – This was a great way to separate public and private spheres and give workers more freedom to enjoy the private, or leisure, sphere.

Theorizing the Transition to Capitalism © 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. • Karl Marx – stated that capitalism created alienation in workers—including alienation from the products they produced, from the production process, from other workers, and from themselves and their creative tendencies – predicted both that capitalism would ultimately destroy itself and that the working class would rise against the capitalist class, leading to a period first of socialism and then of communism

Theorizing the Transition to Capitalism © 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. • Max Weber – linked the rise of capitalism to technology, ideas, and beliefs, as well as the Protestant Reformation – expressed concerns about capitalism because he thought people became obsessed with working and making money that they could never enjoy

© 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. Recent Changes in Capitalism • In society today, people actually earn less money (relative to the cost of living) compared to the early 1900 s. This is because: – Only men were “supposed to” work. – Men were paid enough to provide for the whole family. – Unfortunately, the higher wage was at the cost of women’s freedom and autonomy.

Recent Changes in Capitalism © 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. • Compared to other industrialized countries and some developing countries, Americans work longer hours and have fewer vacation benefits and less generous family leave policies. • Even when generous available, workers advantage of them, work is central in benefits are often do not take which suggests that the lives of Americans.

Recent Changes in Capitalism © 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. • Globalization refers to the processes that create and intensify worldwide social exchanges and interdependencies. – creates an increase in trade and economic exchanges – magnifies the division between the world’s rich and poor

The Reign of the Corporation © 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. • A corporation is a juristic person — an entity that has all the legal rights, duties, and responsibilities of a person, although their primary goal is generally pursuit of profit.

The Reign of the Corporation • This model raises concerns about © 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. – – corporate ethics environmental responsibility fair wages offshoring of labor (taking jobs overseas)

The Reign of the Corporation © 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. • To fight for workers’ rights, workers sometimes form a union - a collective organization that formally unites for the purpose of collective bargaining.

Concept Quiz © 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. 1. Despite working more hours and being more productive than ever, American employees still express a lot of concern about ____. a) b) c) d) stagnating wages vacation benefits family leave policies job security

Concept Quiz © 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. 2. Which of the following factors played a role in the development of capitalism? a) new farming technologies b) a decrease in the value of land c) the enclosure movement d) the movement of large numbers of the landed class to urban centers e) both A and C f) both A and B

Concept Quiz © 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. 3. The idea that competition, not conflict, helps maintain social cohesion was put forward by _____. a) b) c) d) Max Weber Émile Durkheim Georg Simmel Adam Smith

Concept Quiz © 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. 4. According to Karl Marx, workers in a capitalist economy are alienated from the product(s) they produce because _____. a) they have no part in conceptualizing those products b) specialization has them focusing on one small step in a complex production process c) for the most part they could never afford to buy those products d) all of the above

Concept Quiz © 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. 5. Americans work ______ hours as/than citizens of other industrialized nations, but have _______ vacation benefits. a) b) c) d) fewer; better more; better about the same; better more; worse

Discussion Questions 1. Have you worked in a job that made you feel alienated? © 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. a) Yes b) No 22

Discussion Questions 2. How many hours per week do you work right now (on average)? © 2011 W. W. Norton Co. , Inc. a) b) c) d) e) I don’t have a job. 1 -15 15 -30 30 -40 more than 40 23

Trade union representatives wear clockface masks and mingle with London commuters to mark Work Your Proper Hours Day. British and American employees work more hours than most Western nations but are less productive. Research suggests that this is You May Ask Yourself, 2 nd Edition because of workplace stress and absenteeism caused by overwork. Copyright © 2011 W. W. Norton & Company

Barack Obama, the first Black. Berry president. You May Ask Yourself, 2 nd Edition Copyright © 2011 W. W. Norton & Company

How have forces such as technological change and globalization You May Ask Yourself, 2 nd Edition transformed the workplace and work hours? Copyright © 2011 W. W. Norton & Company

Fifteenth-century French peasants working the fields. What characterized work during the era of medieval feudalism? You May Ask Yourself, 2 nd Edition Copyright © 2011 W. W. Norton & Company

Dramatic innovations in the textile industry made the manufacturing process more efficient and correspondent with the mass migration of rural workers into the city. What were some You May Ask Yourself, 2 nd Edition of the social consequences of the Industrial Revolution? Copyright © 2011 W. W. Norton & Company

Adam Smith You May Ask Yourself, 2 nd Edition Copyright © 2011 W. W. Norton & Company

Workers waiting in line for their wages. Why did Georg Simmel You May Ask Yourself, 2 nd Edition argue that wage labor was better than precapitalist work? Copyright © 2011 W. W. Norton & Company

Why would Karl Marx have argued that the factory workers making shoes on the right were more alienated from their work You May Ask Yourself, 2 nd Edition than the shoemaker on the left? Copyright © 2011 W. W. Norton & Company

Why did Henry Ford offer the family wage? Why might a feminist sociologist criticize this policy? You May Ask Yourself, 2 nd Edition Copyright © 2011 W. W. Norton & Company

A sociological department advisor visits the home of a Ford Motor Company employee in 1915. The scientist uses a book of photos to You May Ask Yourself, 2 nd Edition give the employee’s wife housekeeping advice. Copyright © 2011 W. W. Norton & Company

Figure 14. 1 Male and Female Median Earnings, 1959– 2008 You May Ask Yourself, 2 nd Edition Copyright © 2011 W. W. Norton & Company

Figure 14. 2 Mothers in the Workforce, 1975– 2005 You May Ask Yourself, 2 nd Edition Copyright © 2011 W. W. Norton & Company

Figure 14. 3 Annual Vacation Days and Holidays Worldwide You May Ask Yourself, 2 nd Edition Copyright © 2011 W. W. Norton & Company

Balancing work and family life puts a strain on most Americans. Angela drops her daughter off at her parents’ house before taking her son to school and going to work at a hospital in Marshall, Missouri. She and her husband both work full time and are up as. You May Ask Yourself, 2 nd Edition early as 4: 30 A. M. and work as late as 7: 30 P. M. during the week. Copyright © 2011 W. W. Norton & Company

Automobiles are new status symbols in China’s rapidly expanding global economy. In what other ways has globalization transformed the economy? You May Ask Yourself, 2 nd Edition Copyright © 2011 W. W. Norton & Company

Figure 14. 4 Champagne-Glass Distribution You May Ask Yourself, 2 nd Edition Copyright © 2011 W. W. Norton & Company

An anticorporate advertisement from the critical magazine Adbusters. Why do activists compare global corporations to psychopaths? You May Ask Yourself, 2 nd Edition Copyright © 2011 W. W. Norton & Company

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (left) delivers his remarks at the Windows 7 launch event in New York. David Rubenstein (far right), managing director of the global private equity firm the Carlyle Group, talks with Rupert Murdoch, the CEO of News Corporation. What strategies do Microsoft and the Carlyle Group use to dominate their You May Ask Yourself, 2 nd Edition Copyright © 2011 W. W. Norton & Company corporate competitors?

More than 2, 500 employees work in this Haitian factory that produces Levi’s jeans and Hanes clothing. Why do large You May Ask Yourself, 2 nd Edition corporations like Levi’s offshore their manufacturing facilities? Copyright © 2011 W. W. Norton & Company

Figure 14. 5 Share of Workers Covered under Collective Bargaining Agreements You May Ask Yourself, 2 nd Edition Copyright © 2011 W. W. Norton & Company

Henry Paulson, secretary of the U. S. Treasury, left, and Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the U. S. Federal Reserve, testify You May Ask Yourself, 2 nd Edition before the U. S. Congress in 2008 about credit default swaps. Copyright © 2011 W. W. Norton & Company

This concludes the Lecture Power. Point Presentation for Chapter 14: Capitalism and the Economy For more learning resources, please visit our online Study. Space at: http: //www. wwnorton. com/college/soc/conley 2/ W. W. Norton & Company Independent and Employee-Owned 45