ENGLISH 3090, SEC. 1: MARXISMS
Course Web home page:
http://umn.edu/home/marqu002/intromarx.htm (all lower case)
Consultation hours: Thursday 11:10–12:10 or
by appointment
Class
meets Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:45am–11:00am, Lind Hall 302.
Outline of course content:
Marxism emerged as a world outlook in the 1840s from
the collaborative effort of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. In seeking to
understand why the transition from feudalism to capitalism was progressing so
haltingly in Germany, they focused on the study of the general features of
societal evolution. From their studies emerged the philosophical worldview of
dialectical and historical materialism, which in their view constituted a
scientific methodology not only for the study of societal evolution but the
investigation of all processes of change in the spheres of nature, society, and
thought. In the case of societal evolution, Marx and Engels put forth a
philosophy of technology that demonstrated the linkage between stages of
technological development and economic, political, and cultural characteristics
of society. As the capitalist economies consolidated themselves as the dominant
mode of economic life in Europe and the North America, Marx and Engels analyzed
in great detail the internal workings of the capitalist economies. They
concluded that the capitalist socioeconomic system based on production for
private profit would evolve into a socialist or communist system based on
production to satisfy human needs rather than private profit. Under such a
system, private ownership of the means of production would be replaced with
common ownership by the people as a whole. These conclusions then formed the
basis for political movements seeking both the reform of the most abusive
features of capitalist production as well as its replacement by a socialist
system.
The readings
and lectures for the course will outline the basic features of Marxist
philosophy, Marx’s theory of capitalist production and profit, and the
application of dialectical and historical materialism to a wide variety of
fields in the natural and social sciences and culture. They will also survey
the history and current positions of various Marxist-oriented political
movements and the controversies among them as capitalism developed from the
industrial revolution to the stage of globalization. The last weeks of the
course will deal with the attempts to consolidate socialist economies in a
number of countries. This will include examination of the establishment and
subsequent collapse of the Soviet model of centralized planned socialist
economies and the current efforts in China and Vietnam (and to a lesser extent
in Cuba) to shift to socialist-oriented market economies with a mixture of capitalist
and socialist property relations.
We will also
discuss various strategies for bringing about social change and resisting
capitalist globalization.
Grading
Journal 30%, midterm 35%, final 35%. “+” and “–”
grades will be used with the A-F grading system. Grades below 60 percent will
receive an F. An “incomplete” may be assigned if unusual circumstances arise
that prevent completion of some phase of the work. Students must discuss such
situations with the instructor as soon as possible so that arrangements can be
made to complete the course requirements.
Responsibilities:
The classroom sessions will both explicate
and supplement the reading assignments, often involving rather significant
material not contained in the readings. Students are therefore expected to
attend class regularly and complete the readings by the class meeting for which
they are assigned. The examinations will include material from both the
classroom sessions and the assigned readings. If you miss a class, you should
arrange with another student to review the material discussed in class. The
College of Liberal Arts assumes that all students enroll in its programs with a
serious learning purpose and expects them to be responsible individuals who
demand of themselves a high standard of
honesty and personal conduct. The College expects the highest standards
of honesty and integrity in the academic performance of its students. Any
attempt by a student to present work that she or he has not prepared that was
to have been her or his own work or to pass an examination by improper means is
regarded by the faculty as a serious offense, which may result in the immediate
expulsion of the student. Assisting another student in an act of dishonesty is
also considered a serious offense.
Reading and classroom journal. Through the mechanism of a reading and
classroom journal, you will be able to sort through just what the authors are really
saying and to reflect critically on the authors’ opinions and your own. The
journal will be turned in for preliminary assessment on Feb. 12 and returned on
Feb. 17 (with comments, if necessary, but with no grade). The entire journal
will be turned in for grading on April 30 and returned graded to you on May 5.
You may use your journal during the examinations.
The
following form must be followed in preparing your journal. Those who ignore
these suggestions will be asked to redo their journals:
1. State briefly (preferably in one sentence,
but no more than three) the central thesis or main ideas of each classroom
lecture, article, selection, or chapter.
2. Outline the main points of the argument.
The amount of detail here is up to you; we shall only be checking to see that
you have caught the main flow.
3. Note your own critical response to the readings and classroom
lectures: Were you convinced? Unconvinced? What interested (or bored) you? Was
the author or speaker biased? How? What further questions on the issue should
be pursued?
Steps 1 and 3 are key and will be read most closely for grading
purposes.
Books and pamphlets for required reading (Spring 2009):
Frederick Engels, Socialism: Utopian and Scientific
Hans Heinz Holz, The Downfall and
Future of Socialism
Vladimir I. Lenin, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of
Capitalism
Vladimir I. Lenin, The State and Revolution
Karl Marx, Value, Price, and Profit
Karl Marx & Frederick Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party
Howard Selsam & Harry Martel, (RMP) Reader in Marxist Philosophy
(selections on line)
John Somerville, (
Syllabus, Spring 2009
Lecturers
David Bernstein, Theatre arts
Rose Brewer, Afro-American and African
Studies
Peter Erlinder, William Mitchell College of
Law
Gerald Erickson, classical studies
Leola Johnson, Macalester College—Media and
Cultural Studies
April Knutson, French, postcolonial
literature, global and women’s studies
Erwin Marquit, Marxist studies, physics
Peter Rachleff, Macalester College—Labor
History
David Riehle, labor leader and historian
Readings that are underlined in the following
schedule can be accessed from class Web site.
Jan. 20 INTRODUCTION TO MARXIST STUDIES (Knutson and Marquit)
Jan. 22 THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD AND THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE (Marquit)
Marquit, “Philosophy of Technology,” Sections 1.1–1.5 (in Encyclopedia of Applied Physics, vol. 13;
POM 3–77; and Engels, excerpt from Ludwig Feuerbach and …, RMP 47–53
Jan. 27, 29 MATTER
Marquit, “Contradiction as Source of Structure and Development in Nature, Society, and Thought”
Marquit, Handout: “Marxist-Leninist Concept of Matter”
Marquit, Handout: “Materialist Dialectics”
Feb. 3 THE MARXIST THEORY OF SOCIETAL
DEVELOPMENT: HISTORICAL (Marquit)
Marx and Engels, Communist Manifesto
Feb.
5 HISTORICAL MATERIALISM
(Knutson)
Feb. 10 EPISTEMOLOGY; MARXISM
POM 161-91; Engels, Socialism: Utopian and Scientific
Feb. 12 A
HISTORY OF RELIGION (Erickson)
Hand in journal on Feb. 12 for
preliminary assessment. To be returned Feb. 17.
Feb. 17, 19 MARX’S LABOR THEORY OF VALUE
Marx, Value, Price, and Profit
Handout on average rate of profit
Feb. 24 THEORY OF THE BUSINESS CYCLE (Marquit)
POM 121-160
Feb. 26 MARX’S CRITIQUE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY AND THE IRRECONCILABILITY OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN CAPITAL AND LABOR (Rachleff)
Cleaver, Harry. Work, Value, and Domination; Perlman, Fredy. “Commodity Fetishism” (web site)
Mar. 3 THE STATE: A NEUTRAL OR CLASS INSTITUTION? The
Lenin, The State and
Revolution
Mar. 5 SOCIAL
CLASS AND THE
Take-home midterm exam
handed out in class on Mar. 5. Due in class March 10.
Mar. 10 IMPERIALISM. Film on
Lenin, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism
Mar. 12 IMPERIALISM. (Erlinder)
Start reading James S. Allen, Organizing in the Depression South
Mar. 6-20 SPRING BREAK
Mar. 24 FORMATION
Holz, The Downfall and Future of Socialism, pp. 7–99
Mar. 26 STRUGGLES AGAINST SLAVERY
Finish reading James S. Allen, Organizing in the Depression South
Sterling Stuckey: “From the Bottom Up,” Nature, Society, and Thought, vol. 10, nos. 1/2, 39–67
Herbert Aptheker, “The Abolitionist Movement” (taped, Learning Resource Center, Walter Lib.)
Mar. 30 MASS MEDIA—MESSAGES OF THE RULING CLASS (Johnson)
Apr. 2 RESISTANCE TO IMPERIALISM:
Apr. 7 THE TRADE UNION MOVEMENT TODAY (Riehle)
Read current issue of “Workday Minnesota” <http://www.workdayminnesota.org>.
Apr. 9 MARXIST LITERARY CRITICISM (Knutson)
Selections from Marx,
Engels, Lenin, and Brecht
Terry Eagleton, Marxism and Literary Criticism, chap. 3
Apr. 14 LIVE THEATER (Bernstein)
Boal, Augusto. Theater of the Oppressed ; Fo, Dario, “Dialogue with an Audience”; “Popular Culture”; Grant and Mitchell, “Interview with Dario Fo and Franca Rame”;Mitchell, “Dario Fo’s Mistero Buffo”
San Francisco Mime Troupe
website http://www.sfmt.org/
Apr. 16 APPROACHES TO GENDER STUDIES (Knutson)
` Johanna Brenner, Conclusion from Women and the Politics of Class
Engels, The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State, ch. 2, “The Family”
Apr. 21 FIRST ATTEMPTS AT SOCIALIST DEVELOPMENT; CHARACTERISTICS OF
THE SOVIET
Holz, Downfall and Future of Socialism, pp. 101–18
Dorothy Rosenberg, “Shock Therapy: GDR Women in Transition from a Socialist Welfare State to a Social Market Economy,” Signs, vol. 17, no. 1 (1991): 129–51
Doris Grieser Marquit, “Women and Socialism”
Erwin Marquit, “On Developments in the Socialist Countries”
Erwin Marquit, “Some Principle Factors Contributing to the Collapse of the USSR”
Apr. 23 Panel discussion on Strategies for Change: Elections, Unions, and Direct Action
Apr. 28, 30 REVERSALS OF SOCIALIST SYSTEMS
APRIL
30 JOURNALS DUE FOR GRADING
May 5 GLOBAL RESISTANCE TO GLOBAL CAPITAL (speakers to be announced)
May 7 PROSPECTS FOR THE TRANSITION FROM PRODUCTION FOR PROFIT TO PRODUCTION FOR NEED (Marquit)
Fidel Castro Speech at University of Havana, Nov. 17, 2005
Sam Webb (Chair, Communist Party USA), “Reflections on Socialism”
May 12 Final examination:
Tuesday, May 12, 1030–1230.