Exam #2 Flashcards
Dialectical materialism
Means and relations of production
Epiphenominalism
Base vs. Superstructure
Instrumentalism
Whose interests does the state serve?
Instrumentalism
“…the State is the form in which the individuals of a ruling class assert their common interests…”
Marx, The German Ideology
“The executive of the modern State is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.”
Marx and Engels, Communist Manifesto
Class
Differences from Weber?
Proletariat and Bourgeoisie
Class in itself vs Class for itself
Class consciousness (vs. False consciousness)
Labor Theory of value
Absolute vs. relative surplus value
Lochner v. New York
New York’s Bakeshop Act - employers cannot require bakers to work more than 10 hours a day or 60 hours a week
Law was overturned - people can decide how long and when to work
Split Labor Markets
Two groups of workers whose price for labor differ for the same work
Split labor markets: Price determinants of labor
Standard of living
Information
Political resources
Split labor markets: Motives
“Target Earners”
Supplementary earners
The Players: Business
Goal: cheap, docile workforce
Use cheap labor as leverage against expensive labor
The Players: Lower-paid labor
Goal: Make $$
Politically weak, easily manipulated by business
The Players: Higher-paid labor
Goal: eliminate or neutralize threat
Threatened by lower-paid labor
“Neutralization”: Exclusion
Cheaper labor resides outside the country
Higher-paid “native” labor restricts their entry
“Neutralization”: Exlusivity (“caste”)
Occurs when low-paid labor cannot be excluded
“Aristocracy of labor”
Aristocracy of labor
Monopolization of valued jobs
Restricted access to education and training
Weaken low-wage group politically
Split labor markets
Business supports free market competition
Leads low-paid labor to displace high-paid labor
High-paid labor able to asset its prerogatives against both low-paid labor and business interests
