Lecture 4 Pt 2. Flashcards
3 key features of the capitalist world
- private ownership of property
- pursuit of personal profit
- free competition, consumer sovereignty, and markets
neoliberalism (market capitalism)
the idea that producers compete with one another by providing the highest-quality goods and services at the lowest possible price
- this ties to laws of supply and demand, and reduction of quantity and quality
3 phases of modern capitalism
- liberal capitalism: a free market, a ‘facilitative’ state, and a legal framework that helps maintain capitalism,
- organized capitalism: involves an administered market and a more ‘directive state’
- disorganized/post-Fordist capitalism: an increase in the service sector, more global and dispersed operations, and a decline of nation-states
fordism
an economic system based on mass assembly-line production, mass consumption, and standardized commodities - repetitive work over long periods; machinery has identical components
post-fordism
a new economic system based on flexibility (rather than standardization), specialization, and tailor-made goods
aspects of post-fordism
- shifts in production: more flexible systems of production
- more flexible time: part-time, temporary, and self-employed workers
- decentralisation of labor into smaller, less hierarchical units
- the ‘casualization of labor’, where work becomes less stable and secure
- ‘just-in time’ rapid production
- movement from standardized goods to goods including options
- replacement of ‘mass marketing and advertising’ by ‘niche marketing’ targeted at a specific group
- globalization: a new international division of labor
global economy
an economic activity spanning many nations of the world, with little regard for national borders
6 main consequences of the development of a global economy
- global division of labor: regions of the world specialize in particular kinds of economic activity
- ‘the sweatshops of the world’: workers in poorer countries work long hours for little pay
- products pass through the economies of more than one nation
- national governments no longer control the economic activity that takes place within their borders (they also cannot regulate the value of their national currencies)
- a small number of businesses operating internationally control a vast share of the world’s economic activity
- extraordinary inequality of wealth
socialism
an economic system in which natural resources and the means of producing goods and services are collectively owned
- collective ownership of property
- pursuit of collective goals
- government control of the economy
communism
an economic and political system in which all members of a society are socially equal
- pure communism has never been achieved, as socialist societies have government bureaucracies that subject the population to strong regulations
- because the socialist political elites have gained enormous power and privilege, the society is not ideally communist
neoliberal market capitalism
decentralized, open markets, an anti-trust or union tradition, fluid capital markets, individualism, minimum state involvement, and planning, maximizing returns to owners of capital, linked to liberal democracy
social market capitalism
social partnerships, more organized markets, dedicated bank-centered capital markets, state interventions, link to ‘social democracy’
developmental capitalism
guided markets, tight business networks, strong bureaucracy, highly technological, reciprocity between state and firms, linked to ‘developmental democracy’
democratic socialism
an economic and political system that combines significant government control of the economy with free elections
- common for Western Europe, most industries are in private hands but are subject to extensive government regulation
state capitalism
an economic and political system in which companies are privately owned, although they cooperate closely with large companies
the primary labor market
a category of work that includes occupations that provide extensive benefits to workers
- these jobs require broad education and are thought of as careers
the secondary labor market
jobs providing minimal benefits to workers
- this segment of the labor force is employed in low-skilled, routine assembly line operations and low-level service-sector jobs
- it offers low wages, poor working conditions, and long hours
occupational gender segregation
works to concentrate men and women in different types of jobs
- women are more likely to be employed in personal service occupations and administrative and secretarial work
- Hochschild also coined the term ‘second shift’, as women usually return home to do domestic work after a work shift
sweatshops
the subcontracting system of labor in lower-income countries
- workers receive little pay and are subject to little/no regulation
- work is casual temporary, and often hazardous
self-employment
earning a living without working for a large organization
- this diminished with the onset of the Industrial Revolution; nowadays, it comes with a lack of pension and healthcare benefits
the underground economy
economic activity generating income that is unreported to the government as required by law (e.g., teenagers babysitting, sale of illegal drugs and weapons)
trade unions
organizations of workers collectively seeking to improve wages and working conditions through various strategies, including negotiations and strikes
- decreased due to international work, temporary workers, and younger workers
structural unemployment
unemployment generated by the economy itself
5 major groups who are more likely to become/remain unemployed
- those who experience redundancies due to economic change
- unskilled youth trying to make the transition from school to work
- older workers who face enforced retirement
- unemployed women
- and the long-term unemployed
