SO478 - week 11
« Back to SO478These are my notes from December 05 for SO478 at the London School of Economics for the 2017-2018 school year. I took this module as part of the one-year Inequalities and Social Science MSc program.
The usual disclaimer: all notes are my personal impressions and do not necessarily reflect the view of the lecturer.
Inequality and Austerity
Readings
Can Society be Commodities All the Way Down (PDF) by Nancy Fraser
From 2012. Subtitled “Polanyian reflections on capitalist crisis”.
- Draws on Polanyi’s ideas of fictitious commodities and his double movement theory in order to better understand the state of neoliberalism today, though she identifies its limitations (not enough focused on internal injustice/domination)
- Identifies three strands of the current age of crisis: ecological; financialisation; social reproduction
- Proposes a Hegelian “structural interpretation” of fictitious commodities as opposed to Polanyi’s ontological one (where their fictitiousness stems from the fact that labour, land and money were not originally produced as commodities), in order to shine light on “the tendency of unregulated markets to destroy their own conditions of possibility”, and to remind us that commodification “can actually foster emancipation by weakening traditional supports for domination”
- Notes Polanyi’s omission of the gendered aspect of labour commodification (after all, it historically required the non-commodification of social reproduction, i.e., women doing domestic work)
- today, women are increasingly entering the labour force while public provision of care services is simultaneously being cut, resulting in a migration-fueled “global care chain”
- Introduces the idea of a “triple movement” (moving beyond protection and toward emancipation)
- On financialisation as the new frontier for the commodification of money, and the neocolonial function it now serves
Rethinking Capitalism by Mariana Mazzucato and Michael Jacobs (introduction)
On the weaknesses of capitalism as revealed through the financial crisis: low growth, rising inequality, insecure labour markets, environmental degradation. Challenges received neoliberal wisdom. Seems decent. Topics covered in the rest of the book:
- the inanity of austerity
- quantitative easing as a poor solution to low aggregate demand
- short-term thinking in financial markets (reducing productive corporate investment)
- on different ways of organising firms (presumably focusing on the benefits of the Toyotist model, though I hope not cus that’s a poor solution that relies on management-by-stress)
- the role of the state in pioneering high-tech innovation (citizens should share in the fruits of it)
- challenging the “crowding out” theory (public spending can actually result in greater private spending)
- high incomes by execs etc is just rent-seeking, and is inefficient (slows growth)
- the dangers of oligopolies and resultant political capture
- environmental threats
Austerity Measures in Developing Countries by Isabel Ortiz and Matthew Cummins
The disproportionate impact of austerity policies (worldwide) on vulnerable populations, especially women and children.
Lecture
diane
- labour declining power, skill-biased technological change etc etc
- obvs wages not keeping up with productivity
- she argues that connecting wages to productivity is problematic
- wage distribution gendered, racialised (in terms of social norms)
- esp re: care work
- on Robert Reich linking recession to financial crisis exposing larger structural problems of inequality
- “policy overreach of market fundamentalists” UNCTAD
- global demand deficit due to wealth concentration
- hegemony of self-regulating market
- responses to the crisis: initially somewhat Keynesian, conscious investment in infra; automatic stabilisers kicked in
- “expansionary fiscal contraction” the idea that reduced public spending will expand public consumption (based on crowding-out theory)
- orthodox approach assumes there isn’t enough savings, so QE which will lead to investment -> growth
- Keynesian approach takes the opposite approach: not enough consumption, so public spending will “crowd in” public sector (overcome liquidity pref)
- biases of austerity’s macroeconomic policy: male breadwinner; deflationary; decommodification
- austerity policies
- capping public sector spending
- lowering subsidies for certain groups
- limiting expenditure in general
- raising pension age and reforming
- impacts of austerity
- worse for single mothers, and racialised too
- alternatives to austerity
- looking at report, Beyond Austerity: towards a global new deal (UNCTAD)
- sustainable development goals not enough
- need strategy that harnesses positives of markets while restraining the negatives
- change in econ policy is feasible, cf New Deal/Marshall Plan
- “recovery, regulation, redistribution”
- fairly Keynesian policy
- Fraser might argue that existing social inequalities are not addressed tho (conjugated oppression)
- recommendations by women’s budget group: investing 2% of GDP in care or construction
- direct employment creation + indirect effects of increased consumption
- looks at the gender breakdown of created jobs (assuming the jobs are gendered I guess)
- the dynamics of both the gender breakdown & number of jobs created depends on the specific country (but in general, good)
- on the limitations of the state & how to hold it accountable or step in when it fails
- markets can unleash certain types of emancipation while repressing others
Seminar
how can we solve inequality
- nonreformist reforms, UBI only works as that if it’s accompanied by UBS (for all the basic things citizens might need), otherwise inflation and predatory landlords/etc and extending the status quo a little longer
- organised movement
- job treadmill (ever increasing consumerism) -> need degrowth instead
- abolishing private education
- maybe things need to get worse before they get better, but if you have the right conditions it could get a LOT better, doesnt have to be just like Polanyi’s double movement
- the whole eat the rich thing on twitter after US tax bill, raising consciousness, radicalising more people, looking for way better solutions, not just to what we had before
- Mike Savage thinks chances of another financial crisis are fairly high, markets still awash with liquidity but shortage of good (productive) investment opportunities
- there will be another major correction, but will govts have ability to act next time?
- global South will come out better than North
- also thinks we need stronger campaign for Piketty’s wealth tax
- (also we need 100% inheritance tax lol)
- more predistribution not just redistribution
- we need more downward mobility (tho that’s only ideal if you level the playing field)
- the left needs to be ready for the next financial crisis + have compelling ideas, policy proposals (akin to MPS)
- cut down on finance, even if it reduces total wealth in society
- but most of that wealth is never used for benefit of most of society anyway
- plus it’s destabilising
- and could direct resources (ie work hours) into more useful industries
- on tech companies, market shrinking powers, airbnb making hospitality industry more efficient which means contracted labour market in the long run
- we need a future where these big tech companies are abolished, they shouldnt exist, their IP should be protocols
- if there’s anything efficiency gains, anyway
- something like uber, hopefully ppl use it less anyway if we have more public transit
- need to change what people are used to re: uber etc; people used to being selfish, individualistic instead of thinking of wider societal impacts of choices
- comes down to education, where you’re taught to be Homo economicus & covet luxury goods (values based on fear)
- we need more accessible info, to radicalise especially working class (they know there’s a prob, we need to show to fix it), need to offer them hope