Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism

by Robbins, Richard H.

• ISBN13: 9780205336340
• ISBN10: 0205336345
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-01-01
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon

Summary

This award-winning text explores one of the most successful cultures and society the world has ever seen capitalism. Now available with a free online reader. From its European roots more than 500 years ago to the present, the text examines the problems of capitalism's expansion, inequality, environmental destruction, and social unrest. Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism provides the reader with the anthropological, economic, and historical framework to understand the origins of global problems, why globalization and the global expansion of the culture of capitalism has generated protest and resistance, and the steps that are necessary to solve global problems. As one reviewer said, This is a book that will doubtless create debate and controversy, but its topic should be pondered seriously by all who consider themselves citizens of our world society today.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
PART ONE The Consumer, the Laborer, the Capitalist, and the Nation-State in the Society of Perpetual Growth	1	(130)
Capitalism and the Making of the Consumer	3	(29)
The Focus of this Book	8	(2)
Culture and the Construction of the Consumer	10	(11)
The Construction of the Consumer	12	(9)
Kinderculture in America: The Child as Consumer	21	(10)
The Role of Children in Capitalism	21	(2)
The Social Construction of Childhood	23	(8)
Conclusion	31	(1)
The Laborer in the Culture of Capitalism	32	(27)
A Primer on the Economic Elements of Capitalism	34	(4)
The Baptism of Money	37	(1)
The Construction and Anatomy of the Working Class	38	(19)
Characteristics of the Working Class	38	(7)
The Growth of Overseas Assembly Plants	45	(2)
The Creation of Free Labor	47	(2)
The Segmentation of the Workforce	49	(3)
Control and Discipline	52	(3)
Resistance and Rebellion	55	(2)
Conclusion	57	(2)
The Rise of the Merchant, Industrialist, and Capital Controller	59	(43)
The Era of the Global Trader	62	(14)
A Trader's Tour of the World in 1400	62	(6)
The Economic Rise of Europe and Its Impact on Africa and the Americas	68	(6)
The Rise of the Trading Companies	74	(2)
The Era of the Industrialist	76	(10)
Textiles and the Rise of the Factory System	79	(2)
The Age of Imperialism	81	(5)
The Era of the Corporation, the Multilateral Institution, and the Capital Controller	86	(14)
The Rise of the Corporation	87	(3)
Bretton Woods and the World Debt	90	(7)
The Power of Capital Controllers	97	(3)
Conclusion	100	(2)
The Nation-State in the Culture of Capitalism	102	(29)
The Origin and History of the State	104	(4)
The Evolution of the State	104	(1)
The History and Function of the Nation-State	105	(3)
Constructing the Nation-State	108	(9)
Creating the Other	108	(2)
Language, Bureaucracy, and Education	110	(4)
Violence and Genocide	114	(3)
The Future of the Nation-State	117	(12)
Transnationalism and Migration	119	(3)
Will Corporations Rule the World?	122	(6)
Nongovernmental Organizations	128	(1)
Conclusion	129	(2)
PART TWO The Global Impact of the Culture of Capitalism	131	(148)
The Problem of Population Growth	133	(30)
The Malthusians versus the Revisionists	136	(10)
The Case of India and China	137	(4)
The Issue of Carrying Capacity	141	(1)
The Ideology of Malthusian Concerns	142	(4)
Demographic Transition Theory	146	(7)
A Primer on the Determinants of Population Growth and Decline	147	(3)
Some Examples of Demographic Change	150	(3)
Population Growth in the Periphery	153	(9)
Wealth Flows Theory	155	(2)
The Social Implications of Wealth Flows Theory	157	(1)
The Question of Gender and Power	158	(2)
Problems and Prospects	160	(2)
Conclusion	162	(1)
Hunger, Poverty, and Economic Development	163	(31)
The Evolution of Food Production: From the Neolithic to the Neocaloric	164	(8)
From Gathering and Hunting to the Neolithic	165	(2)
Capitalism and Agriculture	167	(1)
The Neocaloric and the Green Revolution	168	(4)
The Politics of Hunger	172	(10)
The Anatomy of Famine	174	(2)
The Anatomy of Endemic Hunger	176	(6)
Solutions to Poverty and Hunger	182	(11)
Economic Development	183	(4)
Foreign Aid: The Case of Russia	187	(3)
Targeting Vulnerable Populations: The Grameen Bank and Microcredit	190	(3)
Conclusion	193	(1)
Environment and Consumption	194	(27)
The Case of Sugar	199	(6)
Sugar Origins and Production	199	(1)
Uses of Sugar	200	(1)
The Development of the Sugar Complex	200	(2)
The Expansion of Sugar Consumption	202	(1)
The Mass Consumption of Sugar	203	(1)
Modern Sugar	204	(1)
The Story of Beef	205	(12)
The Ascendancy of Beef	207	(1)
The Emergence of the American Beef Industry	207	(5)
Modern Beef	212	(2)
The Internationalization of the Hamburger	214	(1)
Environmentally Sustainable Cattle Raising	215	(2)
Exporting Pollution	217	(2)
Conclusion	219	(2)
Disease	221	(29)
A Primer on How to Die of an Infectious Disease	224	(6)
The Relationships between Culture and Disease	230	(8)
Gathering and Hunting to Early Agriculture	230	(1)
``Graveyards of Mankind''	231	(4)
Diseases of Environmental Change	235	(3)
AIDS and the Culture of Capitalism	238	(11)
How Did the Disease Spread?	241	(3)
Who Gets Infected with AIDS?	244	(3)
Who Gets Blamed?	247	(2)
Conclusion	249	(1)
Indigenous People, Ethnic Groups, and the Nation-State	250	(29)
The Fate of Indigenous Peoples	253	(9)
Some Characteristics of Indigenous Peoples	254	(1)
The Process of Ethnocide	255	(7)
The Guarani: The Economics of Ethnocide	262	(6)
History and Background	263	(3)
Contemporary Development and Guarani Communities	266	(2)
Ethnic Violence and the Question of Political Sovereignty	268	(8)
Genocide in Rwanda	269	(5)
Rights of Self-Determination	274	(2)
Conclusion	276	(3)
PART THREE Resistance and Rebellion	279	(110)
Peasant Protest, Rebellion, and Resistance	281	(30)
Malaysia and the Weapons of the Weak	284	(7)
Malaysian Peasants and the Green Revolution	284	(3)
Fighting Back	287	(2)
Obstacles to Resistance	289	(1)
Protest and Change	290	(1)
Kikuyu and the Mau Mau Rebellion	291	(12)
The British in East Africa	291	(2)
The White Highlands	293	(2)
The Roots of the Rebellion	295	(1)
The Rebellion	296	(2)
``State of Emergency''	298	(3)
The Oath and the Detention Camps	301	(1)
Independence	302	(1)
The Rebellion in Chiapas	303	(7)
Poverty and Inequality in Chiapas	305	(2)
The Rebellion and the Global Economy	307	(1)
The Revolt and the Reaction of the Mexican Government	308	(1)
The Future of Peasants	309	(1)
Conclusion	310	(1)
Antisystemic Protest	311	(26)
Protest as Antisystemic: The Two World Revolutions	312	(5)
The Revolution of 1848	313	(2)
The Revolution of 1968	315	(2)
The Protests of Labor: Coal Miners in Nineteenth-Century Pennsylvania	317	(7)
The Coal Industry and the Worker's Life	318	(3)
Worker Resistance and Protest	321	(2)
Destroying Worker Resistance	323	(1)
Global Feminist Resistance	324	(8)
Gender Relations in the Culture of Capitalism	326	(3)
Strategies of Protest	329	(3)
Ecological Resistance Movements	332	(3)
Earthfirst!	332	(1)
Chipko and the Tragedy of the Commons	333	(2)
Conclusion	335	(2)
Religion and Antisystemic Protest	337	(27)
Indigenous Religious Movements as Protest	339	(7)
The Ghost Dance	340	(1)
The Cargo Cults	341	(1)
Zionism in South Africa	342	(4)
The Global Challenge of Antisystemic Religious Protest	346	(17)
Islamic Fundamentalism	348	(2)
Protestant Fundamentalism in North America	350	(8)
The Contest between Liberation Theology and Protestant Fundamentalism in Latin America	358	(1)
The Growth and Development of Liberation Theology	358	(2)
Growing Opposition to Liberation Theology	360	(1)
The Growth of the Evangelical Movement in Latin America: The Case of Guatemala	360	(3)
Conclusion	363	(1)
Constructing the Citizen-Activist	364	(25)
What Are the Real Dangers?	364	(14)
The GNP and the Construction of the Doctrine of Perpetual Growth	365	(3)
The Depletion of Natural Capital	368	(4)
The Depletion of Political Capital	372	(3)
The Depletion of Social Capital	375	(2)
Capital and Public Policy	377	(1)
Constructing the Citizen-Activist	378	(8)
Indices and Goals for Well-Being	379	(3)
The Means and Prospects for Change: Attaining Zero Economic Growth	382	(1)
Rebuilding and Maintaining Natural Capital	382	(1)
Restoring Political Capital	383	(1)
Rebuilding Social Capital	384	(2)
Conclusion	386	(3)
References	389	(16)
Name Index	405	(4)
Place and Culture Index	409	(4)
Subject Index	413