Capital and Power in the Global Political Economy (YorkU, AS/POLS 4291 3.0, Undergraduate)

What is capital? Is it a material thing or a social relation? What is political about it and how does it relate to power? What is the role of capital in the broader global political economy? The seminar examines such questions theoretically and historically. The first part explores basic conceptions of capital. It begins by studying three approaches to capital: one based on utility, a second based on labour value and a third based on power. The discussion then broadens to examine these three approaches in relation to technology, the corporation and the state. The second part of the seminar deals with transformations of capital. This part introduces the twin concepts of dominant capital and differential accumulation. Using these concepts, the seminar explores the historical processes of corporate mergers, globalization, stagflation, imperialism and the new wars of the twenty-first century.