Capitalism and Social Justice 2020 Course PDF

Preview

Summary

Download Capitalism and Social Justice 2020 Course PDF

Description

The University of Hong Kong Department of Politics and Public Administration

POLI3005 Capitalism and Social Justice Course Credits: 6 Course Level: Advanced Semester: First Semester 2020-2021 Course Time: Friday 15:30-17:20 Course Location: Via Zoom (link on Moodle), and CPD-LG.08 (25 September onwards) Course Instructor: Dr David Birks Email: [email protected] Office Hours: Wednesday 13:00-15:00 (please email if you’d like to arrange a Zoom appointment) Office Location: Room 9.47, Jockey Club Tower Tutor: Dr Amy Pao Email: [email protected] Office Hours: By appointment COURSE DESCRIPTION This course aims to analyse the concept of social justice and examine which economic system might best achieve it. The course considers utilitarian, liberal, and libertarian defences of free market capitalism, and socialist critiques of capitalism. The positions to be assessed span the political spectrum, including the modern liberalism of John Rawls, the classical liberalism of F. A. Hayek, Robert Nozick’s libertarianism, John Stuart Mill’s utilitarianism, and contemporary defences of socialism. The course will engage with contemporary debates about the status of economic liberties within liberal theory, exploitation and sweatshop labour, and the extent that state intervention in economic production is necessary and desirable within society. LEARNING OUTCOMES At the end of the course, students should be in a position to: 1. Understand key ideologies relevant to the discussion of social justice, including utilitarianism, socialism, libertarianism, classical and modern liberalism. 2. Understand crucial concepts within economics and social justice, including private and public ownership, welfare-and resource-egalitarianism, redistribution, spontaneous order, and exploitation. 3. Understand the major characteristics of capitalism, including its defining traits and institutions, and the roles of the market and the state. 4. Analyze the key ideologies relevant to the discussion of social justice and their arguments for and/or against capitalism, including capitalism’s strengths and weaknesses and whether capitalist societies are the best way to achieve social justice. 5. Understand and analyze related concepts, including justice, equality, freedom, and happiness.

6. Develop clear, analytical and independent arguments, in oral and written form, about the relationship between capitalism and social justice. 7. Learn how political theory and ethics are done in general, through class discussion and assessed work. Course-Programme Level Learning Outcome Alignment: Please refer to Appendix II for the Programme Learning Outcomes CLOs

GL-LLB PLOs

GL PLOs

PPA major PLOs

(1)

1, 2, 4, 5

1, 2, 4, 5

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

(2)

1, 2, 4, 5

1, 2, 4, 5

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

(3) (4)

1, 2, 4, 5 1, 2, 4, 5

1, 2, 4, 5 1, 2, 4, 5

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

(5)

1, 2, 4, 5

1, 2, 4, 5

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

(6) (7)

1, 2, 4, 5 1, 2, 4, 5

1, 2, 4, 5 1, 2, 4, 5

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

TEACHING METHODS The course is taught through a series of lectures and tutorials. The lectures will introduce the topics and thinkers studied, and also provide the opportunity for questions and discussion. It is important to be clear that lectures are not intended to be a substitute for the required reading. Rather, the aim of the lecture is to highlight the interesting elements of the reading, while raising possible objections. The first three lectures will be via Zoom. The tutorials will provide an opportunity to clarify and debate the arguments of the readings. Throughout the semester, students are expected to keep up with the reading and to participate in class discussions during tutorial sessions. Course performance is assessed through 100% coursework, as described below. ASSESSMENT The course will be assessed using a 100% coursework model: Tutorial attendance and performance: 10% Presentation: 15% Paper: 35% In-Class Test: 25% Take-Home Exercise: 5% In-Class Assessments: 10%

ASSESSMENT TASKS 1. Attendance, Participation, and Discussion Tutorials will be conducted in a discussion format via Zoom. Students must complete all assigned readings carefully before the tutorial. It is crucial that all students come prepared with questions and comments on the reading. Active participation during tutorial discussions is required. Attendance of tutorials is mandatory. If you expect to be absent from a tutorial for any reason, you must contact your tutor beforehand for permission. 2. Presentation You will give one 8-10 minute presentation to your tutorial group during the semester. Sign up for your presentation at the first tutorial. The presentation is not to be a simple summary of the readings. Instead, you should answer a specific question. Students are welcome to come up with their own questions, but they must check with their tutor first. Each presentation should take into account the following three points: i.

The presentation should begin by clearly stating your answer to the question.

ii.

The presentation should briefly set out your main arguments in support of this answer.

iii.

The presentation should then consider the most powerful objections to your arguments.

It is particularly impressive if the following point is also addressed: iv.

What are the possible responses to these objections?

Students must produce either a PowerPoint slideshow, or a handout for each presentation. You must upload a copy of this to Moodle before your tutorial. Then in the tutorial you must share your screen so that the others can view it while you present. You must upload a copy of your presentation to Moodle

at least one hour before your tutorial. 3. Paper The writing requirement consists in one 2,000-word analytical paper in response to one of the questions I will give you in due course. This paper is due by Friday 4 December at 12.30pm. Upload your paper on Turnitin via your Moodle account by the deadline. For late papers, see below. It is important that the paper follows the following format: •

The essay question must be the title of the essay.

•

It must be typed in at least 12 point in a readable font.

•

It must be double spaced.

•

It must include a bibliography and references. Any standard referencing style is acceptable.

•

It must include page numbers.

•

It must include your word count at the end of the essay.

The word limit is fairly strict. Essays within 100 words of the word count are acceptable. Outside of this range you will lose significant marks. The bibliography and references do not contribute to the word count. 4. In-Class Test There will be one in-class written test. You will be required to write a short essay in response to one of the questions I will upload to Moodle on 30 October at 09:00 HK time. This will be due to be submitted by 17:30 HK time on the same day. Upload your essay to Turnitin via your Moodle account by the deadline. 5. Take-Home Exercise You will be required to write a 200-word response to an exercise set in the lecture on 18 September. This is due by Friday 25 September at 12.30pm. Upload your response to Turnitin via Moodle by the deadline. 6. In-Class Assessment In some of the lectures, you will be asked to answer a question in no more than three sentences. Please upload your response to Moodle if attending the lecture via Zoom. It is permitted that your presentation could be on the same topic as your test or essay topic, but your test and essay should be on different topics. So, for instance, you can give a presentation on Liberal Egalitarianism, and write your test on Liberal Egalitarianism, but you should not write your essay on Liberal Egalitarianism too. All grades are final and cannot be appealed. LATE WORK AND TUTORIAL ABSENCE POLICY Late papers will receive a whole letter grade deduction for every day late (for example, from A to B, from B- to C-), and papers will not be accepted more than three days late. The time stamp of your submission on Moodle will determine the date/time of submission. Students with extenuating circumstances that may affect their tutorial attendance or submission of any written work (including tests) must speak with their tutor in advance. CLASS EXPECTATIONS Laptops and Phones: People who take notes on laptops tend to learn less effectively than those who take notes on paper.1 Smartphone and laptop users who text-message, answer email, and browse the Internet become distracted and are also distracting to others. 2 So, please keep laptops, phones and other devices put away during lectures. I’m happy to talk with you if this is a problem and will make an exception to the policy if there is a compelling reason.

1

P. Mueller and D. Oppenheimer, “The Pen is Mightier than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand over Laptop Notetaking,” Psychological Science 25 (2014). 2 S. M. Ravizza, M.G.Uitvlugt, and K.M. Fenn, “Logged In and Zoned Out: How Laptop Internet Use Relates to Classroom Learning,” Psychological Science 28 (2017).

EMAIL EXPECTATIONS I strongly encourage you to email me, or to post a question on the Moodle Forum if you have any questions at all about the course content. It is always a pleasure to hear from you, and I’m very happy to help. This is especially the case given that our opportunities to meet face to face are limited due to COVID-19. However, it is important to clarify that while I do my best to answer emails as quickly as possible, you should expect that it can sometimes take up to two working days to receive a response. I do not check email in the evenings or on the weekend. So, for instance, if you email on Friday night, it might take me until the end of Tuesday to get back to you. But again, please do feel welcome to reach out. ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT The Department of Politics & Public Administration expects that all students work will conform to the highest standards of academic integrity. Student’s work will be scrutinized for academic misconduct, which includes plagiarism of other’s words and/or ideas, falsification, fabrication, and misuse of data. Students’ submitted work will be scrutinized for plagiarism through use of Turnitin via Moodle. In the event a student submits work that appears to be plagiarized—whether essays, presentations, or other course material—they will be asked to explain themselves to the lecturer. The Department does not tolerate plagiarism, whether direct, indirect, or self-plagiarism. Direct plagiarism is intentionally and completely lifting the words, equations, charts, graphs or artistic material of another author or authors. Indirect plagiarism is failing to cite completely or accurately, and/or copying themes, ideas, or sources the student has not read from another author or authors. Self-plagiarism is recycling papers, documents, equations, and so forth from a document previously submitted by the student without quotation, citation, or attribution of the previous work. Double submissions are not permitted; all work must be original to this course. Acts of plagiarism could result in heavy penalties, including disciplinary action. For more information about the policy on plagiarism at HKU, please visit: http://www.hku.hk/plagiarism. PROVISION OF FEEDBACK Department policy on provision of feedback for coursework assignments and written examinations can be found here: http://www.ppaweb.hku.hk/pages/ppa-feedback-policy. Feedback on the final paper will be provided in accordance with department policy, via Moodle, within 30 days of submission. COURSE READI NG S Helpful Introductions Crisp, Roger. Mill on Utilitarianism, Routledge (1997). Fabre, Cécile. Justice in a Changing World, Polity Press (2007). Gamble, Andrew. Hayek: The Iron Cage of Liberty, Polity Press (1996). Halliday, Daniel & Thrasher, John. The Ethics of Capitalism: An Introduction, Oxford University Press (2020). Kymlicka, Will. Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Introduction, (Second Edition), Oxford University Press (2002).

McKinnon, Catriona et al. Issues in Political Theory, Oxford University Press (2019). Swift, Adam. Political Philosophy: A Beginners’ Guide for Students and Politicians, Polity Press (2019). Wolff, Jonathan. Robert Nozick: Property, Justice and the Minimal State, Polity Press (1991). Wolff, Jonathan. An Introduction to Political Philosophy, Oxford University Press (2015). Wolff, Jonathan. Why Read Marx Today? Oxford University Press (2002). Key Books Cohen, G.A. Why Not Socialism? Princeton University Press, (2009). Goodin, Robert. ‘Government House Utilitarianism’. in Utilitarianism as a Public Philosophy, Cambridge University Press (1995). Hayek, Friedrich A. 1976. The Mirage of Social Justice. (Law, Legislation, and Liberty, Volume 2). Routledge, (2012). Hayek, Friedrich A. 1944. The Road to Serfdom. Routledge, (2001). Mill, John Stuart. 1861. Utilitarianism. Roger Crisp (ed.), Oxford University Press, (1998). (also available online: https://www.utilitarianism.com/mill1.htm). Nozick, Robert. Anarchy, State, and Utopia. Basic Books, (1974). Rawls, John. A Theory of Justice: Revised Edition. Harvard University Press (1999). Young, Iris Marion. Justice and the Politics of Difference. Princeton University Press (1990). The required and recommended readings will be made available on Moodle. Each week’s lecture will provide suggestions for further readings to elaborate upon and pose criticisms of the essential course texts. The following is a good website to help you search for further papers on a topic: www.philpapers.org A great website full of relevant articles is the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu Wikipedia, and other non-philosophical sources (including dictionaries) are not appropriate for academic referencing in philosophical essays.

C O UR SE OUTLINE

Date

Topic

Reading (for the complete reference, see bibliography above)

4 September

Introduction

Required Reading No Reading Required Recommended Reading Halliday & Thrasher, The Ethics of Capitalism, Introduction.

11 September

Justice and Utilitarianism

Required Reading Mill, J. S. Utilitarianism, Chapter 2. Recommended Reading Goodin, R. ‘Government House Utilitarianism’

18 September

Liberal Egalitarianism

Required Reading Rawls, J. A Theory of Justice, §1-5, 9, 11-12. Recommended Reading Swift, A. Political Philosophy, pp. 21-29.

25 September

Liberal Egalitarianism

Required Reading Rawls, J. A Theory of Justice, §14-17, 20-6, 29, 33. Recommended Reading Kymlicka, W. Contemporary Political Philosophy, Chapter 3.

2 October 9 October

No Lecture – General Holiday Libertarianism

Required Reading Nozick, R. Anarchy, State, & Utopia, Chapter 7, Section 1. Recommended Reading Kymlicka, W. Contemporary Political Philosophy, Chapter 4, pp.102-127. Reading Week

23 October

Libertarianism

Required Reading

Nozick, R. Anarchy, State, & Utopia, Chapter 7, Section 2. Recommended Reading Wolff, J. Robert Nozick, Chapter 4. 30 October 6 November

No Lecture - Mid-Term Test The Distributive Paradigm

Required Reading Young, I. M. Justice and the Politics of Difference, Chapter 1. Recommended Reading Kymlicka, W. Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Introduction, Chapter 5. Halliday & Thrasher, The Ethics of Capitalism, Chapter 6.

13 November

Why Not Socialism?

Required Reading Cohen, G.A. Why Not Socialism? Recommended Reading Halliday & Thrasher, The Ethics of Capitalism, Chapter 5.

20 November

Freedom and The Road to Serfdom

Required Reading Hayek, F.A., The Road to Serfdom, Chapters Two, Three, Five, Six, Seven (pp.76-90, 10033). Recommended Reading Hayek, F.A., The Mirage of Social Justice, Chapter 9. Gamble, A. Hayek: The Iron Cage of Liberty, Chapter 4 (pp.75-91).

27 November

What Have We Learned?

Required Reading No Reading Required

TUTORIAL SCHEDULE #

Tutorial topic

Required reading (same as the required reading of the corresponding lectures)

Dates

1

Housekeeping

No Reading Required

Sep 16 (Wed), 17 (Thu)

2

Utilitarianism and Justice

Mill, J. S. Utilitarianism, Chapter

Sep 23, 24

2. 3

Liberal Egalitarianism

Rawls, J. A Theory of Justice, §1-5, Oct 7, 8 9, 11-12. Rawls, J. A Theory of Justice, §1417, 20-6, 29, 33.

4

Libertarianism

Nozick, R. Anarchy, State, &

Oct 28, 29

Utopia, Chapter 7, Section 1. Nozick, R. Anarchy, State, & Utopia, Chapter 7, Section 2. 5

The Distributive Paradigm

Young, I. M. Justice and the

Nov 18, 19

Politics of Difference, Chapter 1. 6

Freedom and the Road to Serfdom.

Hayek, F.A., The Road to Serfdom,

Nov 25, 26

Chapters Two, Three, Five, Six, Seven (pp.76-90, 100-33).

TUTORIAL QUESTIONS Utilitarianism and Justice 1. “A theory of justice should only be concerned with citizens’ happiness. It does not need to be concerned with their liberties, apart from the sense that these liberties contribute to happiness”. Do you agree? Why? Why Not? 2. “Government house utilitarianism is a morally apt guide to public policy” Discuss. Liberal Egalitarianism 3. Should the liberty principle be lexically prior to the difference principle?

4. What is the currency of distributive justice? Libertarianism 5. “Only a libertarian theory of justice can truly respect the separateness of persons”. Discuss. 6. Should Wilt Chamberlain be permitted to keep all of his justly acquired earnings? The Distributive Paradigm 7. Is justice compatible with exploitation? 8. ‘A theory of justice should not be concerned with alienated labour’. Do you agree? Why? Why Not? Freedom and the Road to Serfdom 9. “The market is a spontaneous order, and so, the results of the market cannot be either just or unjust.” Do you agree? Why? Why Not? 10. Is Hayek right that socialism leads to totalitarianism?

Appendix I: Course Grading Rubric Grade/ Competency Use of vocabulary and concepts

Deployment of theories and argumentation

Creativity

Persuasiveness

A+, A, A-

B+, B, B-

Student accurately and creatively uses concepts and key course vocabulary throughout the assignment, demonstratin ga sophisticated understandin g of each. Student deploys theoretical arguments well using their own voice and substantive arguments in a sophisticated way.

Student accurately uses concepts and key course vocabulary throughout the assignment, but does not demonstrate creativity in use or fluency.

Students choice of topic, sources, assignment completion modality, arguments, and solutions show sophisticatio n and critical thinking at a high level. Student makes an argument using appropriate language and rhetorical style necessary to persuade the reader to accept or accommodat e their viewpoint.

C+, C, C-

D+, D

F

Student uses concepts and key vocabulary from the course, but in a manner that does not demonstrate understandin g or proficiency; use of concepts and vocabulary is perfunctory. Student Student deploys deploys theoretical theoretical arguments vocabulary in well although a way voice, style commensur...