IIECON 399: Economics of Discrimination, Fall 2010, Dr

IIECON 399: Economics of Discrimination, Fall 2010, Dr. Duggan

Mo/W 12-1:45 in Parker 210

Professor: Dr. Marie Duggan

Office: Rhodes 265S

Telephone: 358-2628

DESCRIPTION:

The period 1980-2010 has been a difficult time for poor and middle class people in the United States: longer hours on the job, increasing costs of raising children and buying a home, decreasing job security and falling real wages for blue collar men, increasing hours of work between home and workplace for women. Ideology plays a role in channeling the frustrations. The tendency for the past 30 years has been to blame the poorest people for the problem, and to see flaws in individuals as the cause of poverty. We touch on this ideology, and then examine four theoretical counterarguments explaining structural causes for discrimination on the basis of class, gender, ethnicity, and race. We also explore the tensions among different components of the working class over economic cycles and long waves.

COURSE OUTCOMES:

Students will learn four economic theories to explain class disparity, gender inequality, racial bias, and the lack of political rights held by immigrants. Students will also familiarize themselves with the current situation of income, gender, racial inequality, and with the flows of immigration to the modern US. Students will connect these to their own communities through an interview. Students will become familiar with reading theoretical economic essays, and with summarizing these in their own writing.

INTEGRATIVE STUDIES OUTCOMES:

Interdisciplinary Outcome. This course will cross disciplinary boundaries to reveal new patterns and connections that reframe knowledge.

Integrative Outcome. Students will be able to recognize how differences shape access to power.

Learning Outcome: Critical Thinking: students will demonstrate the ability and willingness to approach a particular idea, problem, task or goal from multiple perspectives. Writing: Students will develop and support complex perspectives, positions and/or arguments.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Folbre, Nancy. The Invisible Heart: Economics and Family Values. New York: The New Press, 2001.

Marx, Karl. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy (Volume I). New York: Penguin Books, 1990.

Myrdal, Gunnar. An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy. Originally published 1944, the two-volume book was reissued in New Brunswick by Transaction Publishers in 1999.

Piore, Michael. Birds of Passage: Migrant Labor and Industrial Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980.

OVERVIEW:

This course is designed specifically for people who have already obtained some of the tools necessary to master college through ITW, IQL and introductory social science courses. Under no circumstances should you be registered if you are a freshman. It is NOT designed for freshmen.
Bring the book we are reading at the time to class, as we will often begin reading together. For example, bring Marx’s Capital, Vol. 1 to our next class.
Underline the sections of the books that resonate with you, or illuminate the author’s point, so that you can return to these short quotes for your final paper; always cite the author, title, date of publication, and page number of any source that you use.
When to read: read the text before the date it is due. Read the passages a second time before the exam. Finally, when you go back to write the final longer essay for the course, return to the readings and read them a third time.
For the final paper, I discourage outside reading. Why? Outside reading is often used as a substitute for your own serious reflection about the ideas of the thinker himself.

CLASS REQUIREMENTS:

There will be two special assignments, two midterm exams, one eight page draft of the final paper, and the final twelve page paper. In addition, there will be various in class exercises which will count toward the class participation grade. What students will notice the most is the weekly or biweekly written assignments on the challenging reading. These will feed into the draft of the final paper and the final paper itself.

Class participation and Attendance: 5%
Interview assignment: 10%
Data assignment: 10%
Written assignments on reading difficult texts: 20%
Midterm I: 15% (Folbre, Marx)
Midterm 2: 15%. (Myrdal, Piore)
Draft: 5%. Final paper: 20%.

Nota bene: The draft will be graded. If there is significant improvement between the draft and the final paper, only the final paper grade will count. If there is no improvement between the draft and the final paper, the final paper grade will be at least a full grade lower than the draft. This is because a draft is expected to be a work in progress, while the final paper is expected to be more profound, more theoretically consistent, and more polished.

GENERAL POLICIES:

Academic Honesty: The College has implemented a clear policy with regard to academic honesty, and it will be strictly enforced in this class. Plagiarism such as cheating on tests or copying text from websites or books or asking others to write your work for you will be punished according to the severity of the offense. The sanction could be failure for the assignment or failure for the course. In addition, all acts of academic dishonesty –no matter whether intended or not, no matter how minor—will be reported to the Dean, who will check the central file in the Provost’s office to see if there is a prior offense. If there is a prior offense, dismissal proceedings will be initiated by the Dean; if the offense is a first offense, it will be filed with the Provost’s office for future reference. The full statement of the College’s Academic Honesty Policy is in the current Student Handbook. If you have any questions about any particular assignment, please check with me before making what could be a costly mistake.

Respect in the Classroom. Please contribute to class discussions, but refrain from chit-chat during lectures, as this makes it difficult for me to concentrate. Please do the reading in advance of the class for which it is assigned; this permits you to challenge the professor on her interpretation and makes class more interesting. If you do not intend to do the reading, please drop the class. Please keep cell-phones turned off and out of sight; do not text during class. Please do not eat lunch during class, as this can be distracting.

Emergency Closure. In the event that the college is forced by emergency to suspend business, students should look to the course Blackboard site for instructions in how to proceed. The site or emails generated using Blackboard will provide any alternative assignments, deadlines, and submission procedures to ensure that work is completed and students are provided with the opportunity to be granted credit. This syllabus and other documents and notices will be posted on the site in any event and all students are strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves with the procedure for Blackboard access and use.

Snow closure: I prefer that students do not call me at home; however, if you are driving in from some distance away, and if you are uncertain whether the class will be held or not due to weather conditions, please do call me the morning of class at 603-831-4386.

Syllabus Table 1. Topical Outline

Weeks	Focus	Key Concerns	Specific Problems
1-3	Class and Class Conflict	· The Condition of the Working Class in the United States, 1960-2010. · Tensions along racial, ethnic, and gender lines in the US, 1960-2010. · Economic cycles and long swings in the US economy. · The Role of Ideology.	· Marx’s theory of exploitation. · Marx’s theory of Falling Rate of Profit · Marx’s theory of the reserve army of labor. · Duggan’s use of Marx’s components. · Deindustrialization in Detroit.
4-5	Women: Unpaid labor in the home and underpaid caring labor in the market.	· Paid labor as a wedge. · Depreciation of caring labor. · Fear of liberating women from caring labor. · Sexual double standard. · Threat of violence. · The second shift.	· Defining patriarchy. · Implicit Marriage Contract. · Nanny state. · Kids as pets. · Robin hood schools.
6	Review and Exam	· Marx’s Theory of Class Conflict · Adapted by Duggan to Modern Gender, Race, and Ethnic conflicts. · Nancy Folbre’s Theory of Gender Subjugation
7-8	Role of Immigrant Labor in the US workforce.	· Piore’s theory of the dual labor market and immigration.	· Supply of immigrant labor. · Demand for immigrant labor. · The immigrant labor market.
9-10	Mechanisms of Racial Discrimination	· Myrdal’s Theory of Cumulative Causation · The logic of affirmative action.	· Segregation and Desegregation in US schools. · Caste and class. · Concept of Unstable Equilibrium in economics and racial dynamics. · Theory of cumulative causation.
12-13	Competition between working people
13-14	Ideology and Discrimination

Syllabus Table 2. Assignments.

Week	Date	Readings	Lecture	Homework Due By Today
1: Condition of the Working Class in the United States 1960-2010	Monday Aug. 30		Statistics on US 1960-2010 In Class: A fugitive episode? In class with TV noir and WC? Ill Wind?
Deindustrialization in Detroit	Wednesday Sept. 1		Powerpoint: intro to Marx.
2: Marx’s Theory of Exploitation	Wednesday Sept. 8	Read Marx, Ch. 4, Ch. 6, and Ch. 7.	Marx’s Theory of Exploitation. Powerpoint lecture.	Reading Exercise Due (optional)
3: Marx’s Theory of Falling Rate of Profit	Monday Sept. 13	Read Marx, Ch. 15: Machinery and Large-Scale Industry	Marx’s Theory of the Falling Rate of Profit	Reading Exercise Due (optional)
The Reserve Army of Labor	Wednesday September 15	Read Marx, Ch. 25: The General Law of Capitalist Accumulation , parts 1-4.	Marx’s Theory of the Reserve Army of Labor	Reading Exercise Due. (required)
4: Race, Gender, and Ethnicity Using Marx’s Categories	Monday Sept. 20		Powerpoint: Conflicts between different components of RAL
Folbre’s Theory of Gender Discrimination	Wednesday, Sept. 22	Read Invisible Heart, Intro, Chs. 1 and 2	Powerpoint: the care penalty. Discuss interview assignment.	Reading Exercise Due (required).
5: Folbre on politics and ideology	Monday, Sept. 27	Movie: the 1960s implicit contract	Powerpoint on ideology	Reading Exercise Due (required).
	Wednesday Sept. 29	Read Invisible Heart, Chs. 4,5,8
6: Review and Exam	Monday, October 4	Review theories of Marx and Folbre
	Wednesday, October 6	Midterm I: Folbre and Marx
7: Piore’s Theory of the Dual Labor Market	Monday, October 11	Read Birds of Passage, Ch. 2	Lecture on Dual Labor Market	Reading Exercise Due (required).
Demand for and Supply of Immigrant Labor	Wednesday, October 13	Read Birds of Passage, Ch. 3	Lecture on Demand and Supply of Immigrants Labor	Reading Exercise Due (required).
8: The Migrant Labor Market	Monday, October 18	Read Birds of Passage, Ch. 4	Excerpt from 1999 Film: La Ciudad/The City	Reading Exercise Due (required).
Competition between immigrants and US workers	Wednesday, October 20	Read Chicken Plant Article.	Lecture on competition	Chicken plant exercise
9: Racial Discrimination and the American Creed	Monday October 25	Read Myrdal, Vol. 1, Intro and Chs. 1 and 2	Desegregation of the Public Schools: Little Rock Movie	Reading Exercise Due (required).
Myrdal’s Theory of Caste	Wednesday October 27	Read Myrdal, Vol.1, Chs. 3 and 31		Reading Exercise Due (required).
10: Myrdal’s Conception of Equilibrium	Monday November 1	Read Myrdal, Vol. 2, Appendix 3.	Powerpoint lecture on Ch. 2 and 3 of Myrdal’s Monetary Equilibrium (1939).
Myrdal’s Theory of Cumulative Causation and Affirmative Action	Wednesday November 3	Read Myrdal, V. 1, Ch. 3, section 7; Ch. 4, section 7.	Lecture on theory of cumulative causation, include Engels on the Irish.
Week 11: Review and Exam	Monday November 8	Review of Myrdal and Piore
	Wednesday Nov. 10			Midterm II: Piore and Myrdal
Week 12: Caste barriers in practice	Monday Nov. 15		Movie: The Doctor in Keene.	Draft Paper Due
Competition Between Workers	Wednesday November 17		Movie: Rosie the Riveter.
14: Meet in Social Science Computer Lab.	Monday Nov. 29		Data exercise to be initiated in class.
Meet in Social Science Computer Lab.	Wednesday Dec. 1		Data exercise to be initiated in class.	Duggan Returns Drafts.
15: Discrimination and Ideology	Monday Dec. 6	Read Myrdal, Vol. 2, Appendix 5: parallels between women and African-Americans.	Compare Myrdal’s concept of Caste and Folbre’s arguments re caring labor.
	Wed. Dec. 8			Final Paper Due.