Kommentar:
In this seminar we will examine capitalism from the point of view of anthropological theories. This is against the backdrop of the global recession and financial crisis that was initially triggered by the failure of a few American financial institutions. It has been described, both by academics and journalists, as a failure of capitalism. Academic classics such as Karl Marx’s Das Kapital and Karl Polanyi’s The Great Transformation have also gained a new lease of life. In the first part of the seminar, we will read and critique works on the history of capitalism as viewed by Karl Marx, his contemporaries and his followers. This will set the stage for the latter part of the seminar, which will be a discussion of contemporary understandings of capitalism among economic anthropologists and other social scientists.
