GEOG 240: Day 6

1. Image:  GEOG 240: Day 6 Source: New Geography.com Chapter 4

2. Follow-up to last time • Some great events at the Power to Change Week this week at VIU. On Tuesday, Green Shorts (Stay for one of or all of several sustainability-themed short films at the Quad) in front of library from 11:30-1:00. Bring your lunch. On Wednesday, the Sustainability Fair will give you some ideas of how you can make small changes that make a big difference to VIU and the community. Stop by and chat to this year's presenters! In the Quad (in front of library) from 11:30-1:00. • Steve didn’t get a chance to ask his questions of you. • I also asked you to go through Table 3.3 regarding the nine different economic roles of the state (government) and come up with examples using a Canadian context. • A couple of comments on Steve’s characterization of Marx and Engels’ conception of modes of production – which is partly from Wikipedia – the “antique” was epitomized by Greek and Roman society and, though this was not emphasized, relied primarily on slave labour. But it’s also important not to forget feudalism which directly preceded capitalism, and out of whose whom it developed.

3. Follow-up to last time • Feudalism was characterized by: • Fairly complex, but labour-intensive, agriculture • Land owned by feudal landlords who had a claim on the labour of peasants or serfs, but who also had some minimal obligations in turn to them. • Specialization of crafts • Minimal urban development, especially in the early stages • Feudal estates that were largely self-sufficient with some trade in the cities and towns • Over time, the capitalists developed strength in the cities and towns and grew in their political power. The French Revolution of 1789 and the various revolutions of 1848 were essentially anti-feudal revolutions.

4. Chapter 4 • Once capitalism emerged in Europe and North America, it began to expand into a global system that ensnared virtually every part of the globe. • This expansion was particularly facilitated by the great era of colonialism (approximately 1875-1914).

5. Chapter 4 • Colonialism forcibly integrated pre-capitalist societies into the world market, a process which is still ongoing today – any examples you can think of. • Karl Polyani, Hungarian author of The Great Transformation, described how people become disembedded from their communities, and communities are torn from the land. • In some cases, this took the form forcing indigenous populations to produce for industrial markets or the use of slaves on plantations to produce cotton and sugar. Source: Bing

6. Chapter 4 • Most Latin American nations had achieved their independence from Spain and Portugal in the 19th century. The Russian and Chinese revolutions removed half the globe from capitalist dominion, but today the former Soviet Union and its satellites are part of the global economy and China, despite its political domination by a ‘communist’ party, is one of the hotbeds of free enterprise development. • As Steve noted, socialism was supposed to succeed capitalism, but two factors potentially got in the way – that ‘socialism’ first triumphed in econ-omically backward countries, not in countries like Germany, as Marx had predicted, and the modes of regulation described in Chapter gave capitalism greater resilience than had been predicted.

7. Capitalism’s interacting triangle division of labour need for expanding markets & sources of raw materials increased efficiency & output

8. Capitalism’s evolution • As capitalism evolved, not only did the division of labour within enterprises take shape, but also internationally (developing countries providing raw materials and developed countries finished goods). [India example] Where does Canada fit into this? • This division of labour was justified using Ricardo’s comparative advantage theory (see Box 4.1] that says advantage is based on existing resources. • Recent critiques of this theory include Krugman’s notion of competitive advantage, that a critical mass of advantages can be created. It has also been noted that the Chinese seem to acting not only on the comparative advantage of their cheap labour, but seeking total advantage in virtually every sector of the economy!

9. Capitalism’s evolution • With competitive advantage comes what Gunnar Myrdal called core-periphery relationships. As one region begins to develop, the process becomes self-generating, having backwash effects as life gets sucked out of other regions and spread effects, as the initial advantages of growing regions get reinforced. • Technology in the second half of the 19th century (railways and telegraphs) shrank space – see Figures 1 & 2 – and facilitated the exchange of currencies and commercial information. Source: Wikipedia

10. Capitalism’s evolution • See pp. 73-77 for maps of industrial belts and concentrations in the U.S., the UK, Europe, and the former Soviet Union. • Whereas originally, regions tended to carry out all the phases in a given sector, more recently there has arisen a spatial division of labour that was mentioned in Wednesday’s video and is also shown in Table 4.2. • Eventually regions become victims of their own success – in terms of rising costs or congestion or other factors that induce firms to relocate elsewhere (see Figure 4.10). • In addition to deindustrialization of traditional industrial areas, new industrial spaces have emerged: ∙craft-based districts with small and medium firms (watch-making in Jura; specialty co-ops in Emilia-Romagna); ∙centres of high technology close to major cities (Silicon Valley, Boston 128, etc.), and ∙clusters of advanced financial & producer services (e.g. New York, etc.).