 SYLLABUS
Marxism and Culture
MCC-UE.1402.001
Fall 2011
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Class Time: Tue/Thu 2 - 3:15pm
Class Location: 7 E 12th St, Room 129
Office Hours: Tues 3:20-5 and Thurs 10:30-12:30
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The purpose of this course is to read a number of key works from western Marxism and
to understand the various political and philosophical debates with which
they engage. The course emphasizes Marxism as a scholarly methodology
for critique, applicable across disciplines. Particular attention is
given to the so-called cultural turn in twentieth-century Marxist
thought, including Marx's influence on feminism, identity, and
theories of representation. Themes include: the commodity, alienation and
reification, surplus value, ideology, consumerism,
subjectivity, and postfordism.
September 6--Course Introduction.
I. The History of Capital and Class Struggle
September 8--John Steinbeck, "The Monster" (excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath);
Karl Marx, Capital, pp. 873-907.
September 13--Karl Marx, Capital, pp. 908-940.
II. The Young Marx
September 15--Karl Marx, "Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts" in Early Writings, pp. 279-309.
September 20--Karl Marx, "Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts" in Early Writings, pp. 322-334, 345-358, and 375-379;
William Morris, "How I Became A Socialist."
September 22--Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, The Communist Manifesto, pp. 218-258.
III. Commodities and Reification
September 27--Karl Marx, Capital, pp. 89-103 and 125-153.
September 29--Karl Marx, Capital, pp. 154-209.
IV. Surplus Value and Reproduction
October 4--Karl Marx, Capital, pp. 247-257, 270-306, and 320-329.
October 6--Karl Marx, Capital, pp. 429-454 and 544-564.
October 11--No classes scheduled
October 13--Karl Marx, Capital, pp. 675-682 and 709-724.
October 18--Midterm Exam.
V. The Cultural Turn
October 20--Louis Althusser, "Ideology and State Ideological Apparatuses," pp. 85-106 (PDF).
October 25--Louis Althusser, "Ideology and State Ideological Apparatuses," pp. 106-126 (PDF).
October 27--Roland Barthes, Mythologies, pp. 109-137.
November 1--Roland Barthes, Mythologies, pp. 137-159.
November 3--Karl Marx, "Letter to Ruge," "Concerning Feurbach," and "Preface" in Early Writings, pp. 206-209, and 421-428.
VI. Ideology and Consumer Culture
November 8--Roland Barthes, Mythologies, "Blind and Dumb Criticism," "Operation Margarine,"
"Novels and Children," "Neither-Nor Criticism," "Striptease," "The Great Family of Man."
November 10--Stuart Hall, "The Problem of Ideology: Marxism Without Guarantees" (PDF).
November 15--Fredric Jameson, "Reification and Utopia in Mass Culture" (PDF).
November 17--Donna Haraway, "'Gender' for a Marxist Dictionary" (PDF).
VII. Postfordism
November 22--Nancy Fraser, "Feminism, Capitalism, and the Cunning of History" (PDF).
November 24--Thanksgiving Holiday
November 29--McKenzie Wark, A Hacker Manifesto, paragraphs 1-125.
December 1--McKenzie Wark, A Hacker Manifesto, paragraphs 126-257.
December 6--McKenzie Wark, A Hacker Manifesto, paragraphs 258-389.
December 8--TBA
December 13--Review and exam prep
December 15--Final Exam.
EVALUATION
The course contains midterm and final examinations. Each exam will be
in-class and will follow a short-answer, written format. Students will
also be evaluated according to their class participation. All course
work and participation should demonstrate a close reading of the
required materials and exhibit a method of critical analysis.
REQUIRED BOOKS
Roland Barthes, Mythologies (New York: Noonday, 1972).
Karl Marx, Early Writings (London: Penguin, 1974).
Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, The Communist Manifesto (London: Penguin, 2002).
Karl Marx, Capital, Vol. 1 (London: Penguin, 1976).
McKenzie Wark, A Hacker Manifesto (Cambridge: Harvard, 2004).
GRADE FORMULA
Midterm examination 40%
Final examination 40%
Class participation 20%
LAPTOP POLICY
I discourage the use of electronic devices in class. This includes all
laptops, iPads, PDAs, phones, and other devices. There is mounting
evidence that such devices impede learning and place an undo strain on
the pedagogical experience of both students and teachers. While an
outright ban poses its own difficulties, please note that I discourage
the use of such devices and consider them to be detrimental to the
social and pedagogical climate of the classroom. (Exceptions can be made
for readings that have been distributed in electronic form, and for
students with special learning needs.)
GRADING RUBRIC
A — Excellent. Student exhibits exemplary creativity through a close
reading and critical analysis of the required materials. Style is lucid
and engaging with zero mistakes.
B — Good. References to the course material are well-selected and
topical. Critical analysis is present, but largely rehearsed from class
lecture and discussion. Student's style is clear and has very few
mistakes.
C — Satisfactory. References to the course material are well-selected
and topical, but student performs little or no critical analysis.
Problems exist in student's work. Work consists mostly of
underdeveloped ideas, off-topic sources or examples, inappropriate research,
or anecdotes.
D — Unsatisfactory. Student does not engage with the material and no
critical analysis is present. Substantial problems exist in student's
work.
F — Fail. Student does not submit work, or work is below unsatisfactory
level.
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