Credit

3.00   (L-T-P:   3-0-0)

Department / Center / School / Unit

Sociology

Course Objectives

This course seeks to critically examine the historical development of capitalism in the context of the advanced industrial and developing societies. It discusses how capitalism as a mode of production has restructured itself over the centuries. Specifically, it discusses the various theories of capitalism and the processes of transformation from classical industrial capitalism to contemporary neo-liberalism.

Course Contents

What is capitalism and how did it emerge? What are its strengths and weaknesses? How have the social scientists analyzed it and understood its implications for and relationship with other social phenomena? Addressing these questions, this course discusses the historical development of capitalist institutions and social relations in the context of the advanced
industrial and developing societies. Particularly, it analyses the various theories and
paradigms of capitalistic development, such as the Marxist political economy, classical liberalism, world systems theory, economic history and neo-liberalism. Furthermore, it analyses the relationship between the state and market, capitalism and liberal democracy, the religious roots of capitalism, social embeddedness of economic activity, and the ‘new realities’ of capitalism, such as displacement, inequality and rampant environmental degradation.