CLASS DESCRIPTION:
In this six week class we’ll explore the current state of the world as an inevitable outcome of an economic, political, and cultural system that is built on brutality, social control, and extraction from nature. Through reading and discussions we’ll explore the global dynamics of the economy, how profit is made, the role of social control and nature in creating profit, and the role of social movements in shaping the economy.
CLASS AGENDA:
Class 1 | Introductions & Understanding the Economy as an Economic, Political, and Cultural System: In this session we’ll get an introduction to each other, the class, and we’ll explore what it means to think about the economy as a system that is cultural, political, and economic.
Class 2 | How Profit Is Made: The Economics of Capitalism: In this session we’ll explore the dynamics of how profit is created from an economic standpoint by defining capitalism and look at its inner economic workings from a global perspective.
Class 3 | How Profit is made: Social Control and Capitalism: In this session we’ll explore the dynamics of how profit is made from a social perspective by examining the role of race, gender, and nature in creating profit.
Class 4 | How We Survive: The Culture of Capitalism: In this session we’ll explore how human beings adapt to the norms of capitalism by examining human psychology and the economy’s impact on how we develop socially and culturally.
Class 5 | How We Perceive What’s Possible: The Political Culture of Capitalism: In this session we’ll explore the relationship between politics and the economy by examining how economic growth became dependent on both liberalism and conservatism
Class 6 | How We Resist: Social Movements and Capitalism: In this session we’ll explore how social movements have transformed the economy by looking at global patterns of social movements and examining the implications of this pattern for our current moment.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
An introductory understanding of the relationship of race, gender, and nature to economic growth
An understanding of why the economy requires social control
An understanding of how social movements have transformed the economy
CLASS DATES & TIMES:
Mondays, April 13 - May 18, 2026
6p - 8p EST | 3p - 5p PST