Due Dates (multiple): Your initial post is due before 11:59 PM on April 23rd. Two (or more) reply posts are due before 11:59 PM on April 25th.
How to submit your response: Reply directly to this post below! *Note- you must first post your initial comments in order to gain access to all student comments
IMPORTANT: Your initial post is due before 11:59 PM on April 23rd. Failure to post your initial comments before this deadline will result in an automatic 6-point reduction. This structure will allow your fellow students enough time (e.g., 48 hours) to read, reflect on, and reply to your initial post before the final, April 25th deadline. *Note- your first post will be graded as the “initial post” and any subsequent replies to students’ initial posts will count toward the grading rubric requirement for reply posts. Only one “initial” post is allowed/will be graded.
Module #4 Learning Objectives Assessed
Analyze the interconnections between capitalism as a structure and other areas of social life.
Highlight the government policy dimension of capitalism and economics and it’s influence on stratification and other sociological problems.
Analyze current issues related to social stratification using sociological insights, such as access to healthcare, life expectancy, environmental degradation, and violence.
Required Learning Materials
Before developing your initial post, please engage with the following learning materials:
Watch the Ted Talk video by Lewis (2012)Links to an external site., titled “Consumer Capitalism”
Read the article by Bellamy Foster and Clark (2012)Links to an external site., titled “The Planetary Emergency”
Read the chapter by Bellamy Foster (2022) Download Bellamy Foster (2022), titled “The Capitalinian: The First Geological Age of the Anthropocene”
Listen to the podcast interview with Henderson (2020)Links to an external site., titled “Reimagining Capitalism”
Discussion Prompt
After engaging with the four source materials above, please read and contemplate your Instructor’s introductory comments below:
Throughout this course you’ve have learned about many sociological issues. These topics include: culture, race, class, gender, among many others. Capitalism, as a mode of production, is not only the dominant global economic system, but is a “totality,” to use Marxist author Lukacs’ terminology. A totality encompasses every aspect of our lives and invades all other social relations and institutions. In his lecture, Dr. Lewis addresses the “consumerist” element of contemporary capitalism as it has evolved over the past 40 years. One of his key points is that in order for capitalism to grow, citizens are required to endlessly consume. This not only threatens us individually at a financial level, but threatens the viability of our civilization due to the catastrophic environmental consequences that it entails. In essence, there is an inherent contradiction within capitalism. In order to create, we must destroy. In order to grow, we must cause damage. The concept of “planned obsolescence” suggests that in a consumer version of capitalism, products must be designed to fail and/or become obsolete in order to drive further consumption. In the quest for increased GDP, we pollute our natural environment. In the search for profit, we lose our connection with nature. We have confused the “good” life with the “goods” life. Can this model continue forever? One important question to consider is how we can manage the impending ecological catastrophe that awaits us within the confines of the capitalist system? Is there a way to salvage the current system by implementing reform to increase the likelihood of our species survival? Or is capitalism itself the core problem? As the Covid-19 pandemic took shape, carbon emissions declined by 17% at the peak of the global lockdown in April 2020. However, carbon emissions have surged well beyond pre-pandemic levels as states and countries reopened, which serves as a reminder that climate change continues to accelerate without a fundamental transformation of the consumer-capitalist world system.
After reading your Instructor’s intro comments above, please post an initial discussion comment of at least 500+ words for the class. Your comment should be an attempt to integrate the information presented and draw an initial conclusion about this topic/issue.
Important: All initial and reply posts must include direct (in-text) reference/citation of the required material using the ASA guide.
- Explain Dr. Lewis’ view on the long term viability of consumer capitalism, how it operates and it’s negative consequences.
- Discuss and outline 2 specific theories/arguments from the Bellamy Foster article that directly support Lewis’ argument.
- Using the podcast interview, describe Dr. Henderson’s perspective on how we must transform capitalism to solve our environmental problems.
- Using the Bellamy Foster (2022) chapter, explain the transition into the Anthropocene epoch and the Capitalinian age. Outline the three major factors that have brought humanity into this new age.
- Using the Bellamy Foster and Clark article, explain how capitalism as an economic system is directly embedded/implicated within the numerous environmental problems that we face.
- Compare Bellamy Foster/Clark’s argument with the argument posed by Henderson. How do these approaches fundamentally differ?
- Based on all of the evidence presented, create a unique argument as to how we should proceed as a civilization to solve this problem. Provide specific recommendations related to government policy, direct action or systemic social change that are directly linked to the source work.
Initial Post & Reply Post Parameters
In your initial post, please respond with a minimum of 500+ words. You may exceed the 500 word minimum. Please limit your initial comments to roughly 1000-1200 words or less. Your initial post must be written in paragraph form. Do not use bullet-points or lists! Your initial post must directly cite all four of the required sources.
Next, please respond to a minimum of two of your classmates’ initial posts. Do not reply to someone else’s reply or you will not receive credit. Your response posts must be a minimum of 100 words each (max 250 words).
Each response (i.e., “reply”) post must include a minimum of one *direct* in-text citation from either Lewis (2012), Bellamy Foster and Clark (2012), Bellamy Foster (2022) and/or Henderson (2020) and must use key ideas, concepts, theories, evidence or research contained within one (or more) of these sources not already used in your initial post, other students’ initial posts or other students’ reply posts. Your reply posts must use unique information!
Important: Reply posts must consist of much more than simple “agreement” or “disagreement.” You must directly respond to two students’ initial posts and focus on the content of their posts. In doing so, your response should provide additional evidence from the source work to expand/build upon their post OR provide additional evidence to refute/critique their post. Evidence may come from any of the 3 required sources. If refuting/critiquing other students’ posts, please remain courteous and respectful! Focus on critiquing the evidence and research, not the person.
Note- all citations must follow the ASA style guide in order to receive full points. Review the ASA Style guide page for more details on how to cite your sources, to view a sample student submission using the guide, and to watch the ASA video tutorial.
Important: All initial and reply posts must include direct (in-text) reference/citation of the required material using the ASA guide.
Grading Rubric
Point Value = 20 points
*Note- a 6-point penalty will be assessed for any assignment submitted past the stated deadline. Assignments submitted 48 hours or more after the deadline will not be accepted for credit. See the syllabus contract for more information.
- Directly cited the Lewis (2012) Ted Talk to fully outline the key features of consumer capitalism, why it is problematic, and it’s consequences (1 pt.)
- Outlined and directly cited 2 specific theories/arguments from the Bellamy Foster/Clark (2012) article that directly support/reinforce Lewis’s claims (2 pts.)
- Directly cited the Bellamy Foster (2022) chapter to explain the transition into the Anthropcene epoch/Capitalinian age and the three key features that mark the emergence of the Capitalinian (2 pts.)
- Thoroughly explained how capitalism (as an economic system) underlies the current environmental crisis by directly citing the Bellamy Foster & Clark (2012) article (1 pt.)
- Directly cited Henderson (2020) to outline her perspective on transforming/restructuring capitalism to promote environmental sustainability (1 pt.)
- Directly compared the approach offered by Bellamy Foster/Clark (2012) with Henderson’s (2020) perspective, exploring how they fundamentally differ (1 pt.)
- Provided specific and actionable solution(s) to the problem by using and directly citing the required source work (2 pts.)
- Initial post is at least 500+ words (1200 words max.) (2 pts.)
- Responded to two student’s initial posts (100-250 words each) (2pts.)
- Reply posts include a direct citation of the required source work (2 pts.)
- Reply posts either expand upon or refute two students’ initial posts and contain unique information directly cited from the source work not already used in any other post (initial or reply) (2 pt.)
- Conventions and Format: used appropriate sentence structure, mechanics, punctuation, spelling, grammar, ASA style guide, etc. (2 pts.)
- Initial comments were posted on or after 11:59 PM on 4/23/24, but before 11:59 PM on 4/25/24 (-6 pts.)
https://youtu.be/zf-s7ndfWKM?si=kiSNqzFEgjzpvtvB