SOCI 200 - The Old Order is Dying and the New Cannot Be Born

This course, which has no prerequisites, examines the deep structural crisis of the entire edifice of our political and economic system that some call progressive neoliberalism, characterized by a market-based economy wrapped in progressive sounding diversity politics. The course title reflects a predicament described by Antonio Gramsci in the 1930s, but that may be more salient today: “‘the crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old order is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.” The morbid symptoms of our own old order can be seen in the severe and increasing inequality. The two beneficiaries of this system are (1) those who are at the apex of the system, the so-called 1% and (2) the highly-educated elite professionals, intellectuals, and managerial class, the next 9% and sometimes called the clergy or the secular high priests of the system. The remaining population, largely composed of less educated whites, minorities, blacks, and women are being further and further removed from the rewards of the system. This hyper-inegalitarian system of rule is now experiencing a legitimacy crisis by both the far right and the left, but no true alternatives have yet been proposed to reform or replace it. The far right wants to take us on a path of racial white supremacist rule and further escalate inequalities and prepare us for possibly even a more sinister form of a postcapitalist society. The far left, on the other hand, wants to create a system of radical democracy and respect for nature that has the potential for replacing capitalism with a new historical system based on a more just foundation. This course will identify what was historically in place, capitalism’s distinctive dynamics so that we may better determine what is needed to resolve it. With that in mind, as Nancy Fraser has argued, we need to seek a path forward that leads beyond the current impasse – through political realignments to societal transformation. We will explore what this capitalist system is, how it functioned historically, where it is now, and what systems may replace it in the future. To cover all that in one course is exciting and may help us think about some possible futures we can begin to imagine and work toward. Every year. (4 Credits)