- The Making of the English Working Class by E.P. Thompson
- Sex, Race, and Class by Selma James
- The Black Jacobins by C.L.R. James
- How the Irish Became White by Noel Ignatiev
- Black Skin, White Masks by Franz Fanon
- Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici
- Storming Heaven: Class Composition and Struggle in Italian Autonomist Marxism by Steve Wright
- Capital by Karl Marx
Sunday, January 25, 2015
An Introduction
This blog has been created for the Spring 2015 History 350 course. The topic is "Class Matters" and this blog will come at the issue of class with the perspective that is something that must be overcome. This blog takes an compositional analysis of class, rather than some of the widely known theories, such as intersectionality. While intersectionality is a useful way to picture society, it is also a very limited tool, as it is often reduced to battles for recognition and representation within class society, rather than its abolition. Instead, this blog will approach the topics of course with an analysis that asks "what are classes, who is in the classes, and what are the classes doing?" By asking these questions, we invariably are taken to looking at issues of race and gender. Several foundational pieces for the authors understanding of class are:
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Interesting that you think that one course goal is to lead us to overcome class. Most of the policy makers and journalists in the world do a great job at that. In fact, one goal of this course is to sharpen our skills in 'seeing' class and making it visible to us on a daily basis - how it is represented and made invisible, how it shapes our behaviours, values and opportunities. And while intersectionality is a valuable way of seeing oppression, it absolutely does support struggles for the abolition of oppression.
ReplyDeleteThis is an important and classic list of readings here - let me know if you are interested in moving into labor / class studies in US or French history.