GEOG C110/ISF C101
THE ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY OF THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD
Instructor: John Stehlin
Fall 2015
M/W/F 3-4 PM
60 Evans Hall
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This class is about the spatiality of the economy, which amounts to nothing less than the
reproduction of human and non-human existence. We examine the fundamentally geographic
nature of our current, historically unique system of material reproduction—capitalism—and how
these logics have shaped places and forms of life over the course of the system’s growth and
change. We will explore how capitalism as a process has produced interconnected spaces – cities,
national markets, industrial regions, more and less ‘disposable’ resource peripheries, modern
nation-states, and other territorial forms. We will investigate how these processes have
reconfigured ecological systems, human social relations, geographic divisions of labor, cultural
forms, and physiology itself. We will track capitalism’s constant geographic instability and
“creative destruction”; the constant transformation of places and the relationships between
places; geographic and geopolitical competition; and capital flight and the abandonment of some
places alongside the reworking of others.
Throughout this class we will study the recurring dynamics of capitalism and the places, people,
social relations, and natural systems they bring into connection, often unequal. Key dynamics
include: territorial expansion, geographic differentiation, industrialization, time-space
compression, urbanization, the transformation of nature, financialization, and crisis. We will
explore how these processes shape the rise—and inevitable fall—of places, techniques, social
worlds, and divisions of labor, and pay close attention to the power relations and spatial
organization that accompany them. We will use historical lessons to understand contemporary
issues, and, most importantly, we will foreground how struggles over our material and social
reproduction are decisive for the future of planetary habitability.
LECTURE
Lecture attendance is required. The professor reserves the right to take formal attendance at any
time, which will contribute to (or detract from) your course grade. Laptops will be allowed for
note-taking purposes only—if this becomes a problem, we will return to pen and paper. Phones
will be on “airplane mode.” This is both for your benefit and the benefit of those around you.
Non-disruptive food and drink are welcome, as energy levels can be low in the afternoon.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING CRITERIA
Attendance, section participation (25% of final grade): Students are expected to
complete assigned readings before lecture and section and arrive each week prepared to
participate actively in discussion. Several pop quizzes may be administered as part of your
section grade.
Term project (25% of final grade): This is not a conventional term paper to be hastily
1 assembled at the end of November. Instead, you will explore a topic of current concern
over the course of the semester through six mini-papers connecting readings to current
events in the news. By the end of the second week, you will select a topic. A separate
handout will explain the project more fully.
Mid-term exam (25% of final grade): A take-home midterm exam will be handed out
at the end of lecture on October 10 and will be due at the beginning of lecture October
17.
Final exam (25% of final grade): The course final is scheduled for Tuesday, December
15th, 7-10PM. This dismal time slot cannot be rescheduled, so please do not ask.
Please Note:
• You must complete all course components to receive a passing grade in the course.
• You are responsible for all material in the assigned readings, whether or not it is covered
in lecture.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Any test, paper, report or homework submitted under your name is presumed to be your own
original work that has not previously been submitted for credit in another course. All words and
ideas written by other people must be properly attributed: fully identified as to source and the
extent of your use of their work. Cheating, plagiarism, and other academic misconduct will result
in a failing grade on the assignment, paper, quiz, or exam in question and will be reported to
Student Judicial Affairs.
OFFICE HOURS
Instructor Office Hours: W 12-2, 561 McCone. Please sign up on the sheet by the door.
Contact: johnstehlin@berkeley.edu (Note: please include “GEOG 110” in the subject line of all
correspondence.)
SECTIONS
All sections will be held in Room 135 on the first floor of McCone Hall.
GSIs: Gabe Eckhouse (geckhouse@berkeley.edu), Juliet Kunkel (jrkunkel@berkeley.edu)
Office Hours: TBA
101:
102:
103:
104:
105:
106:
M
Tu
Tu
W
Th
Th
11-12P
9-10A
1-2P
10-11A
10-11A
2-3P
Kunkel
Kunkel
Eckhouse
Eckhouse
Kunkel
Eckhouse
WEBSITE
Please see the course site at https://bcourses.berkeley.edu/courses/1365477 for the syllabus,
announcements, and additional resources. PowerPoint slides from some but not all lectures may
be posted here, along with supplementary materials and items of interest.
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES OR SPECIAL NEEDS
Please bring these to the attention of the DSP office, and once we have heard from them we will
do our best to accommodate you.
2 BOOKS
Readings will be available on the bCourses site. Should interest warrant, the course reader will
be available at Vick Copy (1879 Euclid Avenue, Berkeley, CA). No other books are required.
SCHEDULE AND READINGS
Readings are an essential complement to lectures and sections, going over the same ground but
also amplifying ideas, reinforcing technical concepts, filling out the picture, and providing more
empirical evidence. You are not expected to remember every last detail of every reading for
exams, but you are expected to be able to answer exam questions that refer to the readings.
Readings marked as Optional on the syllabus can be found on the bCourses site. Also posted on
bCourses will be the excellent Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Economic Geography—I
recommend turning to this resource if you have further interests in particular topics.
There is too much material to try to do the readings at the last minute, so please keep up!
*********
WEEK 1 – Getting Started
Wednesday, August 26
Lecture 1: Introduction: The Emergence of “The Economy”
- Robert Heilbroner, The Worldly Philosophers (1986 [1953]), pp. 18-41
- Suggested: David Graeber, Debt: The First 5,000 Years (2011), pp. 21-29
Friday, August 28
Lecture 2: Land, Labor, and Capital: “Fictitious Commodities”
- Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation (2001 [1944]), pp. 35-46; 64-80
- Suggested: Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation (2001 [1944]), pp. 141-157
PART I: FUNDAMENTALS
WEEK 2 – Land
Monday, August 31
Lecture 3: The Colonial Division of Labor
- Rob Potter et al., Key Concepts in Development Geography (2012), pp. 47-78
Wednesday, September 2
Lecture 4: The Commodification of Nature
- William Cronon, Nature’s Metropolis (1991), pp. x-xvii; 97-132
- Suggested: William Cronon, Changes in the Land (1983), pp. 54-81; 159-162; 164-170
3 Friday, September 4
Lecture 5: Commodity Frontiers
- Scott Prudham, Knock On Wood (2005), pp. 57-84
**SUBMIT TERM PROJECT TOPIC BY 5 PM**
WEEK 3 – Labor
Monday, September 7
NO CLASS – LABOR DAY
Wednesday, September 9
Lecture 6: The Division of Labor
- Karl Marx, Capital: Volume I (1992 [1867]), pp. 125-131
- Harry Braverman, Labor and Monopoly Capital (1999 [1974]), pp. 31-58, 96-104
- Suggested: Karl Marx, Capital: Volume I (1992 [1867]), pp. 291-303, 429-438
- Suggested: Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (2003 [1776]), pp. 9-26
Friday, September 11
Lecture 7: The Differentiation of Labor
- David Roediger, Working Toward Whiteness (2006), pp. 199-235
- Juliet Schor, The Overworked American (1993), pp. 83-89; 94-99
- Suggested: David Roediger, Working Toward Whiteness (2006), pp. 57-92
**FIRST TERM PROJECT SUBMISSION DUE BY 5PM**
WEEK 4 – Capital
Monday, September 14
Lecture 8: Capital
- Karl Marx, Capital: Volume I (1992 [1867]), pp. 247-257
- Thomas Piketty, Capital in the 21st Century (2014), pp. 199-234
Wednesday, September 16
Lecture 9: Disequilibrium Growth
- Joseph Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (1942), pp. 81-86
- Michael Storper and Richard Walker, The Capitalist Imperative (1989), pp. 36-69
Friday, September 18
Lecture 10: The Space-Economy
- David Harvey, The New Imperialism (2003), pp. 87-108
- Suggested: Allen Scott, Regions and the World Economy (1997), pp. 75-100
4 WEEK 5 – States & Territory
Monday, September 21
Lecture 11: The Origins of the State
- Charles Tilly, Coercion, Capital and European States, 990-1992 (1992), pp. 16-28
Wednesday, September 23
Lecture 12: Imperialism
- John Hobson, Imperialism: A Study (1902), pp. 30-45, 51-68
Friday, September 25
Lecture 13: Territory and the Spatial Fix
- David Harvey, The New Imperialism (2003), pp. 108-136
**SECOND TERM PROJECT SUBMISSION DUE BY 5PM**
PART II: DYNAMICS
WEEK 6 – Geographic Industrialization
Monday, September 28
Lecture 14: Geographic Industrialization
- Michael Storper and Richard Walker, The Capitalist Imperative (1989), pp. 70-98
Wednesday, September 30
Lecture 15: Case Study: The Detroit Auto Cluster
- David Hounshell, From the American System to Mass Production 1800-1932 (1984), pp. 216237; 249-267
Friday, October 2
Lecture 16: Case Study: Silicon Valleys, Alleys, and Beaches
- Peter Hall, Cities in Civilization (1998), pp. 423-454
WEEK 7 – Time-Space Compression
Monday, October 5
Lecture 17: Time-Space Compression
- Doreen Massey, Space, Place, and Gender (1994)
Wednesday, October 7
Lecture 18: Case Study: Railroads and Economic Space
- Alfred Chandler, The Visible Hand (1977), pp. 79-94; 285-302
5 Friday, October 9
Lecture 19: Case Study: Logistics
- Deborah Cowen, “A Geography of Logistics” (2010), Annals of the Association of American
Geographers 100(3), pp. 600-620
**THIRD TERM PROJECT SUBMISSION DUE BY 5PM**
**TAKE-HOME MIDTERM HANDED OUT 10/9 AT END OF LECTURE**
WEEK 8 – Urbanization
Monday, October 12
Lecture 20: Urbanization
- John Logan and Harvey Molotch, “The City as Growth Machine,” in Readings in Urban
Theory (1996), pp. 291-337
Wednesday, October 14
Lecture 21: Case Study: Postwar Suburbanization in the United States
- Richard Walker, “A Theory of Suburbanization: Capitalism and the Construction of
Urban Space in the United States,” In Urbanization and Urban Planning in Capitalist
Society (1981), Michael Dear and Allen Scott Eds.
Friday, October 16
Lecture 22: Case Study: Gentrification
- Neil Smith, “Toward a Theory of Gentrification,” in The New Urban Frontier (1996), pp.
50-71
**TAKE-HOME MIDTERM DUE 10/16 AT BEGINNING OF LECTURE**
WEEK 9 - Financialization
Monday, October 19
Lecture 23: Financialization
- Mike Konzcal and Nell Abernathy, Defining Financialization report (2015), available at:
http://rooseveltinstitute.org/sites/all/files/Defining_Financialization_Web.pdf
- Suggested: Giovanni Arrighi, The Long Twentieth Century (1994), pp. 1-27
- Suggested: Mike Konczal, “'13 Bankers,' Financialization and the Real Economy,”
HuffingtonPost, July 2, 2010, available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mikekonczal/13-bankers-financializati_b_561096.html
Wednesday, October 21
Lecture 24: Case Study: The Neoliberal Revolution
- Gérard Duménil and Dominique Lévy, “The Neoliberal (Counter-)Revolution,” in
Neoliberalism: A Critical Reader (2005), pp. 9-19
6 Friday, October 23
Lecture 25: Case Study: The Dollar-Wall Street Regime
- Peter Gowan, The Global Gamble (1999), pp. 8-12; 16-59
**FOURTH TERM PROJECT SUBMISSION DUE BY 5PM**
WEEK 10 – Breather/Catch-Up Days
Monday, October 26
Lecture 26: News – China/BRICS
- TBA
Wednesday, October 28
Lecture 27: News – Eurozone
- TBA
PART III: CURRENT ISSUES
WEEK 10/11 – The New Global Division of Labor
Friday, October 30
Lecture 29: The New Global Division of Labor
- Allen Scott, A World in Emergence: Cities and Regions in the 21st Century (2012), pp. 47-63
- Gary Gereffi and Joonkoo Lee, “Why the World Suddenly Cares About Global Supply
Chains” (2005)
Monday, November 2
Lecture 30: Case Study: Garment Piecing
- Jane Collins, Threads: Gender, Labor, and Power in the Global Apparel Industry (2003), pp. 27-61;
183-190
- Suggested: Jane Collins, Threads: Gender, Labor, and Power in the Global Apparel Industry (2003),
pp. 1-26
Wednesday, November 4
Lecture 31: Case Study: Foxconn
- Jenny Chan, Pun Ngai and Mark Selden, “The Politics of Global Production: Apple,
Foxconn and China’s New Working Class” (2013), New Technology, Work and Employment
28.2
Friday, November 6
NO CLASS
**FIFTH TERM PROJECT SUBMISSION DUE BY 5PM**
7 WEEK 12 – New Hegemons
Monday, November 9
Lecture 32: The Postwar Development Project
- Philip McMichael, Development and Social Change, Fourth Edition (2008), pp. 43-84
Wednesday, November 11
NO CLASS
Friday, November 13
Lecture 33: Tigers and BRICs
- Matthew Stephen, “Rising Powers, Global Capitalism and Liberal Global Governance”
(2014), European Journal of International Relations 20(4), pp. 912-938
Week 13 – Crisis
Monday, November 16
Lecture 34: Case Study: Keynesianism and Post-Keynesianism
- Paul Krugman, The Return of Depression Economics (2014), 101-118, 165-180
Wednesday, November 18
Lecture 35: Case Study: Overaccumulation and the 2008 Financial Crisis
- Robert Brenner, “What’s Good for Goldman Sachs is Good for America” (2009),
Prologue, The Economics of Global Turbulence, Spanish Edition, pp. 1-33
- “Giant Pool of Money,” This American Life #355, May 9, 2008, available at:
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/355/the-giant-pool-of-money
- Suggested: Robert Brenner, “What’s Good for Goldman Sachs is Good for America”
(2009), Prologue, The Economics of Global Turbulence, Spanish Edition, pp. 34-73
Friday, November 20
Lecture 36: Case Study: The Euro Crisis
- Costas Lapavitsas et al., Crisis in the Eurozone (2012), pp. 26-64
- Suggested: “Jeffrey Sachs: Let Greece Default,” Bloomberg, June 29, 2015, available at:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-06-29/greece-should-default-on-debtstay-in-euro-sachs
**SIXTH TERM PROJECT SUBMISSION DUE BY 5PM**
Week 14 – Crisis, continued
Monday, November 23
Lecture 37: Case Study: China’s Stock Market Crisis
- TBA
8 Wednesday, November 25 – Friday, November 27
NO CLASS – THANKSGIVING
Week 15 – Prospects
Monday, November 30
Lecture 38: Bottom-Up Movements: Occupy, Strike Debt, Podemos, and Syriza
- TBA
Wednesday, December 2
Lecture 39: Top-Down Solutions
- Thomas Piketty, Capital in the 21st Century (2014), pp. 515-539
Friday, December 4
Review Session
**COLLECTED TERM PROJECT SUBMISSIONS DUE BY**
**MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 5PM**
Monday, December 7 – Friday, December 11
Reading, Review and Recitation Week
**FINAL EXAM: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 7-10 PM**
**YES, 7-10 PM**
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