SOC356 - If food security brought about the end

SOC356 2023 SHORT ANSWER EXAM

Answer 5 questions, write no more than 1000 words in total. Cite subject readings by author. No need for a reference list. See subject outline p. 13 for Marking Criteria.

Answer ALL questions in Section A, choose ONE question from Section B, and ONE from Section C

A

1. If food security brought about the end of subsistence agriculture, why would that be a bad thing?

2. ‘Colonial expropriation shows Marx’s derivation of capital from wage labour to be inadequate.’ Assess this claim and describe any implications of it that you consider significant.

3. Do you think primitive accumulation occurs only with violence? Justify your answer with an example of your own choosing.

B

4. Why is equity valuation significant to the emergence of contemporary neoliberal capitalism? What does it change?

OR

5. What would it mean to argue that the financial elite are primarily involved in rentierism? Do you agree with this argument? Why / why not?

C

6. Explain the distinction between absolute and relative surplus value. Is one or the other of these particularly helpful for describing workplaces you have experienced?

OR

7. Is ‘unproductive labour’ a contradiction in terms under capitalism? Use contemporary examples to justify your answer.