Women,Gender,Sexuality Studies 493M - S- Conversations/Ghost of Marx

In "Europe and the People without History," Eric Wolf, the late anthropologist notes that, "The social sciences constitute one long dialogue with the ghost of Marx." Feminists and anti-colonialists are among the many advocates of social justice who have engaged with Karl Marx's writing and fierce criticism of capitalism. This advanced seminar focuses on an exegesis of some of Marx's oeuvre and the historical and current scholarship that draws on, critiques, and pushes its boundaries. In addition to selections from Marx's key works, we will read the writings of his important interlocutors such as Silvia Federici, Donna Haraway, Antonio Gramsci, Stuart Hall, CLR James, Rosa Luxemburg, Gayatri Spivak, Raymond Williams, and others. Our discussions will emphasize the need to understand the parameters and debates about uneven capitalist development and its raced and gendered dimensions.

This is an advanced seminar and requires you to have a solid analytical knowledge and transnational understanding of feminisms (syllabi for WGSS courses are found via our website), political economy, and social theory through course work or self-study. Suggestions for background readings will be posted on Spire.