Browsing by Subject "capitalism"

Now showing 1 - 11 of 11
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    Ayn Rand vs. ethics of care: Capitalist economics and women on welfare
    (2013-05) Thompson, Kelsey; Cloud, Dana
    The objective of this thesis is to examine how the political ideology of capitalism that heavily permeates today's culture and is so prominent within the popular novel Atlas Shrugged constructs our values in such a way as to marginalize women. I examine the ways in which freedom, independence, morality, and equality are thought about within liberalism and relate them to Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged to demonstrate how people who do not fit these values are considered less than citizens. I juxtapose this with a focus on how freedom, independence, morality and equality are constructed within a feminist ethics of care so as to more wholly include women within the realm of citizenship. I use this discussion to provide an alternative to the constructions of values that happen within capitalist political ideology and demonstrate ways in which these values can be envisioned without being marginalizing. I relate this to a discussion of women on welfare and how their testimonies provide a call to recognize the untruths and inequities of liberalism. These testimonies argue for a different societal construction of women on welfare that subverts the mainstream perception and aligns with a feminist ethics of care. I also investigate ways in which liberalism is currently prominent in mainstream ideology to emphasize the present effects that this is having on women and women on welfare.
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    Bleeding Green: On the Socioeconomic Polity of Women's Healthcare
    (2018-05) Lemond, Kaela
    In March of 2017, House Republicans shook the nation by proposing the American Health Care Act (AHCA) as a supposed alternative to President Obama’s highly controversial Affordable Care Act (ACA). Citing Obamacare as a costly, restrictive program, House Republicans fought against the majority of its central aims, many of which had proven beneficial to American women. While Obamacare expanded women’s coverage through Medicaid, Planned Parenthood, and “essential health mandates” the AHCA withdrew federal funding from such programs while eliminating the requirements that guaranteed women’s access to basic primary, preventative, and reproductive care (including maternity and newborn care). Though the AHCA was ultimately pulled before being put to the vote, its implications still reverberate throughout the nation: women are scared for their rights and scared for a future in which their health care needs are ignored. The unfortunate reality, however, is that the AHCA is not novel in its marginalization of women and their needs. By examining history, we can see that modern events are merely an extension of underlying issues that persist within an inherently exploitive framework. With modern issues in mind, this paper interests itself in three primary endeavors: discerning the factors that continuously undermine women’s relationship with the system, examining the failure of efforts to address these factors, and suggesting ways to remedy these issues going forwards. By mapping women’s healthcare over time and with both social and financial lenses, I will demonstrate that our nation needs to reform its ideological attitudes before undertaking procedural and structural reforms.
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    Capitalism vs Socialism Debate
    (Salem Center, 2019-10-22) Brook, Yaron; Sunkara, Bhaskar; Salem Center
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    Conveniently Conscious: How Conscious Capitalism Constrains Intrinsic Value Creation In Businesses
    (2018-05) Jamal, Aafiya
    Many firms have operated based on Milton Friedman’s views on capitalism, namely that a business has a responsibility to “use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits,” exclusively. There has been significant discussion in recent years regarding whether a business has obligations beyond maximizing the bottom line, such as engaging in socially responsible activities. In this thesis, I seek to evaluate Conscious Capitalism, a theory proposed by John Mackey and Raj Sisodia that discusses how businesses can create value intrinsically and benefit multiple groups of stakeholders. Mackey and Sisodia identify four tenets in the Conscious Capitalism model: higher purpose, stakeholder integration, conscious leadership, and conscious culture and management. I will begin my thesis by analyzing each of the tenets in a comprehensive manner and determining their significance. Ultimately, I hope to determine if firms must fulfill all of the tenets proposed by Mackey and Sisodia in order to be considered conscious or whether there are specific tenets that are more important than others. Additionally, I seek to analyze prominent examples of companies that are considered to be conscious and evaluate whether they fulfill the tenets of Conscious Capitalism. I will begin my analysis with Whole Foods Market because it makes up a significant part of Mackey and Sisodia’s argument. Conscious Capitalism was written before Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods Market in 2017, and I am particularly interested in analyzing if the acquisition has changed the company’s touted business model. I will also determine whether Patagonia can be considered to be a conscious firm, not only because it is discussed in Conscious Capitalism, but also because it proclaims to be a socially responsible firm.
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    Cues in a Coffee Shop: An Analysis on Ethical Consumerism
    (2020-12) Avard, Emily; Irwin, Julie
    This research experiment explores consumer behavior in regard to ethical purchases. Specifically, it investigates if consumer behavior is driven psychologically and subconsciously by the environment the consumer is in. This experiment seeks to prove that certain cues influence consumers to purchase ethically. This research consists of survey distributed to young adults in the Austin area. The four surveys were sent out at random, and each contains a variable in the visual of a coffee shop. The results indicate that certain cues, such as trash or trash bins, influence consumers to shop more sustainably within a coffee shop. This demonstrates that when negative effects of consumption are present, consumers are forced to think about their purchases and their personal impact on the issue. Other cues, such as the presence of a recycling bin, or the control, with nothing present, allow consumers to continue purchasing the way they would prefer, without considering “greenness”.
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    Ken Lagone on "I Love Capitalism"
    (Salem Center, 2019-04-25) Lagone, Ken
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    Late Capitalism by Ernest Mandel
    (The Journal of Economic History, 1979) Rostow, W. W.
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    The LIBERATOR Archive, December 2018
    (University of Texas at Austin, 2018-12) University of Texas at Austin
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    Precarity Capitalism and the Global Value Chain in Beef: The Plight of Meatpacking Workers at JBS Greeley
    (The Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice, 2022-02) Fossum, John
    Of the many jobs categorized as “essential” during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the continued operation of American meatpacking plants stood out. This work was 1) unrelated to critical healthcare services, 2) primarily staffed by minority and immigrant workers, and 3) conducted in conditions that seemed ideal for the coronavirus’ spread. Why and how did meatpacking facilities then remain open through the spring and summer of 2020, despite the proliferation of facility-linked COVID-19 hotspots and worker deaths? Drawing from authors of legal theory on racial capitalism, self-regulatory behavior by transnational corporations, and “precarity capitalism,” this paper builds context for this phenomenon through a case study on JBS USA Beef in Greeley, Colorado, the flagship facility for the American branch of world-leading meat producer JBS S.A. based in Brazil. It frames the protracted battle over production and worker safety as a standoff between workers of minority racial status, in precarious economic and labor conditions, and a winning coalition of powerful political and corporate stakeholders invested in the global value chain in beef.
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