180131 VO Market, Labor, Production (2020S)

Market, labor, production: Gender-Philosophical Perspectives on basic economic terms and concepts

This course introduces students to basic economic concepts and terms in their gendered dimensions by drawing upon contemporary political, social and moral philosophy (N. Fraser; M. Nussbaum) and epistemological debates (Th. Nagel; J.Rawls). It does so by critically assessing the standards of objectivity and neutrality upon which terms such as needs, preferences, autonomy, rationality and competition are based. Using gender as an analytical category (J. Scott) it reconstructs the specific ways in which these key terms relate to the concepts of the market, production, and labor with emphasis on their gender hierarchical consequences. It is the overall objective of this course to strengthen students' abilities to critically evaluate economic terms and concepts and to enable them to better understand social and political implications of these concepts.