SOC 111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Planned Obsolescence, Mercantilism, Social Inequality
Document Summary
Process of stuff (commodity) production: extraction, production, distribution, consumption, disposal. Ex) united states: 5% of world"s populatio(cid:374, consumes 30% of resources, produces 30% of waste, goes to other countries to get more resources. Mix toxic chemicals with natural resources: 100 000 + chemicals few tested. Disposable commodities: 99% disposed of within 6 months. Consume 2x what we did 50 years ago. Planned obsolescence designed for the dump. Perceived obsolescence should be in the dump. Households produce 4. 5lbs of garbage / day. Toxins back into the environment speeds up global warming. Globalization is capitalism as a global system. Globalization is the rise of global social inequality. Began in phases expansion of capitalism into all nation states: 2 phase process mercantilism and imperialism. Products manufactured in europe: traded in europe, traded with developing colonies, colonies not allowed to produce or trade. Imperialism end of 19th to early 20th century. Europeans war and divide world amongst themselves.
