Political Science 2231E Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Vladimir Lenin, Mercantilism, Global Politics

• School: Western University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: Political Science 2231E
• Professor: Jessica Trisko

Document Summary

Human nature is not fixed; people are the social and historical products of their societies. Humans can be grouped into identifiable collectivities (especially classes), which have concrete interests. Key actors: a) bourgeiosie/capitalists, who own the means of production and sell goods & services in a market; and b) proletariat/workers, who sell their labour to access goods & services through a market. States are dependent on capitalists, and reflect their interests. Politics and economics are connected -- holistic analysis (analyze the whole system, and how each part fits into the system) Critiques liberalism and realism as knowledge produced by dominant class (elites) "historical materialist" approach: understanding the specific conditions of particular economic systems (ie. capitalism), and the resulting political & social institutions -- capitalism has different institutions than feudal system (ie. capitalism needs freedom from central authority, being able to. Politics 2231e page 1 institutions than feudal system (ie. capitalism needs freedom from central authority, being able to spend your money)