Date: Wed, 13 Nov 1996 20:12:35 -0500 (EST) From: Justin Schwartz <jschwart-AT-freenet.columbus.oh.us> Subject: Re: M-I: Racism, sexism, and class I'm not a rational choice Marxist. Not all us analytical Marxists are. In fact, not even all the famous ones are. Gerry Cohen isn't. Alan Wood isn't. Richard Miller wasn't, when he was a Marxist. I do think rational choice theory can be a useful tool if one is aware of its very severe limitations. Moreover, you don't have to reject neoclassical economics (a limited and specific variant of RCT, or a theory sharing some main RCT assumpytions, but by no means a commitment if one accepts RCT) to go in for the idea that racism and sexism might be rational for capitalism. John Roemer, who is a RC Marxist, has proved a divide and conquor theorem using strictly NCE tools, showing that on a certain assumption set rational capitalists will segregate workers into groups and pay one of those groups less in order to apy them all less. However, the NCE have a point, which is reflected in the bourgeois ideology of equality, that racism, or at least discrimination against some groups (women, miniorities, what have you) is irrational on other assumptions, viz., those shared by most standard versions of NCE. If we bear in mind what models are supposed to do, pick out salient features of a situation to suggest explanations or at least frame problems for explanation, these results are not necessarily contradictory. As James suggests, racism might be rational in some respect, say the long term, but irrational in the short term--or vice versa; I'm not sure which he means. Or it might be rational in depressing wage costs but irrational in harming innovation. These hypotheses might be tested either by careful modelling or empirical research or (best) both. As I;m not an economist, I am not conmpetent to do this. Perhaps Barkley Rosser or someone who is a real economist can comment. --Justin On Wed, 13 Nov 1996, James Farmelant wrote: > > and the Marxian analyses of racism and sexism may be statements of the > short term > versus the longer term interests of capital. That is discrimination may > indeed be economically irrational for capitalists in the short run but > rational from a longer term perspective. This raises the question of > what kinds od mechanisms exist in capitalist societies that can enforce > the required class solidarity and longer term thinking to support racism > and sexism as economically rational. I wonder if Justin as a Rational > Choice Marxist finds any sense in my argument. --- from list marxism-international-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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