Understanding International Order

1
Understanding International Order

• Historical Materialism and Feminism

2
Historical Materialism

• Emerged from Marxist thinking.
• Diverse theories united by focus on the world
  economy.

3
Marxism

• Theory focusing on the impact of Capitalism
• Two classes of people
• Bourgeoisie those that own the means of
  production
• Proletariat those that work for those that own
  the means of production

4
Marxist Conceptions of Order

• Capitalism creates inequality and exploitation
• Class conflict
• Capitalism is a dynamic, but unstable system of
  relations
• Periodic crises

5
The Dialectic Progression of History

• Contradictions, i.e., conflicts drive the
  dynamism of Capitalism
• This dialectic process ultimately results in
  Socialist revolution, leading to the collapse of
  Capitalism in favor of a Communist society

6
Feminism

• Intellectual movement with roots in social
  protest movements.
• Feminist scholarship is increasingly important in
  the academy, although some disciplines are more
  receptive than others.
• Many feminist theories, all unite around the idea
  that gender is fundamental to understanding order.

7
Gender

• Gender refers to the social relationship between
  women and men as groups.
• Masculinity and femininity.
• Socially constructed categories