This dissertation uses mixed methods to examine the role of the coal industry in the reproduction of Central Appalachia as an internal periphery within the United States and the economic, ecological, and human inequalities this entails. It also analyzes the related political economy and power structure of coal in a national context. Particularly important for analysis of the region's underdevelopment are the class relations involved in unequal ecological exchange and the establishment of successive "modes of extraction." I employ a historical comparative analysis of Appalachia to evaluate Bunker's thesis that resource dependent peripheries often become locked into a "mode of extraction" (with aspects parallel to Marxist concepts of mode of production) triggering economic and ecological path dependencies leading to underdevelopment. This historical comparative analysis establishes the background for a closer examination of the political economy of the modern US coal industry. After sketching the changes in the structure of monopoly and competition in the coal industry I employ network analysis of the directorate interlocks of the top twenty coal firms in the US within the larger energy policy-planning network to examine their connections with key institutions of the policy formation network of think tanks and business groups. My findings show the importance of the capacities of fossil fuel fractions of the capitalist class in formulating energy policy around issues such as the 2009 climate legislation. As a contribution to the growing literature applying the concept of metabolism as link between contemporary and classical theory, I examine the conflict at Coal River Mountain from the vantage points of ecology, political economy, and human development in dialectical rotation. Utilizing Marx's method of successive abstractions, the mountain is presented as a nexus of metabolic rifts in the human relationship to the earth's natural systems and an impediment to genuine human development. Finally, I conclude with some implications of this analysis for building a critical environmental sociology of extractive economies. This dissertation includes previously published materials. / 2016-09-29

Esta pesquisa elege o materialismo histórico-dialético como método de análise de ques-tões contemporâneas da homossexualidade e sua relação com o Judiciário brasileiro. Articula paradigmas marxianos, marxistas e feministas, por meio da interdisciplinaridade do direito, da sociologia, da antropologia, da filosofia e das ciências da linguagem, para compreender o fenômeno LGBT (lésbicas, gays, bissexuais, transexuais e transgêneros) que mobiliza indivíduos na reivindicação por promoção, efetivação e proteção de direitos humanos. Recorre aos conceitos de fetichismo da mercadoria, fetichismo jurídi-co, forma jurídica, contrato e gênero, na perspectiva da História, para compreender e promover a desnaturalização de processos sociais e situá-los na base econômica da so-ciedade em face da luta de classes. Posiciona o direito na superestrutura, onde localiza também o direito civil, o direito de família e os direitos humanos, para desnudar seus processos discursivos ideológicos e, logo, práticos. Empreende uma crítica marxista dos direitos humanos ao tomar como objeto decisões do Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF) e do Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ), respectivamente, sobre o reconhecimento da união estável entre pessoas do mesmo sexo e a autorização de conversão em casamento de união estável entre duas lésbicas. / This research chooses historic-dialectic materialism as a method of analyzing contem-porary issues concerning homosexuality and its relation to the Brazilian Judiciary System. It formulates Marxian, Marxist and feminist paradigms, through the interdisciplinarity of law, sociology, anthropology, philosophy and language sciences, to comprehend the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and transgender) phenomenon that mobilizes individuals in the claim for promotion, effectuation and protection of human rights. It resorts to the concepts of commodity fetishism, legal fetishism, judicial form, contract and gender, in the historical perspective, to comprehend and promote the de-naturalization of social processes and place them in the economical base of society in light of class struggle. It positions the law in the superstructure, where it also finds civil law, family law and human rights, to unveil its discursive ideological and, therefore, practical processes. It undertakes a Marxist critique of human rights by taking as object Brazils Federal Supreme Court (STF) and Superior Court of Justice (STJ) decisions, respectively, regarding the recognition of same-sex unions and the authorization of civil union conversion into marriage between two lesbians

Abstract  The novel Tengo miedo torero (2010) by the Chilean Pedro Lemebel, is characterized by presenting certain patterns. The first one is the presence and complexities that non-binary people experience, and the second is the political economic social context, determined by a dictatorship. The purpose of this work is to make a qualitative analysis of the novel, applying two theories: The Queer theory and the Marxist literary criticism. The reason why these two theories were chosen is that they represent the fundamental patterns of this novel clearly and assertively. As for queer theory, feminist theorists such as Simone de Beauvoir, Monique Wittig, Judith Butler and Beatriz Preciado are the outstanding ones. They visualize the studies of gender, homosexual identity and the presence of the femininity in the novel. Regarding Marxist literary criticism, authors such as Terry Eagleton, Andrew Heywood introduce themes, such as class struggle, inequality, revolution and politic ideologies. All these terminologies and concepts result in an intertwining between the socioeconomic conditions and the non-binary sexuality, marked by oppression. / Sumario  La novela Tengo miedo torero (2010) del chileno Pedro Lemebel, se caracteriza por presentar ciertos patrones que son: primeramente, la presencia y complejidades que vivencian las personas no binarias, y la segunda es el contexto político económico social, determinados por una dictadura. El propósito de este trabajo, es hacer análisis cualitativo de la novela, aplicando dos teorías, la teoría Queer y la crítica literaria marxista. La razón por la que se eligieron estas dos teorías es, porque, representan de forma clara y asertiva, los patrones fundamentales de esta novela. De la teoría queer, teóricas feministas como Simone de Beauvoir, Monique wittig, Judith Butler y Beatriz Preciado son las sobresalientes, que visualizan los estudios de género, la identidad homosexual y la presencia de lo femenino en la novela. En cuanto, a la crítica literaria marxista, autores como Terry Eagleton, Andrew Heywood, introducen temáticas, como, la lucha de clases, la desigualdad, la revolución e ideologías políticas. Todas estas terminologías y conceptos, dan como resultado, el entrelazamiento de la condición socioeconómica con la sexualidad no binaria, marcada por la opresión.

Most deconstructive and Marxist cultural theories are at odds with one another because they are concerned with two very different subjects or entities: words and the world. In what follows I will try to show that these two potent theories are fundamentally at odds with each other because they reside on opposite sides of some formative binary oppositions, such as abstract/ concrete, ide81/material, sensible/intelligible, physical/spiritual, and signifier/signified. Of course each of these oppositions is a metaphor; as such the relationship between Marxism and deconstruction must therefore proceed from and always refer back to this metaphorical condition. It is in my political interest to incorporate within this figurative type of atavism the concepts of economy, exchange, labour, power, property, and ideology, the very concepts in which we find not the opposition between Marxism and deconstruction but their relative sameness. Since Jacques Derrida is often referred to as the foremost deconstructive theorist, and since so much of his work is concerned with the theory of language (and metaphor), I will attempt to deliver my co-articulation of Marxism and deconstruction to a political and (I hesitate only minimally to use the term) post-Marxist reading of his White Mythology: Metaphor in the Text of Philosophy. I am of the opinion that Derrida's works lend themselves superbly to politically motivated readings, and I also think that in undertaking such a reading I am opposing a dangerous mainstream approach to deconstruction, one which is virtually devoid of any political, cultural, or social interest or reference. My thesis is thus an attempt to read politically or economic:ally a theory of metaphor which is far more explicitly economic and political than academic consensus allows. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

Drawing on Foucault’s conception of “subjugated knowledges,” this thesis attempts to articulate a subjugated anti-colonial reading of Marx so as to interrogate the discursive modifications effected within Marxism after Marx, specifically as those modifications relate to the conditions of possibility regulating Marxist understandings of race and colonialism. This genealogy proceeds by offering a critical re-examination of the ways in which Marxists of the Second International theorized a “modern,” “scientific” account of imperialism, one that expunged important insights into the nature of colonial-capitalism at the same time it established a new knowledge of capitalist expansion and the world market. This Leninist schematization of imperialism is theorized in relation to “deraceination,” a neologism arising from this project and describing the manifold discursive processes by which Marxism was uprooted from its grounding materialist premises while it underwent an ideological de-racialization that eschewed discussions of race and Indigeneity in Marxist political economy. After this critique of the Leninist schematization of imperialism, deraceination is elaborated by revisiting the early history of Marxist feminism, leading to the conclusion that the historical subjugation of the basic materiality of race and gender was accomplished in no small part through the definition of “the woman question.” By liberating this subjugated trajectory of Marxist thought, this thesis argues for the necessity of reincorporating an anti-colonial reading of Marx into our understandings of Marxism and Marxist feminism.

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<p> This research paper is a study of conflict over development in an urban society. The Marxist/Political Economy explanation of urban phenomena is employed throughout as a basis for analysis. Two specific development cases are discussed: the first case is the proposal to rezone property to permit a medical office and the second is the application to build an apartment complex on a piece of land that contains an historical building. The purpose of this paper is to explain how and why conflict occurs over development, taking into account the different facets of the Marxist/Political Economy perspective. Emphasis is given to the discussion of the roles that local government, the planners, the residents and the developers played in the decisions over the actual proposals for development. It is concluded that the Marxist/Political Economy perspective is the most advantageous to use in a discussion of urban conflict. This study of conflict is important for the urban geographer who wishes to explain this type of human interaction. Since urban geographers are interested in comprehending the city and its functions, it is important to begin by understanding the people, the most significant components of the city. </p> / Thesis / Candidate in Philosophy

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Yes / Planetary health sees neoliberal capitalism as a key mediator of socioecological crises, a position that is echoed in much COVID-19 commentary. In this Personal View, I set out an economic theory that emphasises some of the ways in which neoliberal capitalism's conceptualisation of value has mediated responses to COVID-19. Using the intersection of ecological, feminist, and Marxist economics, I develop an analysis of neoliberal capitalism as a specific historical form of the economy. I identify the accumulation of exchange value as a central tendency of neoliberal capitalism and argue that this tendency creates barriers to the production of other forms of value. I then analyse the implications of this tendency in the context of responses to COVID-19. I argue that resources and labour flow to the production of exchange value, at the expense of production of other value forms. Consequently, the global capitalist economy has unprecedented productive capacity but uses little of this capacity to create the conditions that improve and maintain people's health. To be more resilient to coming crises, academics, policy makers, and activists should do theoretical work that enables global economies to recognise multiple forms of value and political work that embeds these theories in societal institutions.

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