Instructions:

CULT 320 Take-home Midterm Spring 2016 Essays have to be uploaded to Blackboard by Tuesday March 8 by 11:59 pm. Please submit as Word document, insert page numbers and have your name at the top of every page with the file name in the following format: “320 S 16 Midterm Lastname.” General Instructions Write a 5-7 page double spaced essay on one of the questions below. Whichever you choose, synthesize and analyze the readings and provide a general framework backed up by specific points.

Your essay should be well organized and well argued. Annotate carefully and abundantly—not just quotes, but also when making points not considered general knowledge or when paraphrasing. I expect you to proofread and edit. Except for reference materials (which, if you use them, will have to be specified) use only the materials assigned for class and one of the additional articles available in the “Midterm Articles” folder in the Assignments and Course Content sections of Blackboard. Questions Both questions ask you to use specific readings—either on labor and globalization or on McDonaldization—and both require you to consider the applicability of the theoretical frameworks proposed in the Marx/Engels and Harvey readings.

1) Using Kate Raworth Trading Away Our Rights and “Geographies and Histories of Unfreedom: Indentured Labourers and Contract Workers in Mauritius” by Uma Kothari describe the different labor practices that are used in global production, examine the ways the two pieces cover similar and/or different issues, and consider the extent to which the theories proposed by Marx/Engels and Harvey can be applied to these readings. 2) George Ritzer is the scholar most closely associated with the concept of McDonaldization. For class you have read George Ritzer and Elizabeth L. Malone, “Globalization Theory: Lessons from the Exportation of McDonaldization and the New Means of Consumption.” Using that article and “Dialectics of Something and Nothing: Critical Reflections on Ritzer’s Globalization Analysis” by Douglas Kellner (available in the “Midterm Articles” folder) review the main points of both articles, identify Kellner’s criticisms of the McDonaldization theory and consider the extent to which the theories proposed by Marx/Engels and Harvey can be applied to these readings.

Content:

Essay: Question 2 Student: Professor: Course title: Date: Essay: Question 2 This paper responds to the essay question number one. Using the article of Kate Raworth and another article by Uma Kothari, this paper describes the diverse labour practices which are employed in global production. Moreover, this paper exhaustively examines how the two works cover different and/or similar issues. Lastly, the degree to which the theories conceptualized by Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx could be applied to these readings is considered. Labour practices used in the global production According to the article by Kate Raworth, Trading Away Our Rights, the labour practices that are being employed in the global production include the following: Long overtime at short notice – to work overtime is voluntary according to the law. For many female workers however, overtime is actually a condition of employment and is often imposed at short notice. In some factories in Shenzen China for example, employees who cannot do overtime are required to apply to their supervisor for exemption (Raworth, 2004). Workers are overworked and underpaid – to increase output without increasing costs, a lot of employers falsify records of hours worked, set excessive production targets, or use piece-rates. For female workers, it implies long hours of overtime which is significantly underpaid (Raworth, 2004). Permanently temporary – female workers have a higher chance than their male ...