Exam 2

INSTRUCTIONS

Follow the instructions for each of the following four parts of the exam. In your answers, please don't quote verbatim from the texts and/or paraphrase them (unless instructed to do so).  This demonstrates little beyond your secretarial skills and ability to read.

The exam must be given to me by noon on Tuesday, April 12.

PART I

Answer any one of the following three questions:

1. Ch. 26 of Capital is entitled "The Secret of Primitive Accumulation", referring to Marx's contention that the supposed origins of capitalism are a myth.  What is that myth?  What is the reality, according to Marx?
    
2. What is the role of force in the emergence of capitalism, according to Marx (esp. in Ch. 26 of Capital)?
    
3. List the punishments for failure to work that Marx mentions in Ch. 28 of Capital.  What punishments are there today for failure to work?

PART II

Answer the following question:

1. Sticking closely to the actual text of the Manifesto, describe what Marx saw as the nature of the conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.  [700 words max]

PART III

Answer any one of the following four questions (1-4):

1. Honneth names three forms of recognition.  For any two of these, give an example of a social conflict (ones not covered in class or in the text, but either current or historical) that can be considered a struggle for that form of recognition.  Be sure to explain the connection between each form of recognition and its associated social conflict.  [700 words max]
    
2. Honneth names three forms of recognition.  For any two of these, give an example from your own life where you yourself struggled for that form of recognition.  Be sure to explain the connection between each form of recognition and what you experienced.  [700 words max]
    
3. One social conflict in our society is that between the KKK (and other white supremacists) and the rest of the society (esp. Blacks, of course, but effectively against everyone).  Can this conflict be interpreted in Honneth's terms — i.e., be seen as a struggle for recognition?  [500 words max]
    
4. Interpret the social conflict in the Terri Schiavo case in terms of a struggle for recognition.  [500 words max]

PART IV

Answer either one of the two questions below:

1. Honneth is considered a "critical theorist" in that his theory can be used to reveal flaws in the existing society.  What flaws does it reveal in capitalist society?  Or to put this another way, what aspects of capitalism inherently work against recognition in Honneth's sense?  [You could write a book about this, but limit your answer to 700 words.]
    
2. Evaluate the following statement:  "When understood most deeply, social conflicts are indeed about recognition, not the distribution of material goods and power."  [You could write a book about this too, but limit your answer to 700 words.  Note that the term "evaluate" does not require you to take a position completely pro or con (although you may choose to do so);  it permits you to take an intermediate or mixed position.]