PSCI4101 - The Right Market: Conservatism & Capitalism in Theory & Practice

This course surveys the ways conservatives have related to capitalism over time and across
countries. It is designed to bridge theory, history, and national comparison to shed light on urgent contemporary policy choices facing conservatives of all kinds. One section explores the philosophical underpinnings of the major strains of conservatism, emphasizing their concern with inherited institutions (church and family), community (local and especially national), social and cultural hierarchies, and the fundamental value of individual (as opposed to corporate) property ownership. Markets are an inherent challenge to each, as we see in a historical section that traces the rise of commercial society generally and then capitalism in its trading, industrial, financial, hi-tech, and state-based forms. How conservatives negotiated the changing world is observable in three related modes: the intellectual output of leading thinkers, the demands of social movements, and the policies of governing parties. Together they have, of course, shaped capitalism itself—from Bismarck’s creation of social insurance in Germany to Friedman's influential promotion of shareholder value, to the recent wave of populist-nationalist suspicion of international trade and Wall Street. What unites successful conservatives across the world, however, has been their management of the fundamental dilemmas of capitalism: the permanence of change, the amoral & cosmopolitan character of economic relations, and the fragility of established institutions. Course is open to all students and is offered on campus.