Universität Wien
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240052 VO+UE VM2 / VM6 - Commodity Frontiers (2022S)

Insights into an emerging research field

4.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 24 - Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: German, English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

NOTE: The first session of this course will be on 10th March.

  • Thursday 10.03. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum SG2 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 17.03. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum SG2 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 24.03. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum SG2 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 31.03. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum SG2 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 07.04. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum SG2 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 28.04. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum SG2 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 05.05. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum SG2 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 12.05. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum SG2 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 19.05. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum SG2 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 02.06. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum SG2 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 09.06. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum SG2 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 23.06. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum SG2 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1
  • Thursday 30.06. 12:15 - 13:45 Seminarraum SG2 Internationale Entwicklung, Sensengasse 3, Bauteil 1

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The notion of „commodity frontiers” was put forward by Jason Moore already some 20 years ago. It aimed to focus critical research on those places and moments in the history of capitalist expansion in which local resources of both labour and nature are swiftly reconfigured in order to make them available to the world market. For that, Moore argued, it is necessary to pay equal attention to economic, spatial-geographical and ecological dynamics. Sugar was cited as a prime example of such processes, and numerous subsequent studies using the notion of “commodity frontiers” equally focussed on agrarian production. More recently, however, the debate has been extended to include forests, livestock, or mining as well as the commodity chains ensuing from these.
Thus, the original idea has given way to a varied and multidisciplinary research field that combines several perspectives and concerns, such as historical political ecology, commodity chains research, new history of capitalism, studies in social ecology, and critical geography. More recently, these different strands have brought in closer dialogue ushering in the Commodity Frontiers Initiative (https://commodityfrontiers.com) together with its own specialized journal (Commodity Frontiers).
In this course, we will trace the numerous strands of debate involved in the notion of “commodity frontiers” and highlight its varying key concerns. Also, we will probe the heuristic potential of the commodity frontiers perspective through regional case studies. Finally, we will use our understanding of the debates to reflect upon the dynamics of the emergence of a new research field in terms of a critical sociology of knowledge.

Assessment and permitted materials

This class is a VO + UE and thus combines lecturer’s presentations and student participation. Input will be offered both by the lecturer as well as guests. The students will be expected to engage in continuous participation in class throughout the semester. There will be regular reading and concomitant writing assignments (10 written assignments in total). These writing assignments will involve abstracts, comments, etc or questions to be answered through the moodle platform. In addition, attendants will form small teams and introduce, via a presentation, one of the reading assignments to the fellow students.
The grade will be based on the following components: reading and writing assignments (50%), presentation (20%), continuous participation in class’s debates (30%).

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Examination topics

Reading list

- Sven Beckert/Ulbe Bosma/Mindi Schneider/Eric Vanhaute, ‘Commodity Frontiers and the Transformation of the Global Countryside: A Research Agenda’, Journal of Global History, 16.3 (2021), 435–50.
- Jason W. Moore, ‘Sugar and the Expansion of the Early Modern World-Economy: Commodity Frontiers, Ecological Transformation, and Industrialization’, Review. A Journal of the Fernand Braudel Center 23.3 (2000), 409-33.
- Commodity Frontiers and Global Capitalist Expansion: Social, Ecological and Political Implications from the Nineteenth Century to the Present Day, ed. by Sabrina Joseph (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2020).

Association in the course directory

VM2 / VM6

Last modified: We 25.05.2022 16:28