Marx and Labor

More Labor

Less pay for the labor

Accumulation of capital in the hands of the few

Alienation & The Bicycle Thief The worker is

alienated from the product of his labor which he does not own.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCgHr5PslWQ (7:33)

The worker cannot use the things he produces to keep him or herself alive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Myo2vOIGvLQ&feature=related

Under capitalism recession means that workers 'consume less because they produce too much.

The worker is dependent on the capitalists who own the means of production.

The Bicycle Thief and Religion Marx: “The abolition

of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. “

The church scene The soothsayer: http://www.youtube.c

om/watch?v=7nCPZtJNE-c&feature=related (5:40)

Marx: “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.”

The Bicycle Thief and Revolution From Hegel to

Marx http://www.youtub

e.com/watch?v=5yaGMbrxTBs&feature=related

(5:35) The organized

black market

Beijing Bicycle

Director: Wang Xiaoshuai He is part of the urban

generation of directors who grew up during China’s economic reforms

These directors focus on the present and future Chinese society

Their films tend to be shot on location

They tend to use non professional actors

They use a documentary approach

Themes in Beijing Bicycle Themes Examples Migration and

dislocation (from rural areas to urban ones)

The widening gaps in society

Shift from planned economy to free-market capitalist economy & critic of capitalism

The decline in the state's ability to provide essential services

Social alienation

Sympathetic portrayal of rural immigrants as individuals (e.g. protagonist/ Guei)

The maid/ rich woman scene Being forced to pay for shower

services in leisure house Being possibly swindled over

the payment of his bicycle at work

Poverty experienced by migrants

The alienating power of the city, rural immigrants as outsiders (Wang’s own similar experience)

Commodity Fetishism and Beijing Bicycle What is commodity

Fetishism? How does the Bicycle

work as a commodity? Li Shuang, the bicycle

freestylist. The relationship

between Guei & Li Bin Capitalism vs

Socialism

From Beijing Bicycle to the immediate world: Applying commodity Fetishism

Commodity Fetishism In Society Brands replacing local

merchants with mass industrialization.

Comforting brand figures as replacements.

E.g. Quaker Oats, Green Giant

People organize themselves according to brand tribes.

Being an Abercrombie type of person or a Nike type of person

Commodity Fetishism & Brands in the 21st Century Selling brands as ideas

and lifestyles Coca-Cola selling the

youth lifestyle Nike selling athletic

ability Benetton selling diversity Virgin selling individuality

and rebellion Apple using MLK and

Ghandee (doing things differently)

IKEA selling democracy (you can put together your furniture on your own)

IKEA: Control your own destiny i.e. democracy

Brand Ideas living independently Tommy Hilfiger—selling

the spirit of rock and roll. 1. Sponsoring concerts. 2. Making musicians

wear your cloths. 3. Getting musicians in

ads 4. The brand ends up

having a cultural role, it becomes a star in its own merit.

Brand product placement in film and television

Commodity Fetishism and GlobalizationLabor , sweatshops and commodity fetishism.