HIST 12B
Inequality: History of Neoliberalism
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Exploration of origins, ideas, and consequences of neoliberalism--theory that society is best organized on principles of free trade, deregulation, and privatization. Combination of political, economic, and intellectual history to construct genealogy of neoliberal thinking by attending to 18th- and 19th-century liberalism, colonialism, imperialism, rise of social democracy and military Keynesianism, and Mount Pelerin Society's Cold War resuscitation of 19th-century liberalism. Coverage of economic crisis of 1970s, restructuring of global political economy in U.S., Europe, global south--specifically debt, structural adjustment policies, environmental destruction, and military intervention. Tracing of colonial roots of global north-south divide to reveal how neoliberal policies represent longer process of accumulation by dispossession and enclosure rather than sudden radical break from Keynesian model. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - Overall, this class and Professor Kelley were wonderful! If you are looking for an easy GE that is also interesting and highly relevant, this is the one for you (provided that you find economic related topics interesting). Course Overview: Grading consisted of two essays (25% each), completion of a group project (25%) and participation/attendance in discussion (25%). No midterm or final as the essays essentially took place of the exams. Lectures: Lectures were recorded and were really engaging and interesting, especially in the second half of the class. Professor Kelley does a great job explaining movements against neoliberalism and how neoliberalism originated. You will definitely learn something in this class and question how our economy should work. While he did sometimes go on tangents in his videos, they were overall very concise and summarized key points well. He also held group office hours during class time and he is super passionate about what he teaches! Discussions: Overall, discussions were somewhat poorly run, but this varies by TA. Essentially, we would spend the class time discussing the readings and you would have to lead discussion by preparing two questions for one week. Not too bad but sometimes discussion stalled and it was hard to make new points in class. We also had a group project which was basically a section wide slide show where each student made a slide. Not too bad and easy points. Essays: Two essays in this class. The first one was more historical and the second one was based on current times (we had to propose policies to President-elect Biden about how to undo neoliberalism which was kind of fun). They weren't too bad (5-7 pages each), but be aware that the directions can be vague and that you can only use info from the readings & lectures (although they wanted you to use mostly readings). Readings: Prof Kelley assigns A LOT of reading for this course, especially considering it is a GE. That being said, you don't have to really read everything in detail. Focus on the two books that he assigns and just have a general understanding for the other readings/articles. You will need them for essays and discussion, but knowing the key points is sufficient. Helpfulness/Clarity: Prof Kelley was very helpful in explaining assignments further in office hours and through follow up emails. He was also very flexible given COVID and the Election. Summary: This course was definitely eye opening and Prof Kelley is very passionate about what he teaches. Combined with the fact that it was pretty easy makes this a great GE!
Fall 2020 - Overall, this class and Professor Kelley were wonderful! If you are looking for an easy GE that is also interesting and highly relevant, this is the one for you (provided that you find economic related topics interesting). Course Overview: Grading consisted of two essays (25% each), completion of a group project (25%) and participation/attendance in discussion (25%). No midterm or final as the essays essentially took place of the exams. Lectures: Lectures were recorded and were really engaging and interesting, especially in the second half of the class. Professor Kelley does a great job explaining movements against neoliberalism and how neoliberalism originated. You will definitely learn something in this class and question how our economy should work. While he did sometimes go on tangents in his videos, they were overall very concise and summarized key points well. He also held group office hours during class time and he is super passionate about what he teaches! Discussions: Overall, discussions were somewhat poorly run, but this varies by TA. Essentially, we would spend the class time discussing the readings and you would have to lead discussion by preparing two questions for one week. Not too bad but sometimes discussion stalled and it was hard to make new points in class. We also had a group project which was basically a section wide slide show where each student made a slide. Not too bad and easy points. Essays: Two essays in this class. The first one was more historical and the second one was based on current times (we had to propose policies to President-elect Biden about how to undo neoliberalism which was kind of fun). They weren't too bad (5-7 pages each), but be aware that the directions can be vague and that you can only use info from the readings & lectures (although they wanted you to use mostly readings). Readings: Prof Kelley assigns A LOT of reading for this course, especially considering it is a GE. That being said, you don't have to really read everything in detail. Focus on the two books that he assigns and just have a general understanding for the other readings/articles. You will need them for essays and discussion, but knowing the key points is sufficient. Helpfulness/Clarity: Prof Kelley was very helpful in explaining assignments further in office hours and through follow up emails. He was also very flexible given COVID and the Election. Summary: This course was definitely eye opening and Prof Kelley is very passionate about what he teaches. Combined with the fact that it was pretty easy makes this a great GE!
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