GLCb2009 Money: Politics, Society and Environment

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2024
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Kateřina Čanigová (lecturer)
Christian Kimmich, Ph.D., M.Sc. (lecturer)
Mgr. Aneta Pinková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Peter Spáč, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Aneta Pinková, Ph.D.
Department of Political Science – Faculty of Social Studies
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies (33,00 %), Department of Political Science – Faculty of Social Studies (34,00 %), Department of Environmental Studies – Faculty of Social Studies (33,00 %)
Timetable
Thu 26. 9. 10:00–11:40 M117, Thu 3. 10. 10:00–11:40 M117, Thu 10. 10. 10:00–11:40 M117, Thu 17. 10. 10:00–11:40 M117, Thu 24. 10. 10:00–11:40 M117, Thu 31. 10. 10:00–11:40 M117, Thu 7. 11. 10:00–11:40 M117, Thu 14. 11. 10:00–11:40 PC26, Thu 21. 11. 10:00–11:40 M117, Thu 28. 11. 10:00–11:40 M117, Thu 5. 12. 10:00–11:40 M117, Thu 12. 12. 10:00–11:40 M117, Thu 19. 12. 10:00–11:40 M117
Prerequisites
none
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
This course provides an interdisciplinary insight into the role of money in societies, political systems and for the environment. It analyses the role of money as an inseparable part of power and decision-making. The course starts with classical sociological and anthropological theories of money, proceeds with monetary theories in economics and implications for sustainability and then deals with key aspects of money in politics, i.e. pork-barrel politics, corruption, legitimacy of decisions and impact of money distribution on voting behaviour.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, a student will be able to:
- understand fundamental concepts connected to the role of money in society and politics
- follow some of the macroeconomic perspectives and debates on money and sustainability
- discuss the meaning, role and implications of phenomena such as lobbying, corruption, informal economy, and pork-barrel politics
- apply these concepts on empirical data and examples
Syllabus
  • 1. Money and its role in the emergence of modern society: classical sociological theories
  • Required reading:
  • Simmel, G. 1991. Money in Modern Culture. Theory, Culture & Society 8(3): 17–31.
  • Recommended reading:
  • Deflem, M. 2003 The Sociology of the Sociology of Money: Simmel and Contemporary Battle of Classics. Journal of Classical Sociology 3(1): 67 - 96
  • 2. Does money change the world?: monetary economics and transformation of colonised world
  • Required reading:
  • Toren, C. 1991. Drinking Cash: The Purification of Money Through Ceremonial Exchange in Fiji. In Bloch, M., Parry, J. (eds.). Money and the Morality of Exchange. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 142 – 164.
  • Recommended reading:
  • Bloch, M., Parry, J. 1991. Introduction: money and the morality of exchange. In Money and the Morality of Exchange. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1-32.
  • 3. Between State and Market: Money as an object, idea, memory and information
  • Required reading:
  • Hart, K. 2005. Money: one anthropologist’s view. in G. Carrier (ed.). A Handbook of Economic Anthropology. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. 160 – 175
  • Recommended reading:
  • Maurer, B. 2003. Uncanny Exchanges: the Possibilities and Failures of ‘Making Change’ with Alternative Monetary Forms. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space. Volume 21, 317 – 340.
  • 4. Monetary theories in economics: The two main perspectives Required reading:
  • Ryan-Collins, J., Greenham, T., Werner, R., & Jackson, A. 2012. Where does money come from? A guide to the UK monetary and banking system. New Economics Foundation. Chapter 1 and Chapter 2
  • Recommended reading:
  • Graeber, D. 2012. Debt: The first 5000 years. Penguin UK.
  • 5. Credit and economic growth: Is there a monetary growth imperative?
  • Required reading:
  • Binswanger, H. C. 2012. Growth imperative and money creation–a new outlook on growth dynamics. In Balanced Growth (pp. 3-9). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
  • Recommended reading:
  • Kallis, G., Martinez-Alier, J., & Norgaard, R. B. 2009. Paper assets, real debts: An ecological-economic exploration of the global economic crisis. Critical perspectives on international business, 5(1/2), 14-25.
  • 6. Understanding monetary diversity and proposals for alternative currencies
  • Required reading:
  • Greco, T. 2001. Money: Understanding and creating alternatives to legal tender. Chelsea Green Publishing.
  • Recommended reading:
  • Boyle, D. 2015. The Money Changers: Currency reform from Aristotle to e-cash. Routledge.
  • 7. Reading week
  • 8. Shadow and informal economy and clientelism
  • Required reading:
  • Philp, M. 2018. The Definition of Political Corruption. IN P. M. Heywood (Ed.), Routledge Handbook of Political Corruption. Abingdon, New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 17-29.
  • Henig, D and Makovicky, N. 2017. Introduction - Re-imagining Economies after Socialism: Ethics, Favours and Moral Sentiments. In Henig, D and Makovicky, N. (eds.) Economies of Favour after Socialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Recommended reading:
  • Muno, Wolfgang. 2013. Clientelist corruption networks: conceptual and empirical approaches, in: Debiel, T. – Gawrich, A. (eds.): (Dys-)Functionalities of Corruption: Comparative Perspectives and Methodological Pluralism. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, pp. 33-44.
  • Ledeneva, A. 2017. The Ambivalence of Favour: Paradoxes of Russia’s Economy of Favours. In Henig, D and Makovicky, N. (eds.) Economies of Favour after Socialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • 9. Relation of Money and Politics. Introduction to Pork Barrel Politics.
  • Required reading:
  • Hoare, A. G. (1992): Transport investment and the political pork barrel: a review and the case of Nelson, New Zealand. Transport Reviews, 12(2), pp. 133-151.
  • Evans, D. (2004): Greasing the Wheels. Using Pork Barrel Projects to Build Majority Coalitions in Congress. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1-25.
  • Recommended reading:
  • Stein, R. M. and Bickers, K. N. (1994): Congressional Elections and the Pork Barrel. The Journal of Politics, 56(2), pp. 377-399.
  • 10. Incidence and Consequences of Pork Barrel Politics.
  • Required reading:
  • Bullock, C. S. and Hood, M. V. (2005): When Southern Symbolism Meets the Pork Barrel: Opportunity for Executive Leadership. Social Science Quarterly, 86(1), pp. 69-86.
  • Golden, M. and Min, B. (2013): Distributive Politics Around the World. Annual Review of Political Science, 16, pp. 73-99.
  • Recommended reading:
  • Fiva, J. H. and Halse, A. H. (2016): Local favoritism in at-large proportional systems. Journal of Public Economics, 143, pp. 15-26.
  • 11. Organized interests and lobbying, party funding
  • Resources and impact of organized interests, lobbying as a specific type of interest group activity, professional lobbying, state funding of political parties, party funding regulation
  • Required reading:
  • Hopkin, Jonathan. 2003. The Problem With Party Finance: Theoretical Perspectives on the Funding of Party Politics. London School of Economics (http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.588.7164&rep=rep1&type=pdf)
  • Mulcahy, Suzanne. 2015. Lobbying in Europe: Hidden Influence, Privileged Access. Transparency International, pp. 14-22. (https://www.transparency.cz/wp-content/uploads/Lobbying-in-Europe-Hidden-influence-priviledged-access.pdf)
  • Recommended reading:
  • Klemens, Joos. 2011. Lobbying in the new Europe : successful representation of interests after the Treaty of Lisbon, Weinheim : Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co, pp. 15-42. (https://application.wiley-vch.de/books/sample/3527505970_c01.pdf)
  • 12. Test + workshop
  • 13. Workshop
Literature
  • see Syllabus
Teaching methods
Lectures, class discussions, reading, group project, group project presentations, individual assignments.
Assessment methods
Written test, close-ended questions: max. 40 points, 24 points needed to pass the course.
Group project and presentation: max 30 points. Topics and detailed instructions will be discussed at the beginning of the course. Students will present and discuss their projects during workshop.
Essay/paper: max 30 points. Topics and detailed instructions will be discussed at the beginning of the course.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
Teacher's information
Academic Honesty

Students are expected to know the Masaryk University study rules and maintain academic honesty by refraining from plagiarism and from cheating during exams. Plagiarism means that one presents other people's ideas as one’s own and does not credit the author. Plagiarism is one of the most serious breaches of ethical standards in the academic environment, for it denies the mission of the university and the meaning of studying. From a legal perspective, plagiarism is the stealing of intellectual property. The official Faculty of Social Studies disciplinary policy states that academic dishonesty is not tolerated under any circumstances. For students caught plagiarizing or cheating in a course, the minimum penalty is immediate expulsion from the course, a grade of F for the semester, and referral to the Faculty Dean, who may choose to send the case to the FSS Disciplinary Committee. To avoid plagiarism, students are responsible for learning and following the rules about proper citation of sources.

The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2022.
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