Questions on Carchedi, Economic Determination of Social Classes

Answer any five of the following questions. (Please consult the web charts and diagrams)

What are the main features of the four levels of abstraction? Do you see any problems in the way Carchedi defines them?
What are the major parts of the pure capitalist economic structure (1st level of abstraction)?
What names do we usually give to the two relations among the three elements of the production relations?
What is Lenin's conception of social classes? How does this form the basis of Carchedi's conception of classes?
How is Carchedi's definition of the capitalist mode of production integrated into the four features of his/Lenin's definition of classes?
What are the three production relations and one distribution relation in Carchedi, and how do these form the backbone of his conception of classes?
What is the function of capital and the function of labour? Can you think of concrete examples of the each, especially the differences between the two functions of capital?
What are the main differences among the three stages of capitalism?
Now can you put all this together? What are the dialectical relations among the four class relations? That is, what are the determinations and overdeterminations among the ownership. functional, expropriation, and distribution class relations?
Now how would you define the four classes in Carchedi:

At what levels of abstraction do these exist? Do you forsee any problems in this?

11. a) What are the three major types of state activity in Carchedi?

b) How are they rooted in his conception of production and distribution relations?

c) How does he use both a and (b) to define classes within the state?

d) What are the similarities and differences in the definition of classes between the public and private sectors?

e) You might want to hold in reserve the question of how Carchedi's definition of state classes is different from that found in the early Wright.