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The United States is a capitalist economy and we live in a capitalist world. This a fact we take for granted and therefore spend little time examining. Capitalism’ proponents attribute our society’s unprecedented wealth and technological advances to this economic system. Some go so far as to claim that modern democracy and social progress are impossible without a capitalist economy. Critics point to growing social inequality and a slew of environmental ills as proof of capitalism’s unsustainability. Some suggest that capitalism is antithetical to true democracy and human flourishing. But what exactly is capitalism? How did it evolve in the USA and how does the form capitalism takes in the United States differ from the forms it takes elsewhere? And, crucially, how is capitalism shaped by – and how does it shape – contemporary politics? And how exactly is this all related to liberalism, conservatism, neoliberalism, libertarianism, socialism, and democratic socialism? This seminar is designed to help students critically approach these questions. Rather than taking simplistic pro-contra approach, this seminar will examine capitalism along four axes: as a political-economic system, a corollary set of structures and institutions, the force behind a specific form of state organization, and the determinant of how society and individuals act and see themselves. To explore these issues, we will focus on a number of contemporary political issues, with a primary geographic focus on the United States, including the following: the debates over the welfare state and socialized healthcare; unions, lobbies, and special interests; the connection between capitalism, culture, and ideology; the effects of a capitalist organization of labor of questions of race, gender, and citizenship; the commodification of the environment and other species; and the process of critique, resistance, and social change in a capitalist system. Throughout, we will discuss the theoretical and empirical ar