ECON 20504  Distributivism:

Economics of the Catholic Worker Movement

Fall 2007

 

            This course seeks to understand “distributivism”; an approach to economics developed by G. K. Chesterton, Hilaire Belloc, and Arthur Penty, among others. It was embraced by Dorothy Day, Peter Maurin, and the Catholic Worker Movement.

            The student’s primary responsibilities are: 1. Read the assigned materials and come to class prepared to discuss them; 2. Research and write an 8-10 page paper (due December 12) on one of the following:

a/ organizing a “business” to produce and/or distribute needed goods and services by and for the homeless,

b/ a critical review of one of the examples from the November 28 class,

c/ an analytical book review of E.F. Schumacher, Small is Beautiful;

d/ another topic approved by the instructor;

and 3. As part of your research you will volunteer at the Peter Claver Catholic Worker House or its drop-in center, Our Lady of the Road, for 8 hours during the semester.

 

Background Reading:

 

http://www.distributism.com/

http://mdemarco.web.wesleyan.edu/gkc/distrib/

http://www.justpeace.org/

http://www.medaille.com/distributivism.htm

http://www.chesterton.org/gkc/distributist.html

http://distributist.blogspot.com/2007/01/distributivism-of-hilaire-belloc.html

http://www.schumachersociety.org/

http://red-coral.net/WorkCoops.html

http://distributist.blogspot.com/2007/01/distributivism-of-hilaire-belloc.html

http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/pdf/buddhist_economics/english.pdf

http://www.ihspress.com/lanz_galley.pdf

 

 

October     10: Introduction (4:30-5:45pm, Flanner 323)

 

Thomas Storck, “What is Distributism,” http://www.theuniversityconcourse.com/V,5,1-28-2000/Storck.htm

 

Philip Harold, “Towards a humane economy: a reply to Thomas Storck,”

http://www.theuniversityconcourse.com/V,6,3-7-2000/Harold.htm

 

Joseph Zoric, “(re)Distributism (re)Considered,” http://www.theuniversityconcourse.com/V,6,3-7-2000/Zoric.htm

 

Thomas Storck, “The good of distributism: a reply to critics,”

http://www.theuniversityconcourse.com/V,7,3-27-2000/Storck.htm

 

            Peter Chojnowski, “Distributism: Economics as if People Mattered,”

http://distributist.blogspot.com/2007/01/distributism-economics-as-if-people.html

 

 

October     17: Movie (4:30-7:30pm, Flanner 725)

 

            Entertaining Angels

 

 

October     31: Distributivism and Catholic Social Thought (4:30-5:45pm, Flanner 323)

 

            John C. Médaille, “Distributivism and Catholic Social Teaching.”             http://www.medaille.com/distributivismandcst.pdf

 

 

November   7: Distributivism and the Catholic Worker Movement (4:30-5:45pm, Flanner 323)

 

            Dorothy Day, “"Catholic Worker Positions," The Catholic Worker, May 1972

            http://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/reprint.cfm?TextID=519

 

Dorothy Day, "All the Way to Heaven is Heaven." http://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/daytext.cfm?TextID=159

 

            Dorothy Day, "Articles on Distributism – 2."             http://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/daytext.cfm?TextID=160

 

            Dorothy Day, "On Distributism: Answer to John Cort." http://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/daytext.cfm?TextID=161

 

            Mark and Louise Zwick, “Roots of the Catholic Worker Movement: Distributivism.” http://www.cjd.org/paper/roots/rdistrib.html

           

 

November  14: Is Distributivism Bad Economics? (4:30-5:45pm, Flanner 323)

 

Richard James Neuhaus, “Economics in Verse and Prose,” First Things (April 1995), plus Replies. http://www.catholic.net/RCC/Periodicals/PublicSquare/1995/psq9504.html#Economics and http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=4068

 

E. F. Schumacher, “Buddhist Economics,” in Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (Harper & Row, 1973), pp. 53-62. (Schumacher said he called it Buddhist economics because calling it Chestertonian economics would have put people off if they had even ever heard of him.) http://www.schumachersociety.org/buddhist_economics/english.html

 

Ed McPhail, “Distributism and ‘Modern Economics’,” in Beyond Capitalism and Socialism: A New Statement of an Old Ideal (HIS Press, forthcoming 2007), pp. 145-168. See at http://www.ihspress.com/lanz_galley.pdf

 

 

November   28: “The Not-for-Profit Economy.” (4:30-7:30pm, Flanner 725)

 

            “The Mondragon Experience” http://www.justpeace.org/mondragon.htm

            “Oklahoma Food Cooperative”  http://www.oklahomafood.coop/handbook.php

            “Worker Owned Cooperatives” http://www.usccb.org/cchd/WOC.pdf

            “Home Care Cooperatives” http://www.uwcc.wisc.edu/info/health/homecare.pdf

            “The Capital Ownership Group” http://cog.kent.edu/

            “The National Center for Employee Ownership” http://www.nceo.org/

            “The E. F. Schumacher Society” http://www.schumachersociety.org/

 

            “Miraculous Metals.” Talk by Mike Baxter

 

 

 

December    5:

 

            Mark and Louise Zwick, “The Legacy of the Catholic Worker in a Troubled World,” Ch. 17 from The Catholic Worker Movement: Intellectual and Spiritual Origins (Paulist Press, 2005), pp. 295-320.