Matewan Feudalism

The Industrial Revolution was period of rapid economic and social growth during the mid 18th and early 19th centuries. The new found power of coal and iron made for many new innovations in machinery. Not all of the Industrial Revolution’s changes were physical. A new ideology arose from the sweat of the working class: socialism. Socialism is a political theory advocating state or collective ownership of property and industry opposed to private ownership. To fully understand the relationship between the Industrial Revolution and socialism, one must first be comfortable with the Revolution and its changes, socialism itself, and the fine line of events linking the two together.

In the film, Matewan, director John Sayles paints a 1920’s picture of a small, West Virginia coal-mining town. Over the course of the film, this seemingly American Township reveals itself as the site of feudal hardship for its citizens. The Stone Mountain Coal Company was the sole employer in Matewan. The company’s laborers struggled for autonomy and for freedom from the company’s grasp. The ideal method for this achieving such autonomy was organization of a union. This idea of union struck a cord with the company, and the conflict between employer and employee soon escalated into a battle. The laborers began to realize, in certain terms, that the Stone Mountain Coal Company is not simply a corporation but a

The Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was arguably the most important turning point in history. It transformed the manufacture of goods from craftsmanship to commercialism, exponentially increasing output and decreasing production cost leading to prosperity and an unprecedented supply of goods for the markets of the world. Industrialization and mass production was the fuel which ignited the flame of capitalism which was already established creating bringing sweeping changes in wealth and its distribution. Within a few generations the very fabric of society was virtually remade as millions left the farms and villages of the countryside for jobs in the cities. This monumental change did not immediately sweep

The Industrial Revolution brought about great changes in how goods were produced and consumed, but it also brought about social and political changes. Some were positive, such as machines relieving much of the toil previously placed on worker’s muscles. But there were also negative changes.

Summary, context of the era depicted, description of major social, economic, or cultural forces in the era and how the film addressed nature of the era:

nation's great cities and as oil refining rose so did the popularity of the automobile. With these

Feudalism was a contrasting system dealing with political and military relationships existing among members of the higher social class, Kings, Lords and other owners of large lands in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. The Feudal system started by the granting of fiefs, chiefly in the form of land and labor, in return the lord would receive political and

It was not uncommon in 1920’s and 30’s film and literature to allude to the ostentatious capitalist figures of the times. Figures like

Western Europe suffered numerous hardships through the ninth and tenth centuries and this was the ultimate reason they established a new political organization which was known as feudalism. By providing honor, protection, and a sense of control, this new social system revived peace and order in Western Europe after the fall of the Carolingian Empire. Feudalism was a necessary ingredient to yield stability in during these times of calamity.

Feudalism, as a decentralized political system, flourished in Medieval Europe. In this essay, the main political and economic characteristics of Feudalism will be mentioned, while discussing the main historical factors to the rise and fall of feudalism.

Next, let us discuss the primary causal agent in this film. I believe that the primary causal agent in this film is an ideology and not a person. The story portrays capitalism as a pursuit of happiness for the main character. If I did not analyze this film, I may have not found that capitalism is the cause

The economy mostly seen in the early middle ages was feudalism, Europe’s form of government

"Pure capitalism is characterized by private ownership of resources and by reliance on markets, in which buyers and sellers come together and determine what quantities of goods and resources are sold and at what price. Here no central authority oversees production and consumption. Rather, economic decisions are coordinated by the actions of large numbers of consumers and producers, each operating in his or her own self-interest. Because property is privately owned, it can be used in whatever manner its owner chooses (Ragan and Thomas, p. 46)."

Neoliberalism is defined as the way in which our government approaches the economics and social hierarchy in our society. (Neoliberalism, 2015) states that it is an approach to economics and social studies in which control of economic factors is shifted from the public to the private sector. Neoliberalism are giving more attention towards schools that do not necessarily need this as much as the other schools, in order to make the government look better and are more in support of neoliberalism. Schools that are not getting as much funding and support from the government may start to wonder why that is the case. This issue may cause competitions between the schools in New Zealand. Capitalism is how a government chooses to use money as a power to control or sway people’s decisions; this is done in a way where the result is usually beneficial to one group within a society. Codd (2004) describes that education in New Zealand has changed as it has begun to be strongly influenced by capitalistic and economic policies. Peter McClaren (Tristan, 2013.), says that, “teachers need to support sustainable alternatives to neoliberal capitalism with its emphasis on economic growth; protect nature’s resources for future generations; protect ecosystems and help support biodiversity; support a community-based economics, and a grass roots democracy that includes participatory and direct forms, embody anti-racist, anti-ablest and anti-homophobic pedagogies that respect diversity and work from a

Looking at the decline of feudalism from an economic standpoint, there could be numerous theories and explanations why and how it happened. Nell says “The expansion of trade leads to an increase in wealth and size of towns and a decline in population leads to relatively greater decline in seigniorial than in artisan incomes” (J. Nell 328). Roughly before the year 1000, feudalism reigned supreme throughout various parts of the world, including Western Europe. Feudal Lords and nobles would partake in various ways to attain revenue. The decline in the feudal order was due to changing relations between factors in a network. In various parts of Europe the wealth being found in trade was dominating and being known as the ideal way to increase a peasant 's wealth. For the feudal lords, they would subtract a stipend of resources grown by a serf on land owned by a king, and this was given as payment, as the surplus of resources was traded. In Edward J Nell’s paper titled, “Economic Relationships in the Decline of Feudalism: An examination of Economic Interdependence and Social Change”, he goes on to mention various arguments and theories on the reason why the decline of feudalism took place from an economic perspective. One of the prominent proposals he makes is that the decline was due to a change in the relationship between factors in a network and that the trade, population, and class struggle theory are nothing more than factor explanations.