The Social Implications of Metaphor in Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite

The purpose of the present article is to study the social implications of repetitive metaphors in the film and of the word Parasite (2019) and to observe what makes the life of a lower-class family parasitic within a typical capitalistic society. In the mainstream discussion, the metaphorical functions of such words as ‘smell,’ ‘insects,’ ‘the rock,’ and ‘the party’ are assessed within the context of the film. The central questions of the article, therefore, are: What are the recurrent and metaphorical motifs in the plotline and how can their implications be related to the overall theme of the film? How does Parasite exhibit the clash of classes in a capitalist society? To answer the questions, the present study offers a comprehensive analysis of its recurring metaphors as well as its treatment of the characters who visibly belong to two completely different classes. Through a complex story of two families whose fate gets intermingled, Bong Joon-ho masterfully presents a metaphoric picture of a society where inequality is rampant and the poor can only experience temporary happiness in the shadow of the rich (represented by the Park family).

L’India di Pasolini

As a traveller in India looking for the myth of a natural purity and the utopia of an alternative to neo-capitalistic society, Pasolini felt the burning clash between expectation created by images of an ancient culture and the painful discovery of a world that has lost much of its past due to the spread of Western models. In L’Odore dell’India, the genre of reportage departs from a purely documentary pursuit and becomes a subjective and lyrical experience. Acute and original interpretation of reality experienced by the author as a coded system of sensory signs, Pasolini’s view of India reveals the mythical dimension of his perception and his disillusion confronted with a world whose ‘innocence’ is full of contradictions.

Albert Camus’ The Plague in Twenty-First Century’s Pandemic Covid-19- A Reification Model in the Capitalistic World

Covid-19 has emerged as the new global pandemic in 2020, engulfing thousands of lives in the capitalistic economic system. Reification, in such a materialistic world, commodifies human beings for possessing use-value. The workers transform themselves into dehumanized labor product of Capitalism as a historical project. The economic loss during the current pandemic has changed the outlook of the global capitalist system. The human beings have transformed into productive devices. Lukacs’ Theory of Reification has been applied to Albert Camus' The Plague (1948) to analyze how the epidemics change human conditions and convert them into lifeless products. Such reification leads to alienation of the human beings. The social, political, religious, and medical references and their applicability in the current world suggest the parallelism and universality of Camus' works, especially in the context of current capitalistic society, under siege of Covid-19. The research is a breakthrough in comprehending Capitalism as historically and materialistically intertwined in the current pandemic world, whereby human beings have lost human traits and become reified models of Capitalism. Now, the urge to reform compels to re-determine the morality of human beings.

How capitalism abolishes itself in the digital era in favour of robo-economic systems: socio-economic implications of decentralized autonomous self-owned businesses

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore socio-economic implications of decentralized autonomous self-owned businesses. Design/methodology/approach The authors take the approach of a case study analysis. Findings Unlike dark scenarios according to which almost half of our jobs are at risk in the wake of new emerging technologies such as AI and Blockchain (Frey and Osborne, 2013), the authors envision a world of decentralized autonomous self-owned businesses, using the example of the taxi market. The authors, first, outline their characteristics and how they work. Second, they elaborate on the socio-economic implications of markets where this novel kind of business enters. Third and most important, the authors argue that so-called robo-economic systems would be tantamount to a post-capitalistic society that is enforced by applying capitalistic principles. Research limitations/implications The presented scenario of this paper is very futuristic and furthermore reduces a complex system quite drastically to be able to focus on the two implications of interest. Therefore, we are confronted with the necessity to take assumptions on socio-technical feasibilities and individual preferences. Most of these assumptions can be challenged (see Section 6.3). Social implications The scenario presented by the authors stands in contrast to the fear that increased automation inherently leads to increased inequality. There is a general debate going on whether automation and digitalization will lead to a massive loss of employment, because machines will replace humans in many fields of work. Frey and Osborne (2013) estimate that nearly every second job is at risk to disappear in the coming decades because of computerization. Hence, many people fear to be left behind because of this development and inequality will increase tremendously as only those who own the machines will benefit directly from the profit share. In the scenario, however, the profits are mostly distributed among the consumers via reduced prices. Originality/value The proposed scenario seems to reconcile socialism (less private property) with liberalism (a radicalization of markets) and shows an effective way to tackle market power, the problem that certain persons and firms would benefit almost exclusively from the increased profit margins promised by automation.

Free education as superstructure: Phenomenological study of free private education

As a manifestation of functionalism, free education becomes a way to eradicate economic disparity by opening access to school for all people. This method is standard in many developing countries as it could foster development. However, the most fundamental problem of this disparity, oppression, and class domination are understudied. To make things worse, studies that do discuss these topics suffer from class bias conceptualization of free education. Therefore, this study aims to demonstrate how free education takes part in a capitalistic society as a superstructure through the correspondence thesis. Subsequently, this study identifies essential elements in (capitalistic) free education. Phenomenological-based qualitative method is used to describe experiences of 21 informants in Selamat Pagi Indonesia (SPI) Senior High School. Data gathered from observation, interview, and secondary sources, and then analyzed phenomenologically. We found that free education, instead of bringing people to equality and freedom from disparity, entraps students deep into modern capitalism through 1) normalization to serve, and 2) giving up power to the capitalist. This condition would benefit many corporations from taking part in aiding the school foundation and perpetuate the domination of the bourgeoisie over the working class. Thus, this study suggests that the capitalistic feature of free education is disrupting its conventional conceptualization.

Cooperação internacional para o planejamento da educação brasileira: aspectos teóricos e históricos

Trata-se de uma análise do processo de cooperação internacional implementado no Brasil com vista a orientar o planejamento da educação no País. Parte de uma análise conceitual da categoria planejamento, identificando o sentido de sua utilização na sociedade capitalista. Realiza um histórico da influência das agências internacionais na implementação da proposta de planejamento da educação brasileira, apontando resultados de pesquisa empírica e documental sobre dois programas implantados na Região Centro-Oeste do País. Palavras-chave: planejamento da educação; cooperação internacional; gestão educacional. Abstract This study is an analysis of the process of International Cooperation implemented in Brazil by way of guiding educational planning in the country. It begins with a conceptual analysis of the category "planning", identifying meaning of its use in a capitalistic society. Then, it presents a history of the influence of international agencies in the implementation of planning proposals for the Brazilian education, pointing out the results of empirical and documentary research concerning two programs implemented in the westcentral region of the country. Keywords: educational planning, international cooperation, educational administration.

The socio-economic approach to the study of modern economic systems. Post-capitalism. Part 2.

Summary This article examines modern economy and society taking the formational approach, which is based on the concept that for the modern world and the predicted future, the economy will remain the foundation of society. An understanding of modern society as a post-capitalist society is proposed and justified. The definition of post-capitalism is determined as a stage of capitalism. Humankind would enter its last stage, a stage of liberal democracy and global capitalism. The major features of post-capitalistic society are examined and analyzed: economic, political, spiritual, cultural and domestic. The economic determinism in its pure form is supplemented with informational determinism in modern society, although the economy remains the primary determinant of social development. Post-capitalism is not a new concept but rather is a new stage in the development of a capitalist socioeconomic formation. An important distinction between capitalism and post-capitalism is that capitalism is characteristic of a society that is engaged in industrial and commercial development. A society has reached the post-capitalism stage when it has passed the industrial stage and entered the information era.