The Natural History Approach to Racial Capitalism

Although the economic proposition of the United States was founded on the principles of property rights, market freedom, and the idea of economic independence, among others, the role of the government in constructing a capitalist society that has helped create an unfair system of inequality is evident.  A disproportionate system that has been progressing from the nobility of owning property and land to the askew benefits of the rich and privileged and the blatant disregard of minorities.  In his scholarly report, author Thomas West (2010) elucidate how “the “moral and social order” bequeathed to Americans by the Founders eventually became “an economic system which starves and mutilates the great majority of the population.” Such is the “selfishness” of an “unreformed capitalist economy.”  An asymmetrical practice that can best be described from a Natural History approach to government as a social problem.  

As specified by Spector and Kitsuse (2009:130) scholars Fuller & Myers, presented in their thesis a Natural history model approach to social problems that enriched the process of empirical research and adds additional benefits to the value-conflict theory “Social problems do not arise full-blown commanding community attention and evoking adequate policies and machinery for the solution. On the contrary, we believe that social problems exhibit a temporal course of development in which different phases or stages may be distinguished.” The social problem process has a natural series of sequential steps based on a hypothetical approach and the formulation of society allegations, the public perception, media influence, policy making, and government involvement in the development and construction of social problems. 

The input of the government and the claim makers view of the condition are pivotal to the construction of the social problem.  According to professor Joel Best (2017) “The term Natural History refers to a sequence of stages that tends to appear in lots of different cases.” Those sequences are compartmentalized into six stages in chronological order such as (1) Claimsmaking: When members of the society claim that there is a social problem, e.g. The public complains about the wealth gap and the injustices in the division of resources, (2) Media Coverage: The media gives a report regarding the claim and creates a larger group of spectators, e.g. The New York Times and TV stations such as CNN, CBS, ABC, etc. will publish an article and make extensive reports pertaining to the wealth gap between the 1% and the rest of the population and the inequality of the system, (3) Public Reaction: The public starts to pay attention to the issue and public opinion is directed to the claim made, e.g. People start to get concerned with the economic disadvantage and the government involvement or lack thereof in the creation of the social inequality while showing better support for the unfair cause, (4) Policy Making: Legislators and policy makers produce original ways to tackle the social conflict, e.g. The government creates new policies to increase the minimum wage and propose to invest in education, (5) Social Problems Work: Governmental agencies execute the new policies and proposes further amends, e.g. States are encouraged to implement the minimum wage increment and are forced to invest in the public school system, and (6) Policy Outcome: The public response is often heterogenous to the recent changes, e.g. Some people will agree with the minimum wage increase and the investment in education while others will complain it is not enough to change or money, (Best 2017:19).  

Nevertheless, the social problem process can be altered by the subject matter of rhetoric and resources and the concepts can influence the outcome of each stage in the natural history model. To better describe the meaning and importance of resources, Professor Best explains how “Actors are not equal. Some have more power, status, contacts, education, and money than others.  These resources can make easier to influence every stage of the social problem process” (Best 2017:24). Apparently, people with better access to resources and power have a better chance of influencing the social problem process and create a more difficult competition for the rest.  Moreover, the theme of rhetoric can also be described as a considerable influence in the social problem process and is eloquently explained by Best (2017:24) “Any troubling condition can be understood in a various way. At each stage in the social problem process, a troubling condition can be reconstructed to fit the concerns of the actors involved in that stage.” Rhetoric is used to persuade the audience and it can be used in all stages of the social problem process. 

Notwithstanding, the social problem process can also be analyzed from another sociological perspective such as the constructionist approach which shares some similitudes and differences with the natural history approach.  As stated by Doctor Vivien Burr (1996:14) “The ways in which we commonly understand the world, the categories and concepts we use, are historically and culturally specific. Whether one understands the world in terms of men and women, pop music and classical music, urban life and rural life, past and future, etc., depends upon where and when in the world one lives.”     

            Although the United States proposes to the world and their citizens the idea of freedom and equality, the reality is far removed from any egalitarian or equitable society.  Instead, the economic model used by the American government operates through the laws of supply and demand with an emphasis on the market rather than the individual. A difficult concept that favors the privileged while opposing minorities.  In its scholarly journal, Columbia University, (2006) describes a capitalist system that is based on private ownership, unbalanced competition, inequality, and new wealth among others, “capitalism is also known for its tendency to generate instability, often associated with the existence of financial crises, job insecurity and failures to include the disadvantaged.” (the center for capitalism society 2006:1).

According to the Harvard Law Review “Racial Capitalism- the process of deriving social and economic value from the racial identity of another person” (Leon 2013).
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Reference:

Anon. 2006. “Theory of Capitalism.” Theory of Capitalism | The Center on Capitalism and

     Society. Retrieved April 17, 2018 (http://capitalism.columbia.edu/theory-capitalism).

Best, Joel. 2017. “The Social Problem Process.” Pp. 17–23 in Social Problems. New York, NY:

     W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Burr, Vivien. 1996. “4.” Pp. 13–14 in An Introduction to Social Constructionism. New York,

    NY: Routledge.

Kitsuse, John I. and Malcolm tor. 2009. “The Natural History of Social Problems.” Pp. 130–58

     in Constructing Social Problems. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publisher.

Leong, Nancy. 2013. “Racial Capitalism.” Harvard Law Review. Retrieved April 14, 2018

     (https://harvardlawreview.org/2013/06/racial-capitalism/).

West, Thomas G. 2010. “The Economic Principles of America's Founders: Property Rights, Free

Markets, and Sound Money.” The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved April 12, 2018 (https://www.heritage.org/political-process/report/the-economic-principles-americas-founders-property-rights-free-markets-and).

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