Rethinking Capitalism, Crisis, and Critique: An Interview With Nancy Fraser

Abstract

Nancy Fraser is internationally recognized as one of the most prominent critical theorists of our time and is highly regarded for her work on feminism and capitalism. In this interview, she sets out the new conceptions of capitalism, crisis, and critique that she has been developing since her 2014 article “Behind Marx’s Hidden Abode.” She begins by presenting an original conception of capitalism as an “institutionalized social order,” which includes not only its economic features, but also its social, ecological, and political background conditions of possibility. After defining the normative foundations of capitalism and the corresponding boundary struggles to which it gives rise, she then explores the multiple crises it is currently experiencing. Inspired by Marx’s tripartite critique, she concludes by proposing a new multi-stranded critique of capitalism, which combines a functionalist critique of capitalism’s tendencies to crisis with a normative critique of domination and a political critique of unfreedom.