Capitalist Class Research Articles

Dreams and Disillusionment: A Critique of the American Dream in American Fiction

This paper examines the vanity and consequences of the American Dream in four novels: Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, Jack London's The Iron Heel, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, and John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. A socio-political analysis of these authors and their works exposes the hollow nature of the dream. The Jungle is discussed from a racial and economic perspective, highlighting the plight of Jurgis and his Lithuanian family who are disillusioned in their pursuit of success. The Iron Heel is examined politically, showcasing the struggle between the capitalist class and workers. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald presents a social satire, critiquing the death of American ideals sacrificed for materialism. The Grapes of Wrath analyzes the American Dream through the Joad family's migration and exploitation. The study compares the treatment of the American Dream in these novels, referencing texts, socio-economic contexts, and relevant critical works.

Impact of Ownership Structure on Financial Performance of Listed Companies on the Hanoi Stock Exchange

This essay reviews studies on the types and levels of fragmentation in firm ownership, focusing on how ownership structure impacts firm performance. Using a property rights framework, the essay integrates sociological, organizational, legal, and economic research that explores the relationship between ownership organization and firm performance. Agency theorists typically assume that shareholders are uniform in nature, and that their impact on firm performance correlates directly with their equity stakes. However, empirical studies based on this assumption have not produced clear evidence. Class analysis perspectives view these mixed results as evidence that firms, regardless of ownership structure, primarily serve the capitalist class. An alternative view suggests that shareholders are not homogeneous, and certain types of shareholders use their formal authority, social influence, and expertise to capture property rights, thereby exerting significant influence on firm performance. The impact of various owners may vary based on industry characteristics, and the essay reviews literature supporting a contingency theory of ownership structure.

Naturalization of work accidents through political dynamics: A discursive analysis

Over the last two decades a number of devastating work accidents have occurred in Turkey that have resulted in massacre-like deaths and destructions. Although dramatic consequences forced all actors to promise for betterment, no significant improvement has been achieved yet and one accident followed the other. Apart from social and economic factors, political power tends to be attributed to having the most critical responsibility in all incidents. The present government, which has been in power since 2002, has aimed and achieved to create a pro-government capitalist class who can dominate specific sectors, such as construction, energy and mining in which most of the serious accidents occur. By taking the control of media, the government not only attained the majority of communicative channels but also created a manipulative discourse potential that has enabled to shade reality concerning the accidents. In this regard, the purpose of this study is to analyze how these accidents are normalized by the government’s discourses. A multi-stage naturalization model is employed to reveal the production and circulation of discourses in public sphere during the framing process of the accidents. The model can also be used to propose a solution for de-naturalization, which is also one of the aims of this study.

Class grievances before and after the Arab uprisings

To date, analysis of the role of entrepreneurs in the Arab uprisings has been limited. We use micro-level World Bank survey data collected from Arab entrepreneurs in the manufacturing and service sectors across a range of countries to highlight entrepreneur grievances as one proxy for the role that class might have played in the Arab uprisings. We find evidence that dissatisfaction with levels of corruption was particularly high among entrepreneurs in Egypt, Syria and Yemen on the eve of the Arab uprisings, but we also find that Arab entrepreneurs throughout the region share concerns when it comes to macroeconomic and political stability, infrastructural shortcomings and worker training, all of which are key to successful development. More recent data indicate that entrepreneurs in a number of countries (some of which had regime changes, while others did not) remain concerned about the same factors. Although they varied according to size and country, entrepreneur concerns at times went against pre-conceptions concerning Arab capitalist classes and were at odds with the recommendations of international financial institutions.

Uneven Development through Profit Repatriation: How Capitalism's Class and Geographical Antagonisms Intertwine

AbstractThis article provides the first comprehensive empirical analysis of global profit repatriation as a mechanism of uneven development, thereby challenging the development model of Foreign Direct Investment. Between 2005 and 2020, transnational corporations repatriated an annual average of one trillion USD, corresponding each year to 4.2% of the global FDI stock. Net profit flows take on a centripetal form: the biggest net losers are middle‐income countries such as the Russian Federation, Brazil, and Nigeria; the winners are a few high‐income countries, above all the United States. By analysing the impact of profit repatriation on accumulation dynamics in net profit exporting and importing countries, and by examining the exploitative conditions under which profits are generated in the former, we situate our findings in current theoretical debates on uneven development and geographical transfer of value, as well as on the intertwining of capitalism's class and geographical antagonisms.

Transnational Capitalist Class Theory: An Assessment

Transnational Capitalist Class Theory: An Assessment

Style and Inscription

The practice of using classical capital lettering was introduced north of the Alps from Italy in the second half of the 15th century, and appeared very early in the Kingdom of Hungary. The article contains six case studies on the problems of architectural carvings, stone tabernacles, tombstones and the classical inscriptions on them. I. Tabernacles. All’antica tabernacles were produced in large numbers in late mediaeval Hungary and survive in churches from monumental to very small. The tabernacle frames, which followed the antique architecture of the façade, were accompanied by inscriptions: quotations about the Eucharist or, less frequently, inscriptions referring to the maker. II. Inscriptions outside the royal court. Outside the Buda residence of King Matthias, inscriptions engraved with humanist capitals also appeared, earlier than in the royal court, according to our present knowledge. The earliest dated inscriptions in Hungary survive in Veszprém and are attributed to Bishop Albert Vetési, the best known being a text written on ribbons running on a Gothic console (1467). The all’antica heraldic stones known from several places in the country are often dated, the earliest being found in the Nógrád castle of Miklós Báthory, the humanist bishop, with the date 1483. III. The royal court. Monumental all’antica inscriptions adorned the royal palace in Buda: building inscriptions, statue bases. Their texts are mostly known only from sources, as few original stone carvings have survived. These inscriptions were sometimes in bronze letters, but there were also engraved ones. The monumental inscriptions were associated with King Matthias, while the inscriptions known from the time of Vladislaus II are smaller in size and do not have bronze lettering. IV. Epitaphs. Antique letters also appeared as circular inscriptions on late medieval tombstones. The epitaph written in distychs was often engraved in a tabula ansata. Rarely, the wording was also antiquated, as exemplified by the abbreviations DOM, DOMS, DM. V. Inscriptions around Hungary in the Jagiellonian period. The commissioners of early inscriptions were familiar with the all’antica inscriptions of the Buda court. In Vienna, the first known all’antica inscriptions can be attributed to a citizen of Buda, Peter Juncker, and in Moravia to the lords of Tovačov and Moravská Třebová (Ctibor Tovačovský z Cimburka; Ladislav z Boskovic). VI. Architectural inscriptions of the Jagellonian period in Hungary. Inside the sepulchral chapel of Tamás Bakócz in Esztergom there is a bronze donation inscription (1507), in keeping with the perfect Renaissance centralised space. After 1500, all’antica building inscriptions became common in Hungary. We know of many of them, mainly in the Transdanubian region, written in pure classical capitals. In the northern part of the country, the early humanist capitals are more common; the Biblical quotations and proverbs on the staircase of the town hall of Bártfa were written in such letters. In Transylvania, classical capitals are again common: the inscriptions of the Lázói Chapel, built next to the cathedral in Gyulafehervár, or the Várday Chapel were also carved in such letters.

Captured by Political Power: More-Than-Neoliberal Urban Development and Planning in Post-Socialist Hungary

By critically reflecting on the concept of “post-socialist neoliberalism” proposed by this thematic issue, we argue against the widely assumed hegemony of neoliberalism, not just in the post-socialist context, but anywhere. We suggest taking features that do not fit in the narratives of neoliberalism seriously and highlighting more-than-neoliberal rationales, too. We present cases from the literature focusing on post-socialist and illiberal contexts, especially in Hungary. As the critical reading of the literature and the secondary and primary data about Hungary shows, narratives of capitalist class domination and accumulation can be less than adequate. The maintenance of clientelist or neopatrimonial relations dominated by political power with politically created rents is a separate issue. Therefore, instead of assuming “in the last instance” determination by neoliberalism, which is only camouflaged with theoretically irrelevant contextual issues, we argue for the examination of neopatrimonial relations besides neoliberalism to better understand the mechanisms behind urban development. In doing so, we can explain how power is maintained without actual development, how corruption as a mode of rule is politically accepted, and why political struggles need to consider other aspects besides fighting capitalist class domination.

Beyond ‘white monopoly capital’: Understanding race, control, and cohesion in the South African corporate elite

ABSTRACT White monopoly capital’ (WMC) has become one of the most ubiquitous terms in the South African political lexicon, bolstered by a re-energised nationalist movement. Its rise has been the occasion for a welcome debate on the changing dimensions of race, power, and control in the capitalist class. However, that debate has remained polarised between a camp that has been largely dismissive of the very possibility of a racial power bloc and one that sees it as a self-evident reality. By posing the question of whether WMC is a ‘useful’ category of analysis, this article seeks to take a more historical and empirical approach to the issue. It argues that WMC analyses implicitly overstate both the extent of white control and the extent of racial division in the elite. Yet, it argues, race still has important impacts on elite politics both within the corporate sphere and across the wider field of business. It concludes by sketching avenues of research on the politics of race, control, and cohesion in the South African elite.

Anatolian Tigers: A Miracle or a Myth? A Regional Political Economic Analysis

ABSTRACT In this study, I examine the potential of the Anatolian Tigers, which are an important engine for the Turkish economy, in a very novel framework. I also compare the role of Anatolian Tigers with Istanbul-based firms within the capitalist classes. The study explores that the Anatolian Tigers have significant potential for exports, foreign direct investment and long-term sales, but are lagging behind in foreign direct investment. The findings of the study may be the first study to shed light on the development potential of the Anatolian Tigers by addressing issues that have not yet been addressed in the literature on the Anatolian Tigers.

Is China an imperialist power?

Among the mainstream press, western political elites and sections of the Left, China is accused of exploiting the Global South and even being an imperialist power. China argues it is pursuing a ‘win-win’ policy. To explore this question, this article looks at several factors, including labour exploitation, debt, environmental damage and military activity. Imperialism today operates through a vast network of integrated transnational investments and expansive global assembly lines, overseen by a transnational capitalist class. China’s position in the global capitalist system needs to be assessed in this context. It is certainly a major power within that system and its capitalists engage in the super-exploitation of labour, for example in Africa. At the same time, Chinese development loans have so far helped countries in the Global South build infrastructure and reduce neoliberal austerity, even as associated projects have been beset by corruption and environmental harms. China has not yet used its military in imperialist adventures, but it does apply regional pressure and cultivates military relationships with countries where it has investments. Overall, the picture that emerges is complex and contradictory.

Imperialism and Contemporary Transnational Capitalism

Imperialism was closely studied by Marxists in the early twentieth century. Lenin’s work had the greatest impact, but while some elements remain, important changes have occurred. The specific national character of finance capital has transformed to integrated global capital, as has production. These changes were structured by reengineering the state and rewriting the rules for trade and cross-border capital flows, while at the same time deconstructing the Keynesian social contract. The economic and political changes were led by the emergence of a transnational capitalist class. The resulting social upheavals caused by greater inequality have been accelerated by the crisis of COVID-19, which created new contradictions between and within China and the United States. Technological changes have only added to the problems of global capitalism. Massive speculation was made possible by the speed and reach of the new information and communication technologies, resulting in repeated economic crises. A planetary Green New Deal may offer the best hope to rebuild the economy around productive capital and lay the basis for greater social justice.

Дефиниция «предпринимательство» в контексте современной геополитической обстановки: новые тенденции развития

Entrepreneurship, being a determining factor of economic progress under classical capitalism, retains its importance at all stages of the development of a market economy. In the modern geopolitical situation in the world and in the Russian Federation, the factor of entrepreneurship is of particular importance, enhancing the effect of not only its well-known functions, but focusing on the social function, in particular on the social responsibility of the entrepreneur. In this regard, the scientific community has not yet formulated a definition of the category “entrepreneurship”. The purpose of this study is to develop the theoretical and methodological foundations for the study of entrepreneurship from the perspective of its role in the process of expanded reproduction, taking into account its social function and social responsibility of the entrepreneur. Based on an analysis of existing approaches to defining entrepreneurship, the authors identified its characteristic features: initiative, creativity, independence, risk, search for new business opportunities, innovativeness, consumer orientation and social responsibility of the entrepreneur. It is proposed to supplement the definition of entrepreneurship, taking into account its role in ensuring the reproduction of the productive forces of society in the modern geopolitical situation. The characteristic features of entrepreneurship as an economic category are formulated, and its functions are highlighted – reproductive, coordination, organizational, innovative, social and personal. It is shown that entrepreneurship can be carried out in the form of imitation or innovation, depending on the prevailing functions. Both forms are important for economic development. Taking into account the reproductive function of entrepreneurship, the reasons for the state’s economic policy to activate it are highlighted – stimulating economic restructuring, overcoming market failures, supporting the innovation process. The policy for activating entrepreneurship must be comprehensive and coordinated. It is necessary to integrate the efforts of various ministries and departments to stimulate entrepreneurial dynamics and develop the social responsibility of business. Thus, the article substantiates the conceptual provisions of the theory of entrepreneurship, identifies its reproductive function and proposes an approach to the formation of state policy to enhance entrepreneurial activity, taking into account the reproductive and social functions, including the function of social responsibility of the entrepreneur.

The Social Origins of Capital: Trajectories of Accumulation at the Rural–Urban Interface in Pakistani Punjab

Recent scholarship on class formation in South Asia has drawn attention to consequential processes of capital accumulation taking place in provincial towns and in the countryside. This “provincial capital” finds its genesis in the commercialisation of agriculture, is often smaller in scale than big capital, is rooted in the locality, depends more on informal than formal institutions, and holds diverse assets across the rural–urban divide. While the significance of this segment of capital is well established in the literature on India, it has hardly been investigated in Pakistan. In response to this dearth of studies, this article charts the “making of a provincial capitalist class” in two areas of the Pakistani Punjab. It traces the origins of this class in how the distinct landownership structures and caste composition of the two areas interacted with the commercialisation of agriculture in the colonial period. Yet their paths were by no means pre-determined as the exit of Hindu mercantile castes created a vacuum that was filled by peasant castes diversifying off-farm in one of these areas and large landlords and non-landed artisanal castes in the other. This highlights the widening of the social circle from which capital has emerged.

Debt Economy and Class Transformation in Tunisia: A Critical Comparative Analysis (1860s–1970s)

The progressive integration of Tunisia into the international capital market implies deep institutional and social transformations as well as the positioning of the country in the semi-periphery of the capitalist world-economy. From the mid-19th and during the twentieth century, the growing Tunisia’s debt paved the way to a compulsory financial administration of the North African country by 1870. Likewise, this process favoured the development of a capitalist class, whose origins were both exogenous and endogenous, drawing its power from doing business with the global financial élites. Thus, we assist to the birth of a capitalist class with local and international interests, also called afterward compradors. Adopting an original comparative approach, this article shows that the integration of a country into the global economy, mainly when occurring through a growing foreign debt, paves the way not only to the birth of a local capitalist class drawing its power from the circulation of capital but also to the permanent positioning of the country in the semi-periphery of the capitalist world-economy. The access to the international capital markets, according to the rules of the controlling powers and elites, makes the indebted country less independent in its economic policy choices, thus modifying its class structure in favour of the new capitalist elites, and their interests.

Financial Subordination and Postcolonial Geographies of Renewable Energy Finance in South Africa: A Critique of the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan

The renewable energy market is expanding in Africa, along with funding from the West for numerous projects on renewable energy. In this article, I problematise renewable energy finance in Africa, with a specific focus on the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan in South Africa, building on and contributing to literature on financial subordination and geographies of renewables finance. I critically analyse, through a desktop study and documentary analysis of the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan, how racial capitalism continues through postcolonial renewable financing for electricity generation in South Africa, driving private sector participation in the public sector, under a neocolonialist framework. First, I draw on literature focusing on race and postcolonialism in Africa regarding financing of renewable energy. Second, I critically assess South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Partnership and Investment Plan from a critical theory perspective. I argue for an understanding of renewable energy financing through the lens of postcolonial financial subordination that not only continues colonial logic but furthers the racialisation of capitalism in South Africa along lines benefitting the West and its interests through the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan, and the capitalist class in South Africa.

The Pasinetti theorem in a task‐based model of automation

AbstractWe integrate the notion of task‐based automation into a two‐class model and study the interaction between endogenous automation and the wealth distribution between capitalists and workers. We find that, as the economy becomes more automated, the possibility of a sustained capitalist class naturally arises. We show that capital‐augmenting technical progress induces automation and that it can generate a historical path from the dual equilibrium (where workers own all wealth), over the Pasinetti equilibrium (where capitalists own some wealth) to the anti‐dual outcome (where capitalists own all wealth). The model's implications are related to Piketty's account of rising wealth inequality.

Relocating exploitation

Abstract In light of recent trends toward “jobless growth” and increased wagelessness, a debate has arisen concerning whether there is an “outside” of capitalism. Surplus populations that are superfluous to the needs of the capitalist class can, it has been argued, constitute this “outside,” with some among them sustaining a living unscathed by capitalist exploitation. However, in my case study of tenant shopkeepers in South Korea, I demonstrate how supposedly superfluous livelihood activities are subsumed in exploitative capitalist relations when the urban commercial properties in which tenants make their livelihoods become high- return, speculative commodities. By identifying how and when exploitation can be activated well beyond the employment relationship, or even the “disguised” employment relationship, I call for extending the concept of exploitation to include these frontiers of capitalist extraction.

Unpacking the Class Struggle in Emily Dickinson’s Because I Could Not Stop for Death: A Marxist Analysis

This research paper explores a Marxist analysis of Emily Dickinson’s Because I could not stop for Death. This research takes a qualitative approach, which will involve a close reading of Dickinson’s poem to identify instances that reflect Marxist ideology. Drawing on the concepts of exploitation, alienation, and class-consciousness, this paper demonstrates how the poem can be read as a critique of the capitalist system, which serves the interests of the ruling elite at the expense of the proletariat. The poem’s central metaphor of Death as the controlling force behind the journey underscores the coercive and suppressive nature of the bourgeois regime. The imagery of the sights and sounds encountered enroute likewise symbolizes the exploitation of the working class for the benefit of the capitalist class. Ultimately, the speaker’s final realization of the ongoing struggle and the need for revolutionary struggle highlights the Marxist ideals of revolutionary consciousness as a vital component of class resistance. While this paper is limited in scope and depth, it offers a unique perspective on the significance of one of Dickinson’s most famous poems as a social critique of the dominant political and economic structure of its time.

Nation-builders and market architects: How social origins mold the careers of law graduates over 200years in Norway.

This paper examines the types of work that jurists have historically undertaken and maps how opportunities for legal practice have been shaped by social origins across three centuries: after constitutional independence in the mid-1800s, during industrial capitalism in the mid-1900s, and at present-day advanced capitalism. I analyze historical archive data on law graduates from the 19th and 20th centuries in combination with administrative registry data from the 1990s onwards and employ correspondence analysis to explore how social backgrounds shape careers, considering transformations in class structures and the changing significance of juridical expertise over time. Within each period, jurists have served in very different roles including those that craft and cater to the institutional make-up of the state and the markets. My analysis shows that the impact of social origin on occupational outcomes has undergone significant changes, mirroring shifts in the broader social structure; from the importance of legal and political capital (within regional jurisdictions) in the 19th century to the significance of economic capital as the main structuring principle, but also a greater significance of cultural capital, in contemporary times. The ability to reach the most powerful positions among law graduates-within the polity in the 19th century, and the economy in the 21st century-has been differently structured by origins. I argue that expansion of the student body, the declining standing of the university, and heightened differentiation of the social structure and the juridical field have made intimate familiarity with the business world pivotal for forging mutually beneficial alliances between jurists and the increasingly dominant capitalist class. Today, a select group of jurists have managed to connect with and contribute to the rising power of private capital. Thus, the historical tale of jurists cannot be accurately captured by notions of uniform descent from national power structures.