Capitalism Research Articles

The Contradiction between Use-Value and Exchange-Value: Ecology, Imperialism, and the Telos of Production

This article elaborates and defends a critique of capitalism which, despite its appearance in various bodies of work, has not been named or systematically differentiated. The critique locates a contradiction between production for use-value and production for exchange-value, or a contradiction in what we call "the telos of production." While maintaining that it has some basis in Marx's work, we defend this model as preferable to the critique of capitalism based strictly on the exploitation of labor (which we call the "exploitation-exclusive critique"). We attempt to show this by applying the two approaches to the empirical realities of the ecological crisis and ongoing imperialist relations. It is not necessary, however, to abandon the critique of exploitation, or various other criticisms of the capitalist system: we claim that the telos of production critique is the most general diagnosis of capitalism and is capable of incorporating the other major critiques.

The contribution of qualitative methods to economic research in an era of polycrisis

This article argues that the considerable socio-economic and political challenges posed by the polycrisis can be better understood through the application of qualitative methods in economic research as quantitative methods fall short in this context. We argue that the integration of qualitative methods into economic research is crucial for two main reasons: first, from a philosophical point of view, a more comprehensive perspective on economic phenomena increases the epistemic quality of economic knowledge, and second, for political reasons, more pluralism in economics increases the democratic quality of capitalistic societies. We provide a review of the literature of the use of qualitative methods in economics and its philosophical underpinnings. Using specific examples of the application of qualitative methods in economic policy research, we show how valuable such perspectives are in facilitating a deeper understanding of the polycrisis. We address concerns against qualitative research in the economic discipline and how our analysis serves to mitigate some of these concerns in the context of the polycrisis. We conclude with a discussion on the potential role of qualitative methods in economic research.

Effects of Globalization on Third World Development: The Nigerian Experience

The study examines globalization and its effects on third world development with emphasis on the Nigerian state. The growing global economy was fastened mostly by information technology, international trade, culture, political, and social activities across the globe. It has no doubt created a global dual phenomenon where third world countries continued to experience economic and political development at the expense of western world. Thus, third world countries are fully incorporated into the global capitalist economy but the accrued benefits are not evenly distributed. Globalization is another form of colonization of third world countries achieved through the use of exploitative instruments like World Trade Organization (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, multinational corporations and other international financial institutions in order to capture the world in the name of globalization. These aforementioned instruments in the name of globalization are diversionary and plausible because there is no country in the world that is in the process of development as a result of globalization or that has developed as a product of globalization. The pro-globalizers deceive third world countries, that globalization is a path to development in which all third world countries are supposed to follow in order to become developed. Nigeria, in the current wind of globalization remains a clientele economy in the competitive global market. The study adopts documentary research methods and relied majorly on secondary data and modernisation theory was adopted as the theoretical foundation of the study. The study revealed that underdevelopment in Nigeria resulted from the negative effects of globalization are to explore the political impacts of globalization and imposition of foreign rule in Nigeria, to explore the economic impacts of globalization and unequal terms of trade in Nigeria and to identify the role of Nigeria as giant of Africa in global markets. The study, however suggest economic diversification and exportable capacity of the third world economy in the global market, regulation of international capitalist structure through applicability of market friendly policies devoid of stringent market policies placed on third world countries by the developed countries and Improving bank regulations of the third world countries nations banks are well regulated to their boost economic growth. The study concludes that there is interconnectedness between globalization and development in Nigeria, which in turn increases the rate of unemployment of masses and hinders political and economic development in Nigeria.

Post-Soviet power hierarchies in the making: Postcolonialism in Tajikistan’s relations with Russia

AbstractThis article explores post-Soviet power hierarchies which constitute a unique system of vertical stratification in world politics. It does so by analysing relations between two former Soviet states, Tajikistan and Russia, in the aftermath of the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991. The article investigates the underlying reasons for power asymmetries between the two countries, the ways hierarchies are sustained and enforced, as well as perceived and navigated at political and social levels. It is argued that Tajikistan’s relations with Russia are explicitly postcolonial without clear-cut colonial precedents in Soviet times. Postcolonialism did not automatically result from the Soviet breakdown. Rather, it has gradually emerged because of the two countries’ very different paths of integration into the global capitalist economy, which subordinated Tajikistan to Russia. In this way, new economic asymmetries exacerbated Soviet-era legacies and reinvented them in a new, hierarchical manner. Overall, the article contributes to the debate on the nature of post-Soviet legacies and what it means to be post-Soviet.

GESTÃO DEMOCRÁTICA ESCOLAR: POSSIBILIDADES E DESAFIOS EM UM SISTEMA NEOLIBERAL VIGENTE NO BRASIL.

The present work aimed to analyze possibilities and challenges in the consolidation of democratic management in Brazil, a capitalist country. The study, based on bibliographic analyses and field research, was organized into three chapters, which will be presented to understand the challenges and possibilities of action regarding democratic management in schools. Within this perspective, we analyzed the neoliberal capitalist system and its implications for the educational context. We also reflected on the Brazilian economic and social system in order to understand its interrelation with Brazilian education. It was necessary to conduct a study on democratic school management in public schools. To do so, a visit was made to a school, where we could observe the management. We studied its pedagogical political project, observed the actions carried out in school management, and conducted interviews in order to understand the organization of the management of this school. Theoretically, we relied on Libâneo (2009), Saviani (2002), Frigotto (2003), Paro (2001), Dourado (2001), and Sapelli (2004), among other scholars. This study proved to be important not only to understand the challenges imposed by the economic system on education but also to point out the possibilities of action in the face of these challenges. Its importance also lies in the possibility of indicating a transformative bias for the implementation of democratic management in public schools in the state of Paraná

Net-Zero Paradigm in Capitalist Economy: A Critical Assessment

Sustainability, green economy, ESG (environmental – social – governance) are the terms used interchangeably. They all represent an economy that enjoys sustainable growth and profitability while staying in line with ecological concerns. To reach the state of a sustainable profit, one of the most important achievements is decarbonisation according to the proponents of capitalism. As such, one of the most common paradigms for decarbonizing the planet is net zero -net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emission-. Advocates of the sustainable economy claim that this goal can be reached by 2050. This article first discusses the net-zero paradigm and then provides a critique that emphasizes the antagonism between the two, i.e., between net-zero and capitalist economy and concludes that net-zero paradigm contradicts the very essence of the capital: profit and growth.

A Study of Female Alienation in The Year of the Flood From the Perspective of Fromm's Alienation Theory

The Year of the Flood is the second book in Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam Trilogy. As a Canadian literary queen, Margaret mainly explores the issue of women's situation and prospects in the society. She depicts the current situation of women with delicate strokes, and The Year of the Flood is a typical example of this. This novel depicts the post-apocalyptic scenario faced by mankind after a waterless flood. The work delves into the postmodern society's over-reliance on technology and material development. People blindly pursue development rather than to fulfil real needs. In this background, the novel reveals the alienating effects of the egoistic tendencies of the society on women's existential condition. This paper applies Fromm's Alienation Theory to analyse the existential situation faced by women in the novel in a capitalist society. The society tends to take economic growth and technological progress as the criteria for measuring social progress, while ignoring the carrying capacity of the ecological environment and the spiritual needs of human beings. This single path of pursuing development not only causes damage to nature, but also alienates women's state of being. Margaret Atwood's works aim to provoke thinking and self-reflection, calling attention to the interactive relationship between man and nature, and man and society. She tries to establish a social order full of respect, equality and social responsibility. Only by truly liberating women and paying attention to the natural environment can mankind achieve true freedom and liberation.

Where Does Hope Lie? The Dialectical Tensions Between Hopes and Expectations of Vocational Transition Planning from the Perspectives of Autistic Young Adults, Parents, and Practitioners.

The post-secondary transition for autistic youth is a complex process, with hopes and expectations serving as malleable mediators often overlooked in research and practice. Career awareness, exploration, and counseling services play a critical role in facilitating vocational transition, but the vocational hopes and expectations of autistic youth and their parents are often disregarded. This study aims to explore these aspirations and their impact on the vocational transition process, seeking to harmonize elements to better align with the needs of autistic youth and their families. This study used a focus group design involving group interviews with three participant groups: autistic transition-aged youth, parents, and practitioners. The findings reveal five key themes: 1) Accepting Disability or Constrained by Ableism: Resisting Marginalization, 2) Finding the Sweet Spot: Are Parents and Youth's Expectations Too High or Too Low, 3) Market Forces at Work-Finding a Meaningful Vocational Path in a Capitalist Society, 4) Despite Meticulous Planning, there is a Disconnect Between Needs and Resources, and 5) The Hills and Valleys of Finding Resilience. Navigating the multifaceted landscape of vocational transition planning for autistic youth necessitates a collaborative and flexible approach. Identified tensions serve as opportunities for growth and transformation. Recognizing and addressing system shortcomings is crucial for informed decision-making. Challenges extend beyond individual circumstances, reflecting broader systemic issues, and identifying these gaps allows for a comprehensive understanding of available resources, cultivating a basis of hope as uncertainties are addressed.

Contesting just transitions: Climate delay and the contradictions of labour environmentalism

The notion of ‘just transition’ (JT) is an attempt to align climate and energy objectives with the material concerns of industrial workers, frontline communities, and marginalised groups. Despite the potential for fusing social and environmental justice, there is growing concern that the concept is being mobilised in practice as a form of ‘climate delayism’: a problem more ambiguous than open forms of denialism as it draws in multiple and conflictual agents, practices, and discourses. Using an historical materialist framework, attentive to both energy-capital and capital-labour relations, we show how JT is vulnerable to forces and relations of climate delay across both fossil capital and climate capital hegemonic projects. We review this through an engagement with the climate obstructionism literature and the theory of labour environmentalism: the political engagement of trade unionists and workers with environmental issues. As tensions within the labour movement surface amidst the unsettling of the carbon capital hegemony, we assess the degree to which (organised) labour—as an internally differentiated, contradictory movement—is participating in climate breakdown through a ‘praxis of delay’. Trade unions and industrial workers are often implicated in resisting or undermining transitions, but this is related significantly to their structural power relations vis a vis the fossil hegemony. Notably, JT negotiations are themselves structurally embedded within the carbon capital economy. The general preferences of trade unions for social over environmental justice might be prevalent but are neither universal nor inevitable; JT is open and contested political terrain, and labour-environmental struggles remain imperative for building just energy futures.

Ibn Khaldun’s Labor Theory of Value and the Question of Race

In the first volume of Capital, Marx argued that the labor theory of value could only be discovered in capitalist societies. Building on Marx’s premise, this article examines Ibn Khaldun’s (1377) The Muqaddimah, which presents one of the first labor theories of value in world history. After explaining different elements of Ibn Khaldun’s labor theory of value, the article revisits what Giovanni Arrighi referred to as the “nondebates of the 1970s” and proposes that North Africa was already incorporated into an Italian centered capitalist world-economy in the fourteenth century. Since a key element of Marx’s argument was the impossibility of the emergence of abstract labor in societies (e.g. ancient Greece) which do not have the idea of equality of human beings and human labor, in the latter part, the article analyzes Ibn Khaldun’s theory of race and human equality. We show that Ibn Khaldun, through his comparative and historical observations, acknowledged the equality of all humans and the constructed nature of race, influenced by geography, history, and political economy. The world-historical analysis and theoretical interventions of the article helps us rethink capitalism and racism as two major pillars of modernity.

Chinese Constitutonal Performance Unveiled: Text Mining Insights in Civil Litigations

Abstract This article presents a comprehensive examination of the role of constitutions in private disputes, with a specific focus on the Chinese Constitution. Utilizing an extensive dataset of digitized court adjudications, this study delves into a relatively unexplored area, yielding crucial factual and legal insights. The research reveals that the Chinese Constitution significantly influences civil adjudications, both implicitly and explicitly. Furthermore, court judgments emerge as pivotal forces shaping public awareness of constitutional principles. These findings hold profound implications for comprehending the role of constitutions in contexts beyond democratic frameworks, particularly within the private sphere. The study underscores how the capitalist market in China empowers individuals to assert and safeguard private rights, consequently affording the Constitution a protective role in this realm. Concurrently, the existing regime has systematically eroded the Constitution’s influence in public affairs, maintaining its symbolic and rhetorical role. Notably, the concept of judicial independence remains a sensitive subject in China, leading many civil courts to eschew constitutional provisions in favor of political expediency. This paradox underscores the necessity of establishing a reasonably independent judiciary as an integral facet of constitutionalism in such settings. In sum, this research challenges prevailing assumptions about constitutionalism’s contours. It transcends the conventional focus on political authority, illustrating how empirical investigations into constitutional performance within civil litigation can illuminate the emergence of constitutionalism in the shadows of non-democratic systems. These findings offer valuable insights into the role of constitutions in private disputes and pave the way for further exploration within this evolving scholarly domain. Ultimately, this study advances our comprehension of constitutional realities and their far-reaching impacts on the legal landscape and society within contemporary China.

Explaining Rural Conservatism: Political Consequences of Technological Change in the Great Plains

Rural areas are conservative electoral strongholds in the United States and other advanced capitalist economies. But this was not always the case. What explains the rise of rural conservatism? This paper argues that technological change transformed not only agriculture but rural political preferences during the twentieth century. It studies a natural experiment: the post-World War II introduction of new irrigation technologies, which enabled farmers to irrigate otherwise arid land in the Great Plains using groundwater. Difference-in-differences analyses exploiting the shock’s differential impact on counties overlying the Ogallala Aquifer—a pattern validated with remote-sensing data—show that technological change contributed significantly to the region’s long-term conservative electoral transformation. Additional analyses, including comparison of individual policy preferences inside/outside the Ogallala Aquifer boundary, suggest that this was due to the rise of capital-intensive agriculture and the growing power of agribusiness. The findings demonstrate how new technologies made new politics in rural America.

(COVID) CRISIS IN A FINANCIALIZED ECONOMY AND ALTERNATIVE REGULATION

Drawing upon the 2007-2008 global crisis and the current Covid pandemic, this article aims to show that since the 1980s, the organization of the economy in a liberal way transformed public financial regulation into market-relying self-regulation that led to persistent crises. The article maintains that the financialized accumulation regime generates endogenous inconsistencies and proves to be unable to ensure systemic stability and long-term viability of society. An alternative financial regulation resting on preventive collective action seems to be a relevant way to provide society with a sustainable and progressive financial system. The ill-management of the Covid crisis is related to the socio-economic framework that rules societies and economies around the world since the 1980s. The evolution of capitalism rests on speculation-led accumulation process that deepens inequalities and puts collective projects and goals on the back burner. This evolution, also known as financialization, is based first and foremost on the primacy of short-term profitability. Relying on individual (micro) rationality, it is unable to conduct market activities from a macroeconomic perspective to ensure the development of society. Although individual market strategies can be regarded as rational actions, the systemic financial stability cannot be achieved by market mechanisms. In a capitalist economy, financial stability is to the viability of society what public health is to the lives of citizens. Both require the oversight of a visible public hand. Drawing upon institutional economics this article then shows that systemic dysfunction of capitalist finance does reflect the dysfunctional organization of society in which collective action has been abandoned in favor of the doctrine of efficient, self-regulating markets. Recurrent crises, caused by the imbalances generated by laissez-faire economics, are the main threats to the sustainability of an open, innovative and progressive society. From this perspective, the regulation of financial systems is of paramount importance and calls for alternative models of collective action that should determine the conditions of exercise of private financial institutions according to the goals of a sustainable economy respectful of both people and the environment beyond the conservative individualistic doctrines.

Environmental technology and traditional knowledge as a way to preserve the water resources of the Pataxó in the Jaqueira Village in Porto Seguro (BA)

Even with all the advances in environmental sciences, traditional knowledge cannot be neglected, therefore, traditional populations deserve and must be consulted when it comes to protecting the natural elements of a landscape. Biodiversity is treated differently between capitalist society and traditional societies. The difference is that traditional people have respect for nature and everything it represents in their lives. In this way, indigenous communities are extremely important for the study of environmental conservation. The research we are developing, which gave rise to this article, aims to contribute to the analysis of the physical-chemical characteristics of the water of the Itinga River, transferring technology through citizen science, so that the Pataxó People can monitor the river through the continuity of its historical cultural relationship, adding technology to its advantage. The text shows the need and possibility of building bridges between scientific knowledge and the traditional knowledge of the Pataxó People in Porto Seguro/BA. We believe in technology transfer as part of citizenship.

Twitch spouse: Livestreaming and the legacy of spousal labour in the video game industry

Precarious careers in the games industry have long relied on the unpaid and largely feminized support of spouses and family members. This paper addresses the role of spouses and other domestic cohabitants in the production of live game broadcasts on Twitch, Amazon’s world-leading platform in live video entertainment. I introduce the heuristic of the ‘Twitch Spouse’ to underscore the crucial role that domestic partners have played as invisible workers in the wider games industry, whose precarious conditions have been extended by the rise of at-home livestreaming. Drawing from ‘playful’ interviews and ethnographic observation with 12 Twitch creators located across the United States and Canada, I delineate three themes by which the partners of Twitch streamers vitally contribute to livestreaming: collaborative space production, the management of intimacy, and timekeeping. Herein, I show how a theorization of the ‘Twitch Spouse’ will build future pathways for recognizing the intertwined struggles of domestic and digital work within the precarious horizons of the game industry. This paper argues that Twitch streamers’ conceptualizations of intimate partners’ supportive labour reinforce domesticity and visibility as co-extended forces in the evolving relevance of digital labour to contemporary capitalism.

Profits over care? An analysis of the relationship between corporate capitalism in the healthcare industry and cancer mortality in the United States

The characteristic features of 21st-century corporate capitalism – monopoly and financialization – are increasingly being recognized by public health scholars as undermining the foundations of human health. While the “vectors” through which this is occurring are well known – poverty, inequality, climate change among others – locating the root cause of this process in the nature and institutions of contemporary capitalism is relatively new. Researchers have been somewhat slow to study the relationship between contemporary capitalism and human health. In this paper, we focus on one of the leading causes of death in the United States; cancer, and empirically estimate the relationship between various measures of financialization and monopoly in the US healthcare system and cancer mortality. The measures we focus on are for the hospital industry, the health insurance industry, and the pharmaceutical industry. Using a fixed effects model with different specifications and control variables, our analysis is at the state level for the years 2012–2019. These variables include data on population demographic controls, social and economic factors, and health behavior and clinical care. We compare Medicaid expansion states with non-Medicaid expansion states to investigate variations in state-level funded health insurance coverage. The results show a statistically significant positive correlation between the HHI index in the individual healthcare market and cancer mortality and the opioid dispensing rate and cancer mortality.

The moral economy of land markets in the Nicaragua highlands

AbstractThis article explores how small‐scale farmers' shared moral understandings of land shape both land sales and land rental markets, in the context of the commoditization of agriculture in Nicaragua. The results here presented are based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a subsistence farming community in the highlands of Nicaragua. This research shows that even in relatively commoditized market economies, shared yet contested ideas around the ethics of a community moral economy stall and constrain the local marketization of land. Social relationships, ideas of a sacred origin of land, and expectations about the duties of landholders toward their community peers undermine the capitalist dynamics of supply and demand. This ethical challenge to capitalist market expansion into land markets enables the survival of small‐scale subsistence farming. These findings are important, as they show how land markets are shaped by differing perspectives on historical dynamics of land tenure, class differentiation, and the everyday moral economies in which competing ideas of obligation, solidarity, and fair prices are articulated.

Systemic cycles of accumulation and chaos in the world capitalist system: a missing link

Abstract We re-examine the systemic cycles of accumulation (SCA) of Arrighi (2010) and Arrighi and Silver (1999) which provide a framework for the analysis of the cyclical patterns of geographical expansion of trade and production and the related shifts of hegemonic power within the world capitalist system. Within the SCA framework, the last stage of a hegemonic cycle is characterized by what is called ‘systemic chaos’. However, the drivers of these dynamics have not been explicitly analyzed. This article fills this gap by providing a link between the accumulation process and systemic chaos. Introducing the logistic map into the SCA analysis, our approach provides the missing detailed understanding of how systemic chaos is an outcome of the contradictory socioeconomic dynamics of capital accumulation itself while being based on the key insights of the SCA framework of hegemonic cycles.

Adaptive Responses and Resilience of Small Livestock Producers to Climate Variability in the Cruz Verde-Sumapaz Páramo, Colombia

Enhanced anthropogenic climatic variability challenges small farmers. In the Sumapaz páramo (Colombia), higher irregularity in precipitation and temperature reduces the quality of pasture and cattle health. Data from surveys, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups were analyzed to understand livestock farmers’ responses to the impacts of climatic variability. To estimate the communities’ resilience in the páramo, we used the capitals framework, the Baseline Resilience Indicator for Communities (BRIC), and cluster analysis. The responses of most households aim to reduce the impacts of climatic variability on the production system, chiefly intensifying practices such as the rotation of paddocks, livelihood diversification, purchase of grass, and buying and selling livestock. Interestingly, farmers did not recognize the value of the types of capital for responding to climatic variability. Results showed that the use of available physical, social, and economic capitals render the farming system resilient. Our probit model estimated that economic and human capitals are the largest and most significant contributors to communities’ capacity to respond to climatic variability. However, pre-existing non-climatic vulnerabilities are also important. For example, poverty hinders farmers from using their income in response to climatic variability. The place-based measurements used in this research are easily understood and applicable by local policy makers to address increasing climate variability.

Capitalizing the future: opportunity capital as symbolic significance of an entrepreneur’s future-venture story

ABSTRACT This paper explores how a future – as something that can only be imagined but can inspire entrepreneurial action – can attract economic capital. We integrate Dor’s (2015) model of language as a communication technology for the instruction of imagination with Bourdieu’s theory of practice to account for how an entrepreneur’s words can hold sway over an investor by virtue of meaning something significant. We introduce opportunity capital as the symbolic significance of the entrepreneur’s future-venture story and the exchange counterparty to the investor’s economic capital. Our portrayal of the future as a symbolic phenomenon inducing action by others offers foundational insights to research on the early stages of venturing and the acquisition of resources by entrepreneurs.