Critique Of Political Economy Research Articles

Trading-off or trading-in? A critical political economy perspective of green growth’s policy framing

ABSTRACT The trade-off policy framing has been a central feature of green growth since the 1980s, employed to frame the countervailing spheres of social, environmental, and economic policies purported to ensure the sustainable development of the global economy. This article argues that so central has this framing become that IPE scholars have tended to focus on different types of ‘greenable’ growth observable within capitalism, rather than question the prospect of greening growth itself. Far from value-free, the trade-off framing is ultimately determined by the structural imperative for economic growth, veiling the disciplines anthropocentric ontology in a normative or objective guise. To account for the tacit prioritization, the trade-in policy framing – the compromising of environmental objectives to accommodate the growth imperative – is advanced as an alternative framing. The trading-in of environmental policies is legitimized through political-industrial narratives, of which three, the (i) consequential, (ii) allay, and (iii) finance are outlined in this analysis.

Introduction: Marxifying IR, IRifying Marxism

Although the neglect of Marxism has been a pervasive characteristic of IR theory, there has been a marked revival of interest in Marxism. Marx’s materialist insights into the general historical development of societies, as well as his critique of capitalism and political economy, have served as alternative starting points for different critical approaches to IR and offers a welcome alternative to neorealism, constructivism, and poststructuralism that have dominated IR for several decades. Marxism provides a redefinition of IR by focusing on changes in material circumstances, historical conditions, and society instead of assuming unchanging and fixed structures of anarchy or the state. Marx’s analysis and insights into the dynamics of international relations have become even more important given the ongoing crisis of neoliberal capitalism, the rise of authoritarianism, right-wing nationalist populisms, and the racial and gendered subordinations accompanying them pointing to the importance of Marxifying IR and IRifying Marxism.

Lifeworld transformations in digital capitalism

Lifeworld transformations in digital capitalism

Critical Theory Foundations of Digital Capitalism: A Critical Political Economy Perspective

The overall task of this paper is to outline some foundations of a critical theory of digital capitalism. The approach of the Critique of Political Economy is taken as the starting point for theorising (digital) capitalism. First, the paper discusses selected classical definitions of capitalism. Theories of digital capitalism must build on definitions and theories of capitalism. If capitalism is not only an economic order but a societal formation, the analysis of capitalism is the analysis of economic exploitation and non-economic domination phenomena and their interaction. Theories of digital capitalism should also address the question of how class, racism, and patriarchy are related in the context of digitalisation. Second, the author introduces a notion of digital capitalism that is based on Marx’s approach of the Critique of Political Economy. Third, the paper engages with one influential contemporary approach to theorising capitalism, Nancy Fraser’s Cannibal Capitalism. The author discusses what we can learn from Fraser’s approach to theorising digital capitalism. Fourth, the author discusses existing understandings of digital capitalism that can be found in the academic literature. These definitions are compared to the understanding advanced in this article. Fifth, the paper discusses the relationship of the notion of digital capitalism from a Critical Political Economy perspective in comparison to the notions of the network society/informational capitalism (Manuel Castells), surveillance capitalism (Shoshana Zuboff), and platform capitalism (Nick Srnicek). Sixth, the paper reflects on the relationship between digital capitalism and violence as we live in a (digital) age where a new World War is all but uncertain. Finally, some conclusions are drawn.

Port Harcourt residents’ response to NPC’s campaign against inaccurate and malicious news publications

In its effort to ensure that media contents are not slanted to misinform the public, the Nigerian Press Council (NPC) leaves a window for members of the public to lodge complaints about perceived inaccuracies and malicious publications with the Council for proper investigation and action. Notwithstanding this window, which also offers the public an opportunity to entrench responsible journalism, it appears that many Nigerian citizens do not take advantage of the directive. This study investigated Port Harcourt residents’ response to NPC’s directive against inaccurate and malicious news reports. Among other objectives, the study investigated Port Harcourt residents’ response to the directive. The critical political-economy theory provided theoretical cornerstone to the study. Using the survey research design, a sample size of 384 respondents was drawn from a population of 205,507. Findings of the study showed that many residents of Port Harcourt had observed inaccurate and malicious news reports but failed to report to the NPC due to fear of being victimized. The study recommended, among other measures, that NPC should assure Nigerian citizens that complaints arising from perceived inaccurate news publications would be treated as confidential.

It’s the political economy after all: Implications of the case of Israel’s media system transition on the theory of media systems

Abstract This study examines the theory of media systems and the models offered by Hallin and Mancini (2004) by focusing on critical junctures in which changes occur. Based on critical political economy and historical institutionalism, we analyzed the Israeli media system transition in the 1980s and early 1990s, seeking to understand the nature of this change and its theoretical implications. Our findings show a combination of government, market, and public forces in a unique situation where political, economic, and social circumstances change. Accordingly, we conclude that a distinction between politics and economy, as the media system theory and, specifically, the liberal model suggests, is invalid under neoliberalism. We argue that research attention should be paid to critical junctions, and that a closer analysis of government and market interrelations can enrich theories of media systems.

Public Service Media in Northern Ireland: Prominence and Vulnerability in a Small Media System

Public Service Media remains at the centre of the public sphere in Northern Ireland. Public Service Media organisations such as the BBC broadcast in a society that remains politically and culturally divided. This has been the case for decades, even if the worst of the violence in Northern Ireland has now dissipated. The Northern Ireland media system includes local media provision, along with provision from the rest of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. This article identifies Northern Ireland’s media system as sharing characteristics with what Puppis (2009) defines as a small media system, under slightly different conditions. This article takes a Critical Political Economy approach to Public Service Media organisations operating in Northern Ireland, in order to argue that while there is prominence in the place of PSM in the media system, there is also vulnerability inherent.

Platformlar ve Ekonomi Politiğin Eleştirisi

The study of platforms, or multi-sided markets, has seen exponential growth in economics, media studies, social sciences, and humanities. However, the critical political economy of media has been relatively quiet, with notable exceptions in areas such as platform capitalism, imperialism and especially platform labour and gig work. However, traditional Marxian production, often taken as the starting point, relies on the labour theory of value and struggles to capture all platform specificities. Due to their integrated understanding of production and circulation of value, I will argue that New Readings of Marx and Open Marxism help study platforms as linchpins of internet user lifeworlds and the global economy. In this literature, capitalism is analysed as a historically specific social form of production. Additionally, these approaches can address some theoretical problems that occasionally occur with related Marxian theories, such as unpaid digital labour, rent, and techno-feudalism. In that sense, this paper aims to contribute to the critical political economy of the media and the study of platforms by bringing previously neglected theoretical approaches to the centre stage and unpacking platforms as social forms of production and circulation in contemporary capitalism.

Diversifying News Sources as Multicultural News Production: Critical Political Economy Approach to Sourcing Practices in Ethiopian Mainstream TV Channels

This study examines the diversity of news sourcing in Ethiopian TV channels, utilizing Critical Political Economy approach. It analyses 1167 news stories from 2019 to 2021 and interviews with 25 journalists. The study reveals disparity in the representation of peripheral communities, despite the utilization of various news sources. This indicates that diversifying news sources alone does not guarantee equal representation of diverse voices. Economic limitations, editorial decisions, and language barriers confine news gathering to specific geographic regions. Journalists’ limited autonomy and newsroom culture contribute to prioritizing government affairs thereby limiting diversity of voices. The study suggests collaborative efforts among news editors, managers, and political authorities, and policy framework for multicultural news production, to achieve content and voice diversity. It emphasizes the need to combine normative principles with real-world practices and the impact of resource constraints on media reception and viewer choices in future research.

Critical Sociology of Media and Communication: Connecting a Disconnected Field

The sociology of media and communications was never explicitly defined – nor was there ever an explicit debate about the sub-field. Not having a clear anchor makes it hard to define what its critical component should be. Nonetheless, a rich yet disconnected tradition of sociology and critical political economy allows flexibility to reconsider communication and social relations in the broader societal dynamics of capitalism. Specifying a critical sociological approach to communication can help better define the role of communication at the micro, mezzo and macro levels of society. The multi-paradigmatic heritage of sociological theory can provide new ways of criticising communication power in contemporary society. Diverse contemporary developments in the critique of political economy give a breadth of understanding of the capitalist mode of production and its internal dynamics. Sociology can add depth to understanding social relations within and beyond the production, distribution and consumption process. This introduction sets out the framework for the special issue.

From the age of immanence to the autonomy of the political: (Post)operaismo in theory and practice

This article critically examines the transition from Marx to Spinoza within Antonio Negri’s postoperaist thought and explores a potential alternative rooted in Mario Tronti’s concept of the ‘autonomy of the political’. In Negri’s postoperaismo, the embrace of Spinoza reevaluates Marx’s critique of political economy through an optimistic lens, suggesting a tendency beyond capitalism. However, Negri’s embrace of a Spinozian plane of immanence entails a problematic affirmation of what exists. The article argues that Negri’s worldview, despite its beginnings, ends up resembling deterministic historical materialism. While critical theory exposes flaws in Negri’s theory, it falls short in providing a practical alternative. Returning to Negri’s interpretation of Spinoza’s Political Treatise uncovers earlier arguments, rooted in paradoxes inherent to practical politics. However, reliance on the concept of the multitude highlights deeper issues in Negri’s approach. Rather than adhering to postoperaismo or critical theory, the article suggests an alternative in Tronti’s journey from operaismo, particularly in the concept of the ‘autonomy of the political’. Notwithstanding critiques, this attempted liberation from Marxist determinism allows for a clearer confrontation with politics. The article concludes that Hardt and Negri’s recent critical engagement with this concept advances their arguments but does not entirely overcome inherent limitations in their approach.

Analytical utility of periodizing capitalist history: Neoliberalism, social welfare spending, and income inequality in the United States

This article critiques policies aimed at income redistribution within the framework of Marx’s critique of political economy. The ‘Neoliberal’ characterization of capitalist history, the tendency to divide capitalism into distinct sub-periods or phases, continues to play a significant role for describing changes to social policy in the United States. Prominent academics and public intellectuals continue to hold spirited debates over whether or not welfare spending in the United States has become less generous over the years, owing to increasing ‘neoliberalization’ of the American economy. This mixed-methods research paper analyzes trends in social welfare spending and income inequality for the United States. To supplement the analysis, a novel dataset on Distributional National Accounts from the Bureau of Economic Analysis is also analyzed. Evidence suggests previous concerns in the literature are unfounded and are not borne out by empirical evidence.

Book Review: A New Introduction to Karl Marx: New Materialism, Critique of Political Economy, and the Concept of Metabolism by Ryuji Sasaki

Book Review: <i>A New Introduction to Karl Marx: New Materialism, Critique of Political Economy, and the Concept of Metabolism</i> by Ryuji Sasaki

Reconciling Ireland’s climate ambitions with climate policy and practice: challenges, contradictions and barriers

Often perceived as a green nation, Ireland’s climate action reputation ranges from being regarded as a climate ‘laggard’ to being applauded as one of the first states to introduce supply-side ‘keep it in the ground’ (KIIG) legislation. In line with UNFCCC and IPCC advice, Ireland has committed to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 51% by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050. However such ambitions have not yet translated into sufficient transformations required to achieve the goals of a Paris Agreement compliant pathway. Major challenges surround Ireland’s transition to net zero, for example, the country’s fossil fuel dependency means oil and gas (mostly imported) account for around 80% of primary energy while emissions from agriculture, transport and electricity generation are increasing, rather than decreasing. Ireland is failing to meet national and EU GHG reduction targets, has had to buy emissions quotas to comply with legal requirements, and its interim 2030 target is below the EU’s Climate Law ambition. Contradictory policies, especially those influenced by ROI’s neoliberal orientation, undermine climate action and mean Ireland struggles to achieve GHG reductions, despite the state’s climate change legislation and policies. Concentrating on supply-side climate policy, this article examines key issues hampering Ireland’s ability to reconcile its climate ambitious with policy and practice. Adopting a critical political economy analysis, we explore multi-level drivers of climate and energy policies, examining challenges like the war in Ukraine, which prompted the Irish state to re-consider where and how it sources gas and oil, in turn threatening existing KIIG measures. In critically analysing challenges and contradictions, we identify multiple ideological, political and economic factors, in particular, the neoliberal, globalised economic model influencing the State’s current unsustainable, risky and contradictory policy direction. We conclude by articulating specific barriers hampering Ireland’s climate ambitions that must be addressed to enable a just transition to a sustainable future.

The Inheritance of Hardt and Negri to Marx’s Thought: From the Critique of Political Economy to Biopolitical Critique

The Inheritance of Hardt and Negri to Marx’s Thought: From the Critique of Political Economy to Biopolitical Critique

Beyond Full Employment: Keynes and Kalecki on our Economic Future

ABSTRACT This paper addresses the idea of creating an economy beyond full employment — namely one that offers some work for people to do but also more abundant leisure time. It argues that this idea has endured in critical political economy. J.M. Keynes gave it support directly. Its realisation though raises concerns over the balance of power relations in society and the scope to use the productivity gains from technological progress to lighten work. Here useful lessons on the limits to reducing work in the economy can be gleaned from Michal Kalecki’s work. The paper uses the writings of Keynes and Kalecki to consider the possibilities for and barriers to creating a different (leisure-filled) economic future. Some wider implications are drawn for modern debates concerning the scope for achieving a four-day working week. Overall, the paper establishes the value of integrating ideas from both Keynes and Kalecki and of emulating their common endeavour to promote the vision of a radically different economic future.

Re-purposing the built environment of urban China: Residential eldercare and David Harvey's capital switching in a new era

In urban China, institutional eldercare interacts with local land markets in ways that present special analytical problems in critical political economy. It is a new sector: home-based eldercare and childcare have formed complementary parts of intergenerational household strategies that are coming under system-wide pressure for the first time. Growth in Chinese institutional eldercare has increasingly contributed to the repurposing of a wide range of disused buildings, with noteworthy state encouragement. We read this post-reform feature of urban transformation to deploy David Harvey’s concept of ‘capital switching’ in new ways that are emerging in studies of China's urban geography. Harvey’s framework has already been used in analysing China’s multi-decade boom in the built environment. It exposed the stabilising effects of diverting capital from overaccumulation in single turnover and realisation cycles into deferred returns in the multi-cycle built environment albeit complicated by complex and distinctive interpenetrations of consumption fund and fixed capital, for-profit and not-for-profit sectors, state and non-state interests, and so on. This certainly speaks to the origins of contemporary Chinese urbanisation booms. But repurposing for institutional eldercare now appears to be playing a role in abating mounting overaccumulation and potential devalorisation in the built environment, pairing these unprofitable buildings with for-profit eldercare services operating and yielding profits in repeated single turnover cycles. We experiment with bundled commodity theory to understand repurposing buildings for residential eldercare in this new context.

From formal subsumption under capital to primitive accumulation of capital: On the separation of labour from the objective conditions of production in Marx’s Capital

In contemporary Marxist studies, there has been a revival of two classic categories of the Critique of Political Economy, namely, ‘formal subsumption of labour under capital’ and ‘primitive accumulation of capital’. In contradistinction to traditional usages, Marxists authors consider that both belong, not to the historical past of capitalist production, but to its actuality. Regrettably, this recuperation has not been accompanied by a more thorough assessment of the methodological and political dimensions that are contained in both categories. This article aims to address this issue in the light of Marx’s use of the categories of formal subsumption of labour under capital and primitive accumulation of capital. In doing so, it will be demonstrated that they refer to the same process, namely, the separation of labour from the objective conditions of production, and that, given this internal connection, they co-evolve throughout Marx’s economic works, from Grundrisse to Capital, volume I. Moreover, it will be seen that the substitution of primitive accumulation for formal subsumption must be understood in Marx’s shift from a systematic to a historical approach to the historical process by which the capitalist mode of production came to life; and that Marx adopted this new perspective on both methodological and political grounds. The article also discusses the importance of contemporary Marxist scholarship of this examination of the methodological and political premises of Marx’s use of the notions of formal subsumption and primitive accumulation.

Critical Political Economy of Culture and Communication: An Interview with Graham Murdock

This paper presents an interview with Graham Murdock. It was conducted by Thomas Allmer and Christian Fuchs for tripleC. In it, Graham Murdock reflects on the field of Critical Political Economy of Culture and Communication, his contributions to and work in this field of studies, the role of Karl Marx in this field, Stuart Hall, Critical Political Economy and Cultural Studies, Raymond Williams, the climate crisis and the environmental movement, Materialism, New Materialisms, Postmodernism, Pierre Bourdieu, the future of society, culture, and the media. The topics the interview covers are structured into three parts: 1. Critical Political Economy, 2. Critical Political Economy and Cultural Studies, 3. Questions of Materialism.

Negotiating the public: re-municipalization, water politics and social reproduction

ABSTRACT In the context of the global wave of privatization of local public services, re-municipalization has emerged as a viable policy alternative, broadly understood as the return to public management. The paper examines its transformative potential by analysing what ‘public’ means in practice with a particular focus on governance and decision-making. To do so, the paper investigates the re-municipalization of urban water services in Naples (Italy) and Paris (France) by utilizing qualitative methods. Through a critical political economy approach, informed by social reproduction theory and political ecology, I argue that re-municipalization should be seen as a process that different social forces continuously try to shape. The findings not only contribute to the specific literature on water services, but also to that on re-municipalization, within the debate about public versus private provision. More broadly, the research enhances the understanding of water through the lenses of critical political economy.