Capitalism Research Articles

China’s ‘state capitalism’ in comparative and historical perspectives

The persistent and increasing domination of the state in China’s contemporary capitalist development leads many to apply the vague concept of state capitalism to China’s economic model. Comparing China with the earlier Asian developmental states, I discuss the distinctiveness of China’s state capitalism, underlined by the state’s paternalistic disposition toward capital and the weakness in private property protection. I argue that the subordination of capital to the political imperative of the Communist party-state, as well as the party-state elite’s explicit reference to the state’s paternalistic discipline of capital in the Qing dynasty, illustrates a connection between today’s statist economic model and Qing dynasty’s familial statism, under which the Manchu state conceptualized and governed the empire as an imagined hierarchal-communalist patrilineage. Comparing and connecting state-capital relations in China's past and present will help us better understand the nature of economic governance in China today.

Perfumed platforms, or the common scents of post-Fordism

ABSTRACT In this paper, I look at the relationship between human olfaction, digital platforms, and everyday media practices in contemporary capitalist contexts. In the first section, I map what I describe as interfaced anosmia, or the absence of smell from mundane media devices. This absence is especially glaring given how olfaction uniquely lends itself to certain mediated forms of affective modulation. In the second section, I look at the platformization of the luxury fragrance industry, across three sites of analysis to reveal how, despite the conditions of interfaced anosmia, smell has already been shaped on and by platforms.

Chinese Perspectives on Chinese Indentured Labourers during the First World War

ABSTRACT This article explores Chinese perspectives on the indenturing of Chinese labourers during the First World War and Chinese official intervention in the indenture system. In contrast to the Qing government’s reluctance to send people overseas, the Republican government formed in Peking in 1912 believed in integration into the international capitalist system, and that indentured Chinese labourers working abroad would benefit the country and its people. The government sought to regulate indentures to prevent the recruitment of labourers by rogue agents and to establish new standards for the indenturing system. To some extent this arrangement reflected the characteristics of a new system under which the labourer was relatively free. The popular press was the main vehicle through which the Chinese reading public constructed their perceptions of the indenture system. The terrible conditions endured by Chinese labourers in Russia was portrayed in newspapers as a consequence of the fraudulent practices of Chinese recruiting agents. Labourers recruited by the British and French were judged to have received better treatment. The perceptions of Chinese labourers and their families varied, but especially after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, their memories of indenture were influenced by anti-colonial and nationalist perspectives.

Social extermination in the El Paraíso neighborhood. A structural constructivist analysis in the period 2010-2021

The article explores the results of the project "Social Extermination in the El Paraíso neighborhood: 2010 - 2021", carried out by the seedbed Esperanza en Marcha of the Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios - UNIMINUTO, Bogotá headquarters. The research focused on reflecting on the social representations of young people in the Paraíso neighborhood about the practices of social extermination that have occurred during the last ten years, based on the analysis of the categories, using the approaches of Pierre Bourdieu's structural constructivism and a qualitative methodology of narrative cut, where information gathering techniques related to semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and social cartographies were used. The research revealed the structural components of social extermination, recognizing that it originates from dominance over the youth of the neighborhood through the establishment of practices and thoughts that seek to annihilate what is different, what does not fit into the capitalist, patriarchal, and colonial system, Recognizing that this generates some affectations in the construction of identity of the young people due to the stigmatization of their place of residence and the violation of their human rights, the above is also reflected in the absence of governmental accompaniment, where finally it is the scenarios of youth resistance that make visible the situations and demand protection from community actions.

Mother blame and emotion work: a sociological study on Swedish mothers of children with long-term school absenteeism

Building on interviews with 31 Swedish mothers and drawing on the concepts of emotion work, feeling rules, and cultural, economic and social capital, the article examines the emotion management mothers of neurodivergent and school-absent children carry out as they navigate school and care systems to improve their children’s situation. Three main findings are presented: (1) the mothers were left with a burdensome individual responsibility to obtain support for their children in the education and care sectors, and while doing so, they were expected to follow feeling rules emphasising reason, calmness and a constructive attitude; (2) the emotion work the mothers carried out in relation to the feeling rules was underscored by mother blame; and (3) the mothers’ emotion work was marked by their cultural, economic and social capital, though not always in a straightforward way. The article contributes to research on mother blame by illuminating the underexplored issue of emotion work among mothers experiencing mother blame. The results also add to previous research on mother blame and social class by demonstrating when and how mothers’ cultural, economic and social capital helps them fend off mother blame and when such resources play a more ambiguous role.

Development and validation of the Work Capital Scale.

Vocational psychologists have called for greater attention to different forms of capital, any resource or asset that confers profit and power, to better understand the vocational development process, particularly for those who lack resources and power. However, previous research has had several conceptual and measurement limitations, such as the use of less inclusive frameworks; a focus on more privileged populations; and the overuse of categorical, dummy coded, and objective measures. To address these limitations, the present study aimed to (a) develop an inclusive, subjective, continuous, and multidimensional work capital scale and (b) validate the new scale with representative samples of working adults and job seekers across two studies. We developed a 16-item four-factor Work Capital Scale that consists of Economic Work Capital, Human Work Capital, Social Work Capital, and Cultural Work Capital. Scores from the Work Capital Scale were invariant across household income, social class, gender, race, and employment status. We found that the correlational model fit best to the data and provided evidence for convergent and divergent validity by relating the subscales to subjective social class, objective socioeconomic indicators, and existing measures of capital. The present study advances theory and research in work capital and provides a tool for practitioners to use. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The Rationalization of ‘ Gefühlsinhalten ’: Dynamics of Cultural Change in Weber’s Sociology of Music

Abstract: Weber did not publish works on the sociology of music during his lifetime, yet he recognized that a specific rationalism influenced even this most intrinsic human experience. This article uses formal and substantive rationality to explore how Weber linked the final harmonious chord structure’s emotional content ( Gefühlsinhalten ) to modern capitalist society in the West. The late Renaissance saw a demand for expressive music, integrating new melodic elements within a framework emphasizing vertical harmonic consonance. This reflects the Western tendency to rationalize music’s emotional content, intertwined with ascetic rationalism’s ethical orientation. While Weber did not empirically analyze music’s connection to individual meaning extensively, his insights provide a lens to examine musical forms’ aesthetic features and cultural significance from a comparative civilizational perspective.

The Production of Wounded Attachment

Abstract This article locates itself in the aftermath of the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey to study the cultural production of reactionary sentiment. Placing Wendy Brown's concept of “wounded attachment” in conversation with materialist and anticolonial theorizations of indignation in Turkey and beyond, the article explores the production of a reactionary mood that traverses affective, economic, technological, and cultural dynamics. In order to do so, it focuses on an intriguing example of wounded attachment in the post-2016 period: the sense of concern and anxiety that has formed around public performances of the ezan (the Islamic call to prayer). The article argues that feelings of indignation, victimhood, and revenge are crucial to Turkish politics, as their production lies at the intersection of specific memories of injury and the material foundations of contemporary capitalism in Turkey.

An Early Anticipation of Market Socialism? Liberalism, Heresy, and Knowledge in John Stuart Mill's Political Economy of Socialism

John Stuart Mill is considered one of the most important representatives of the classical school of political economy. His intellectual development exhibited a gradual transition toward more socialistic views. This transition was partly the result of his interaction with French utopian socialists, which led Mill to theoretically construct an economic system lying between what is now called market capitalism and revolutionary socialism. For Mill, socialism would be a new organic period after the transitory and critical period of the “stationary state.” This paper delineates the core tenets of Mill's stationary state and presents it as an early anticipation of what from the 1920s on is called “market socialism.” Mill's optimistic vision of the stationary state was based on the spread of associations, the socialization of knowledge among all people, competition, and the importance of individuality. These elements are connected with Mill's idiosyncratic, liberal and utilitarianist vision of (market) socialism which prepares the ground for his socialist utopia based on the ideal “from each according to his capacities; to each according to his needs.”

IT’S THE PROPERTY, STUPID! BUT HOW CAN WE GET RID OF IT?

The purpose of our research is to identify paths that lead us beyond property. It is important to us to do more than criticize private property; it is also necessary to think beyond public property. We would like to reach something that goes beyond both. We are not referring either to the private property of capitalism or to the public property of socialism; we refer to the idea of the common in communism.The understanding of the common requires that we envision a society different from capitalist society. The common is not a third option to the private and the public (and is not equivalent to the latter), but a path antagonistic to capital and its means of production. It is necessary to keep in mind that the ‘realization’ of the common through state property constitutes the very destruction of the common by the state. The notion of property, in and of itself, excludes the common, not only in terms of the use of goods, but also in the realm of production, given that it ratifies a division between owners and non-owners.The defense of the common carries with it the denial of property, whether it is public or private. This perspective is of real importance, because the institution of private property is the basis for the support of capitalism. Unlike what it may appear as, public property is not a denial of private property, but a collective form of use of private property.

Războiul Rece la periferie. RSS Moldovenească în ordinea mondială bipolară (1970-1980) / The Cold War on the Periphery. The Moldavian SSR in the Bipolar World Order (1970-1980)

This article uses unpublished documents from the Archive of Social-Political Organizations of the Republic of Moldova, the former archive of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Moldavia, in order to identify and describe the main tendencies of the Cold War in the Moldavian SSR in the period from 1970 to 1980. The decade presented in this study is characterized by multiple and multi-level changes both within capitalist and socialist systems. In this context, the periphery became the main arena for the Cold War and a place where the concept of boundaries between the two rival systems underwent significant changes.

Buscando el (buen) sentido en la transformación del sistema alimentario en México a través de las narrativas contrahegemónicas emergentes en las comunidades indígenas y rurales de Oaxaca

Mexico is in the grips of a public health crisis related to its changing food system, characterized by dramatic increases in diet-related illness. Ideas about how to reverse these trends stretch from top-down nutrition education to demands for regulation of the food and beverage industry. Taking a different approach, this paper focuses on the perspectives and practices of rural Oaxacans, drawn from qualitative research conducted in seven communities over six years. We find an emergent critique of the contemporary capitalist food system rooted in embodied engagements with food production, preparation, consumption, and community history. We analyze these findings through the lens of Gramsci’s concept of ‘good sense,’ understood as the critical-thinking basis for revolutionary transformation among subaltern classes. We situate this idea within literature on embodied knowledge and visceral politics, suggesting that such ideas and perceptions have the potential to challenge the growing hegemony of the corporate food system and contribute to broader social movements in defense of land and life.

Normalizing capitalism: East Germans experiencing the market economy during the 1990s

ABSTRACT This article examines the experiences of East Germans and their adaptation to economic transformations before, during, and after 1989/90. It re-uses social science interviews from the 1990s as historical sources to show how notions of normalization, economic change, and subjectivity were intertwined. Unlike previous research on the history of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the article conceptualizes “normalization” not as a specific period, but as a way of organizing social and economic change. The concept of normalization, as used in this article, allows experiences of both the socialist planned economy in East Germany and the capitalist market economy that emerged after reunification to be connected as a coherent period. Taking a bottom-up perspective, the article argues that East Germans framed their self-normalization as a process of catching up with Western economic normality, thereby aligning themselves with highly contested theories of modernization. From the subjects’ standpoint, there is little to no mention of ideas or concepts of neoliberalism playing a significant role in this process.

데리다의 채식주의 비판과 에코페미니즘의 맥락적 채식주의 윤리

This article aims to interpret the implications of the critique of vegetarianism in Derrida’s animal philosophy and to consider it alongside the contextual vegetarian/vegan ethics of ecofeminism in order to propose a new vegetarian ethics that is constantly renewed through critical dialogues. In the current trend of the posthuman or animal turn in the humanities and social sciences at home and abroad, Derrida’s late philosophy of the animal has attracted attention in that it strongly criticizes the anthropocentrism of existing Western philosophy and sharply problematizes the limit and relations between the human and the animal. However, Derrida’s “ambiguous” stance on vegetarianism, a practice that resists meat eating as the most common form of human-animal relationship in modern urban society, is little known in Korea. By introducing Derrida’s position on vegetarianism and the critical dialogues surrounding it, this article argues for a move away from the rule-based and universalist ethics that dominate academic discussions on the topic in Korea. It also seeks to provide a richer theoretical foundation for vegetarianism as a practice that puts the brakes on the global capitalist system that exhausts the lives of humans and nonhuman animals alike, through a connection to ecofeminist ethics that emphasizes the importance of context. In doing so, this study would go a step further than repeating the familiar and valid argument that vegetarianism is not an obligation, and argue that, at least in the specific context of the here and now, practicing vegetarianism as much as possible is “eating well.”

The Impact of Social Capital on Migrants’ Social Integration: Evidence from China

In recent decades, a large influx of migrants from rural areas to cities has brought numerous pressures to urban infrastructure, the environment, public services, and social stability. Therefore, promoting the social integration of migrants is crucial for the sustainable development of cities. Analyzing this situation from the perspective of social capital, as opposed to economic and human capital, can better reveal the underlying mechanisms behind social integration. Therefore, we sought to explore the impact mechanism of social integration among China’s migrants by establishing a comprehensive model that incorporates bonding social capital (BSC), bridging social capital (BRC), relative deprivation (RD), hometown attachment (HA), and social integration (SI) through research based on the 2017 China Migrant Dynamic Survey (CMDS). The results indicate that different types of social capital have varied impacts. Bridging social capital is positively correlated with social integration, with relative deprivation playing a mediating role between the two. In contrast, bonding social capital is negatively correlated with social integration, with hometown attachment moderating the relationship between them. This study enriches social capital theory in the field of migration research and provides recommendations for government efforts to promote social integration

Ecological labour or why environmentally friendly practices struggle to become mainstream

This paper investigates the relationship between work and ecological transition by exploring ecological labour among neorurals, i.e., people who have left cities to live closer to nature in the countryside. In Diois, a mountainous area in south-eastern France where I did the fieldwork on which this paper is based, neorurals have been at the forefront of inventing more ecological ways of living for fifty years, but these solutions struggle to become mainstream. The article shows that under capitalism, ecological labour – defined as a human activity that goes into producing ecologically sustainable ways of living – struggles to become a job because it is labour-intensive and gets outcompeted by less ecological, technology-intensive alternatives. In contemporary France, ecological labour can become a “green job” only in the presence of superior purchasing power, otherwise it becomes unvalorised “reproductive” labour that limits the spread of ecological solutions. As long as the primary job-creation mechanism is built on two contradictory mechanisms – gains in labour productivity and strong local purchasing power – capitalist economies remain growth-addicted economies that upset ecosystems on an industrial scale.

Exploring representations of climate change as ecocide: implications for climate policy

ABSTRACT This paper explores whether, to what extent and in what ways climate change is represented as ecocide in scholarly literature. Premised upon a historical materialist lens utilizing the world systems theory and the concept of the Capitalocene, and by means of conducting a scoping literature review, the paper finds there is an increasing trend of climate change representation as ecocide. It also identifies several key themes that emerge in scholarly representations, including the growth-driven global capitalistic and nation-state system that perpetuates carbon criminals, anthropocentric ethics, and environmental and social harm and injustice, and the feasibility and appropriateness of an international crime of ecocide. The analysis suggests that while not likely to catalyze fossil phase-out and expedite the global energy transition decisively, the criminalization of ecocide could fortify the climate policy toolbox via the prospect to report cases to the International Criminal Court, the issuance of warrant arrests by the ICC, and EU’s criminalization of substantial environmental damage and potential externalization of its criminal code. The significance and originality of this article lies in the generation of robust empirical evidence, the mapping of representations of climate change as ecocide, and a comprehensive analysis of the practical, ethical and legal complexities surrounding a law of ecocide and its implications for global climate policy. Key policy insights Representations of climate change as ecocide focus on the global capitalistic and nation-state system that perpetuates carbon criminals, anthropocentric ethics, and environmental and social harm and injustice. An international law of ecocide will challenge both fossil-based and energy transition practices. The power of the state-corporate nexus and the socio-economic benefits emanating from acts that contribute to climate change weaken the case for and undermine the potential effectiveness of an international crime of ecocide. While not a panacea, the criminalization of ecocide can add to the climate policy toolbox via building the momentum for more states to adopt relevant domestic legislation, the prospect to report cases to the ICC, the issuance of warrant arrests by the ICC, and EU’s criminalization of substantial environmental damage and potential externalization of its criminal code.

The socio-spatial making and breaking of the rural commons in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT Protecting traditional common properties is essential for heritage conservation and fulfilling people’s multifaceted needs without relying solely on the market. This paper argues that the fate of commons is related to the values and dynamics of commoners in response to the long-term and broader socio-economic, political, and spatial development and planning practices at different geographical scales. Specifically, we examine the rural commons, the Tso (zu 祖) Tong (tang 堂) land (TTL), in the New Territories of Hong Kong. The New Territories accounts for over 80% of the city’s land. TTL has been in existence long before the development of the capitalist economy in the city. It was set aside in perpetuity by an ancestor to benefit all male descendants, sustain a clan’s ancestral worship, and provide a safety net for its members. Unanimous consent is required to sell TTL. Whether the rural commons thrive or perish would depend on the resilience of the commoners in resolving internal conflicts and articulating the relevance of their commons to the territories’ broader interests. Integrating the rural commons into territorial development and planning will provide spaces for “possible alternatives” to improve people’s livelihoods and identities as well as the cultural heritage of a place.

The Correlation of Social, Political, and Economic Capital: A Study of Incumbent’s Capital ‎Utilization in the 2024 Legislative Elections

The Correlation of Social, Political, and Economic Capital: A Study of Incumbent’s Capital ‎Utilization in the 2024 Legislative Elections

Turning less into more: Measuring real GDP growth in the green transition

Proponents of degrowth query the compatibility of ecological sustainability with economic growth and a capitalist system predicated on the ongoing expansion of economic output. This article deploys insights from constructivist political economy and recent literature on the politics of technocratic expertise to build upon and challenge this analysis. Using UK national accounting practices as a case study, it explores how current approaches to GDP measurement both facilitate and obstruct the treatment of reduced material throughput as increased economic output, of “less” as “more”. Rather than advancing an alternative to GDP growth, it highlights how tensions between the pursuit of growth and the pursuit of sustainability might be reduced using conceptual resources drawn from within established approaches to national accounting and GDP measurement. Although far from a panacea, changes in technocratic practices of national accounting could reduce economic and political barriers to green transition policies.