Anti-capitalism
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Anti-capitalism is a
History of movements
Anti-capitalism was widespread among
Socialism
Socialism advocates public or direct worker ownership and administration of the means of production and allocation of resources, and a society characterized by equal access to resources for all individuals, with an egalitarian method of compensation.[2][3]
- A theory or policy of social organisation which aims at or advocates the ownership and democratic control of the means of production, by workers or the community as a whole, and their administration or distribution in the interests of all.
- Socialists argue for a worker cooperative/community economy, or the commanding heights of the economy,[4] with democratic control by the people over the state, although there have been some undemocratic philosophies. "State" or "worker cooperative" ownership is in fundamental opposition to "private" ownership of means of production, which is a defining feature of capitalism. Most socialists argue that capitalism unfairly concentrates power, wealth and profit, among a small segment of society that controls capital and derives its wealth through exploitation.
Socialists argue that the accumulation of capital generates waste through
Socialists argue that capitalism consists of irrational activity, such as the purchasing of commodities only to sell at a later time when their price appreciates, rather than for consumption, even if the commodity cannot be sold at a profit to individuals in need; they argue that making money, or accumulation of capital, does not correspond to the satisfaction of demand.[5]
Private ownership imposes constraints on planning, leading to inaccessible economic decisions that result in immoral production, unemployment and a tremendous waste of material resources during crisis of
Early socialists (
Anarchism and libertarian socialism
For the influential German
Noam Chomsky contends that there is little moral difference between chattel slavery and renting one's self to an owner or "wage slavery". He feels that it is an attack on personal integrity that undermines individual freedom. He holds that workers should own and control their workplace.[25] Many libertarian socialists argue that large-scale voluntary associations should manage industrial manufacture, while workers retain rights to the individual products of their labor.[26] As such, they see a distinction between the concepts of "private property" and "personal possession". Whereas "private property" grants an individual exclusive control over a thing whether it is in use or not, and regardless of its productive capacity, "possession" grants no rights to things that are not in use.[27]
In addition to individualist anarchist Benjamin Tucker's "big four" monopolies (land, money, tariffs, and patents), Kevin Carson argues that the state has also transferred wealth to the wealthy by subsidizing organizational centralization, in the form of transportation and communication subsidies. He believes that Tucker overlooked this issue due to Tucker's focus on individual market transactions, whereas Carson also focuses on organizational issues. Carson holds that "capitalism, arising as a new class society directly from the old class society of the Middle Ages, was founded on an act of robbery as massive as the earlier feudal conquest of the land. It has been sustained to the present by continual state intervention to protect its system of privilege without which its survival is unimaginable."[28] Carson coined the pejorative term "vulgar libertarianism", a phrase that describes the use of a free market rhetoric in defense of corporate capitalism and economic inequality. According to Carson, the term is derived from the phrase "vulgar political economy", which Karl Marx described as an economic order that "deliberately becomes increasingly apologetic and makes strenuous attempts to talk out of existence the ideas which contain the contradictions [existing in economic life]."[29]
Marxism
Karl Marx saw capitalism as a historical stage, once progressive but which would eventually stagnate due to internal contradictions and would eventually be followed by socialism. Marx claimed that capitalism was nothing more than a necessary stepping stone for the progression of man, which would then face a political revolution before embracing the classless society.[30]
Contemporary anti-capitalism
Inspired by Marxist thought, the Frankfurt School in Germany was established in 1923, with the purpose of analyzing the superstructure. Marx defined the superstructure as the social stratification and mores reflecting the economic base of capitalism. Through the 1930s, the Frankfurt School, led by thinkers such as Herbert Marcuse and Max Horkheimer created the philosophical movement of critical theory. Later, Critical theorist Jürgen Habermas noted that the universality of modern worldviews posed a threat to marginalized perspectives outside of western rationality. While Critical Theory emphasized the social issues stemming from capitalism with the intention towards liberating humanity, it did not directly offer an alternative economic model. Instead its analysis shifted attention to the reinforcement of existing power dynamics through statecraft and a complicit citizenry.
In turn, Critical Theory inspired postmodern philosophers such as Michel Foucault to conceptualize how we form identities through social interaction.[31] During the 1960s and 1970s the global political movement called the New Left explored what liberation entailed through social activism on behalf of these identities. Therefore, socialist identifying movements critical of capitalism extended their reach beyond purely economic considerations and became involved in anti-war and civil rights movements. Later this postmodern activism centered around identities regarding ethnicity, gender, orientation, and race would influence more direct anti-capitalist movements.[32]
New critiques of capitalism also developed in accordance with modern concerns.
According to historian Gary Gerstle, the ideological space for anti-capitalism in the United States shrank significantly with the end of the Cold War and the globalization of capitalism, forcing the left to "redefine their radicalism in alternative terms" by heavily focusing on multiculturalism and partisan culture war issues, which "turned out to be those that the capitalist system could more, rather than less, easily manage."[34] Late philosopher Mark Fisher referred to this phenomenon as capitalist realism: "the widespread sense that not only is capitalism the only viable political and economic system, but also that it is now impossible even to imagine a coherent alternative to it."[35]
See also
- Accumulation by dispossession
- Adbusters
- Alter-globalization
- Anti-Capitalist Convergence
- Anti-consumerism
- Anti-globalization
- Christian views on poverty and wealth
- Fascist economy
- Degrowth
- Distributism
- Eye of a needle
- Global justice movement
- Hairshirt environmentalism
- Islamic views on poverty
- List of anti-capitalist and communist parties with national parliamentary representation
- New Anticapitalist Party
- Post-capitalism
- Real utopias
- Religious economy
- Religious views on capitalism
- Social democracy
- Solidarity economy
- Syndicalism
- Hatari (band)
References
- ISBN 978-0-674-03101-2.
- ISBN 0-19-280431-6
- ^ "Socialism". Oxford English Dictionary.
- ^ "Socialism". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008.
- ^ a b "Let's produce for use, not profit". socialist standard. May 2010. Archived from the original on July 16, 2010.
- ^ Fred Magdoff and Michael D. Yates. "What Needs To Be Done: A Socialist View". Monthly Review. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
- ^ Engels, Fredrich. Socialism: Utopian and Scientific. Retrieved October 30, 2010, from Marxists.org: http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1880/soc-utop/ch03.htm, "The bourgeoisie demonstrated to be a superfluous class. All its social functions are now performed by salaried employees."
- ^ The Political Economy of Socialism, by Horvat, Branko. 1982. Chapter 1: Capitalism, The General Pattern of Capitalist Development (pp. 15–20)
- ^ a b Marx and Engels Selected Works, Lawrence and Wishart, 1968, p. 40. Capitalist property relations put a "fetter" on the productive forces.
- ^ in Encyclopædia Britannica (2009). Retrieved October 14, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/551569/socialism, "Main" summary: "Socialists complain that capitalism necessarily leads to unfair and exploitative concentrations of wealth and power in the hands of the relative few who emerge victorious from free-market competition—people who then use their wealth and power to reinforce their dominance in society."
- ^ a b Goldman 2003, p. 283.
- ^ Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin. "G.6 What are the ideas of Max Stirner? in An Anarchist FAQ". Infoshop.org. Archived from the original on 2010-11-23. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
- (PDF) on 2017-01-31. Retrieved 2014-03-31.
el capitalismo es sólo el efecto del gobierno; desaparecido el gobierno, el capitalismo cae de su pedestal vertiginosamente...Lo que llamamos capitalismo no es otra cosa que el producto del Estado, dentro del cual lo único que se cultiva es la ganancia, bien o mal habida. Luchar, pues, contra el capitalismo es tarea inútil, porque sea Capitalismo de Estado o Capitalismo de Empresa, mientras el Gobierno exista, existirá el capital que explota. La lucha, pero de conciencias, es contra el Estado.
[capitalism [as] an effect of government; the disappearance of government means capitalism falls from its pedestal vertiginously...That which we call capitalism is not something else but a product of the State, within which the only thing that is being pushed forward is profit, good or badly acquired. And so to fight against capitalism is a pointless task, since be it State capitalism or Enterprise capitalism, as long as Government exists, exploiting capital will exist. The fight, but of consciousness, is against the State.] - ^ Ellerman 1992.
- merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
- ^ "wage slave". dictionary.com. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
- ^ Sandel 1996, p. 184.
- ^ "Conversation with Noam Chomsky". Globetrotter.berkeley.edu. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2019-09-19. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
- ^ Hallgrimsdottir & Benoit 2007.
- ^ "The Bolsheviks and Workers Control, 1917–1921: The State and Counter-revolution". Spunk Library. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
- ^ Harrington, Austin, et al. Encyclopedia of Social Theory Routledge (2006) p. 50
- ^ Proudhon 1890.
- ^ Marx 1969, Chapter VII
- ^ a b Goldman, Emma. Anarchism and Other Essays. 3rd ed. 1917. New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1969., p. 54.
- ^ "Conversation with Noam Chomsky, p. 2 of 5". Globetrotter.berkeley.edu. Archived from the original on September 19, 2019. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
- ^ Lindemann, Albert S. (1983). A History of European Socialism. Yale University Press. p. 160.
- ^ Ely, Richard; et al. (1914). Property and Contract in Their Relations to the Distribution of Wealth. The Macmillan Company.
- ^ Richman, Sheldon, Libertarian Left Archived 2011-08-14 at the Wayback Machine, The American Conservative (March 2011)
- ^ Marx 1969, p. 501.
- S2CID 73664685.
- JSTOR 2083337.
- S2CID 144650061.
- ISBN 978-1-84788-451-0.
- ^ Gerstle 2022, p. 149.
- ^ Fisher 2009, p. 2.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-1-55786-309-6. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
- ISBN 978-1846943171.
- ISBN 978-0197519646.
- ISBN 978-0-520-08670-8.
- Hallgrimsdottir, Helga Kristin; Benoit, Cecilia (2007). "From Wage Slaves to Wage Workers: Cultural Opportunity Structures and the Evolution of the Wage Demands of the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor, 1880–1900". S2CID 154551793.
- Kmlos, J. (2023). Foundations of Real-World Economics: 3rd edition, Section 9.1. Abingdon-on-Thames, UK: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-84789-5.
- Latham, R. (2020). Contemporary capitalism, uneven development, and the arc of anti-capitalism. In The Radical Left and Social Transformation. Routledge.
- Marx, Karl (1969) [1863]. Theories of Surplus Value. Moscow: Progress Publishers.
- What Is Property? or, An Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government. New York, NY: Humboldt Publishing.
- ISBN 978-0-674-19744-2.
Further reading
- Alex Callinicos. An Anti-Capitalist Manifesto. Polity. 2003
- Chris Williams. Ecology and Socialism. Haymarket Books. 2010
- David E Lowes. The Anti-Capitalist Dictionary. Zed Books. 2006
- David McNally. Another World Is Possible: Globalization and Anti-Capitalism. Arbeiter Ring Publishing. 2006
- Mother Earth Publishing Association. 1910
- Ezequiel Adamovsky. Anti-capitalism. Seven Stories Press. 2011
- Ludwig von Mises. The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality. Mises Institute. 1956
- ISBN 978-0593238714.
- Simon Tormey. Anti-Capitalism: A Beginner's Guide. Oneworld Publications. 2013
External links
- Anti-capitalism: theory and practice by Chris Harman, SWP (2000).
- Rough Guide to the Anti-Capitalist Movement, League for the Fifth International
- Rifkin, Jeremy (15 March 2014). "The Rise of Anti-Capitalism". The New York Times.
- Infoshop.org Anarchists Opposed to Capitalism, Infoshop.org
- How The Miners Were Robbed 1907 anti-capitalist pamphlet hosted at EconomicDemocracy
- Sam Ashman "The anti-capitalist movement and the war" Archived 2022-03-28 at the Wayback Machine International Socialist Journal 2003
- Marxists Internet Archive
- Dr. Wladyslaw Jan Kowalski Anti-Capitalism: Modern Theory and Historical Origins
- Aufheben, Anti-Capitalism as an ideology... and as a movement, Libcom.org
- Studies in Anti-Capitalism
- How to Be an Anticapitalist Today. Erik Olin Wright for Jacobin. December 2, 2015.
- Infographic: Where People Are Losing Faith In Capitalism. International Business Times. January 27, 2020.