The class structure of capitalism and the mechanisms of competition make capitalism a system of power.
— Palermo, 2007

One of the largest examples of structural power is that of capitalism. In capitalism, the capitalist uses capital assets (e.g., a factory or a tractor) and the labor class to produce goods or services for the market. They can then sell their goods or services for a price. Value is determined by the market for those goods or services and the competition that lies therein. Power then, lies with those that have the capital and/or the labor to produce valuable goods or services. Indeed, “the class structure of capitalism and the mechanisms of competition make capitalism a system of power.” (Palermo, 2007)

Capitalism

Within capitalism, market relations affect every aspect of the social structure and the social order. In precapitalist societies, social roles and social status were already established resulting in a subordinate role for markets. (Darity, 2008) The upper classes and monarchs were born with the divine right while farmers and serfs toiled on their land. Under capitalism, however, the market itself provides the structural framework for the determination of social roles and social status. (Darity, 2008) Indeed, market relations determine every aspect of life and culture – time, space, function, and even location. An individual who desires to be a merchant must operate during normal business hours, within a specific space where they can produce or sell their goods, goods that are valuable to the specific market in which they are located. Their relationship with the market ultimately dictates all facets of their life.

Karl Marx is one of the most well-known theorists of capitalism and a unique area of focus in Marxist theory is power relations and class structures. Marx believed that “ideas of the ruling class are also the ruling ideas, and the ruling ideas are the cognitive expression of the ruling material relations.” (Darity, 2008) In other words, ways of thinking about the world – social order, economy, politics, and science to name a few – were ideas distributed by those in power and worked to serve those in power within a capitalist backdrop. Consider that a few centuries before Marx’s life, capitalist thought was still in its early stages. As capitalist ideas began to increase, so did the industrialization of states and nations. This resulted in an era of colonization of places and peoples. (Pace, 2018)

Capitalism becomes the structure in which war-making, state-building, and colonialism become intertwined. Indeed, some theorists suggest that capitalism cannot be understood without the apparatus of the state. (Pace, 2018) Capitalism is not a natural structure. It is maintained purposefully and carefully and the state plays a large role in that maintenance.

Works Cited

"Capitalism." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, edited by William A. Darity, Jr., 2nd ed., vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA, 2008, pp. 437-439. Gale eBooks, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3045300276/GVRL?u=wash_main&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=7b9727da. Accessed 20 July 2022.

"Marx, Karl." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, edited by William A. Darity, Jr., 2nd ed., vol. 4, Macmillan Reference USA, 2008, pp. 629-631. Gale eBooks, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3045301466/GVRL?u=wash_main&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=4c9cc5fa. Accessed 20 July 2022.

Pace, Jonathan. “The Concept of Digital Capitalism.” Communication Theory, vol. 28, no. 3, 2018, pp. 254–69, https://doi.org/10.1093/ct/qtx009.

Palermo, Giulio. “The Ontology of Economic Power in Capitalism: Mainstream Economics and Marx.” Cambridge Journal of Economics, vol. 31, no. 4, Oxford University Press, 2007, pp. 539–61, https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/bel036.

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