There is a growing literature suggesting that the digital economy is taking us out of capitalism. While this manifests most notably as a diagnosis of ‘digital feudalism’ or ‘techno-feudalism’, a ...differing voice is McKenzie Wark, who suggests we have entered an entirely new mode of production altogether: ‘vectoralism’. This paper historicises and theorises our current conjuncture in relation to the potential multiplicity of modes of production, and the materiality and imperialism of telecommunication infrastructures. We approve of Wark's development of new concepts, rather than turning to ahistorical regurgitations like ‘neo-feudalism’. However, we argue that the mode of production lens is not adequate to trace what we consider as more granular changes and that it risks packaging old wine in new bottles. For example, Wark's vectoral claims remain grounded in infrastructures such as undersea cables that are used by corporations and states as strategies of legal and economic imperialism reminiscent of the 19th century world order. Instead of examining this topic through a mode of production lens, we contend that these phenomena are better traced through a processual (rather than functional) and socially determined (rather than economically determined) method of historical materialism. In this regard, we adopt an approach closer to that of E. P. Thompson and Political Marxists, such as Brenner and Wood. To support our argument, we turn to both wider Marxist theory on the mode of production, which we then anchor in empirical works from contemporary critical infrastructure and communication studies.
The article develops a critical analysis of the work and thought of Moishe Postone. First, I highlight his main contributions to the understanding of the mode of production of capital, the way the ...categories of value and abstract labour shape the labour process, and the ongoing reconstitution of socially necessary labour time. Second, I expose his contradictory proposal to free workers from capital, while considering Cuban socialist experience in the agrarian sector as starting point for the critique.
In debates over the nature of the Ottoman social formation, most 20th century Turkish historians have tended to argue that it was “not feudal.” I argue that this is mostly because of the extent to ...which they have unconsciously imported and internalized Eurocentrism. In particular, it is because they have been using a Euro-specific notion or definition of feudalism as their yardstick. Also involved is a methodological, indeed philosophical failure to differentiate between genus and species, between the specific and the general. What is common to most agrarian states and societies in pre-modernity is the existence of a fief-system. But once a royal power-center resorts to fief-distribution, different power configurations can result. It is this revisionist approach to taxonomy that is proposed in this article, derived from my recently completed PhD thesis on civilizations’ common structures
The validity and implication of the Asiatic mode of production AMP has become one of the most controversial issues in Marxist theory since Marx mentioned this concept. A huge space for understanding ...and misunderstanding is bequeathed by Marx's oeuvre because he never systematically elaborated on it in his published work. Based on a close reading of Marx's texts and their contemporary interpretations, this paper argues for the possibility of understanding the mode of production in terms of property relations by clarifying the two-fold character of property; demonstrating the validity of the AMP by decomposing historical modes of production into two dimensions; clarifying its implications and locating its historical geography by distinguishing it from other modes of production, pointing out its significance for anti-capitalism and anti-privatisation.
Die kapitalistische Produktionsweise ist abhängig von einem Außen, das sie über das Hineinholen von Ressourcen und Auslagern von Kosten in Anspruch nimmt. Anna Saave unternimmt eine theoretisch ...versierte und elaborierte Analyse der komplexen Externalisierungs- und Einverleibungsprozesse des Kapitalismus. Sie leistet einen anspruchsvollen Beitrag zu einer kritischen Analyse kapitalistischer Dynamiken samt der in Dienst genommenen, unsichtbar gemachten konstitutiven Außenbereiche und verdeutlicht, dass der Kapitalismus nur als big picture in den Blick genommen werden kann. Die Diskussion bietet anschlussfähige Impulse für feministische, ökologische und andere soziale Politiken.
This paper comments on the unexamined bifurcation of new state capitalism studies into two camps: changes in liberal capitalism and analyses of illiberal state forms. I characterize these aspects as ...Lazarus meets Loch Ness: Lazarus-like when focused on the ever-reborn market interventions of the liberal capitalist state, and Loch Ness-like in its rediscovery of the resurfaced ‘other.’
: The work of conservation non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) is vital to the conservation movement and has attracted a good deal of comment and observation. Here we combine recent writings about ...the interactions of conservation and capitalism, and particularly the idea of “the conservationist mode” of production to explore the roles of conservation NGOs with respect to capitalism. We use an analysis of the conservation NGO sector in sub‐Saharan Africa to examine the ways in which conservation NGOs are integral to the spread of certain forms of capitalism, and certain forms of conservation, on the continent. We examine their mediating role in mediating and legitimizing knowledge, in effect forging and reproducing desires for particular visions and versions of Africa, and in producing and promoting new commodities which meet these needs, all of which facilitates capitalism's growth. Finally we consider a number of limitations to the activities of NGOs, and on the nature of the research we have undertaken, which may help to place their work in context.
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