Anti-capitalism

poster (1911)]] Anti-capitalism describes a wide variety of movements, ideas, and attitudes which oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists, in the strict sense of the word, are those who wish to completely replace capitalism with another system.

However, there are also ideas which can be characterized as partially anti-capitalist in the sense that they only wish to replace or abolish certain aspects of capitalism rather than the entire system.

Anarchism

Anarchists argue for a total abolition of the state, with many anarchists (including proponents of left anarchism, social anarchism and anarchist communism) opposing capitalism on the grounds that it entails social domination (through inequalities of wealth), involuntary relations and coercive hierarchy (through the perceived pressure on individuals to engage in wage labour). Some forms of anarchism oppose capitalism as a whole while supporting some institutions associated with capitalism, such as markets (supported by some mutualists) and some even go as far as supporting private property (supported by some individualist anarchists).

Conservatism and traditionalism

There are strands of conservatism that are uncomfortable with liberal capitalism. Particularly in continental Europe, many conservatives have been uncomfortable with the impact of capitalism upon culture and traditions. The conservative opposition to the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and especially the development of individualistic liberalism as a political theory and as institutionalized social practices sought to retain traditional social hierarchies, practices and institutions. There is also a conservative protectionist opposition to certain types of international capitalism.

Paleoconservatives and other traditionalist ideologies are often in opposition to capitalist ethics and the effects they have on society as a whole, which they see as infringing upon or decaying social traditions or hierarchies that are essential for social order. Some of these ideas are intertwined with religious communism. More nationalist-oriented groups believe that aspects of capitalism, such as free trade infringe upon national sovereignty, that domestic industries and national traditions must be safeguarded, and that preserving this is of greater importance than profit for business.

Ecofeminism

Ecofeminists criticise capitalism for defining the natural world as simply a body of resources to be exploited and reshaped to serve human purposes and interests. They also see it as inherently sapping the relationship between humans to one another and to the natural world. Ecofeminists see capitalism as a patriarchal construction "based on the colonization of women, nature, and other peoples."

Fascism

Fascism has mixed stances on capitalism, while supportive of private property rights, fascism is hostile to the concepts of laissez-faire capitalism, free trade, economic individualism, materialism, and hostile to bourgeois culture. Fascists acknowledge the existence of class conflict that exists in capitalist societies and seek a solution to it.

Participatory economics and inclusive democracy

Participatory economics, often abbreviated as Parecon, is a proposed economic system that uses participatory decision making as an economic mechanism to guide the production, consumption and allocation of resources in a given society. Proposed as an alternative to contemporary capitalist market economies and also an alternative to centrally planned socialism or coordinatorism, it is described as "an anarchistic economic vision", although it could be considered a form of socialism as under Parecon, the means of production are owned by the working class. It emerged from the work of activist and political theorist Michael Albert and that of radical economist Robin Hahnel, beginning in the 1980s and 1990s.

Inclusive Democracy as envisaged by Takis Fotopoulos, is a form of direct democracy. It is a political theory and political project that aims for direct democracy in all fields of social life: political democracy in the form of face-to-face assemblies which are confederated, economic democracy in a stateless, moneyless and marketless economy, democracy in the social realm, i.e., self-management in places of work and education, and ecological democracy which aims to reintegrate society and nature. Here, all decisions are taken by the Demos, and basic economic needs could be met for all based upon a certain amount of work. Additional non-necessary items could be earned by contributing above the minimum required to meet society's basic needs. This approach is markedly anti-capitalist as well as anti-market, including an absence of ability to accumulate wealth, where each person earns for himself only, thereby avoiding the imbalance of power inherent in a capitalist system.

Religion

in Passionary of Christ and Antichrist.]]

The Catholic Church forbids usury, but with the Reformation and its revolt against Papal dogmatic teaching and then the Enlightenment and its rejection of Papal moral teaching, "Christian Europe" over time accepted some forms of interest-charging, allowing for some societal changes after feudalism was replaced by other forms of government.

Christianity has been the source of many criticisms of capitalism, particularly its materialist aspects. Many early and pre-socialist movements as well as later ones drew principles from the Gospels (see Christian socialism and the Social Gospel movement) and against the "values" of profiteering, greed, selfishness and hoarding. Today there are many Protestant denominations (particularly in the United States) who are reconciled with or ardently in favour of capitalism, particularly in opposition to secular socialism.

Islam forbids lending money at interest, the mode of operation of capitalist finance; however Islamic banks have developed ways to make a profit in transactions that are traditionally arranged using interest. These include profit sharing (Mudharabah), safekeeping (Wadiah), joint venture (Musharakah), cost plus (Murabahah), and leasing (Ijarah).

Socialism and communism

Socialism includes various theories of economic organization that advocate 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. Socialists argue for cooperative/community or state control of the economy, or the "commanding heights" of the economy, 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 the means of production, which is the 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, stifling technological and economic progress by maintaining an anarchy of production.

Communism and revolutionary Marxism disagrees with capitalism and economic liberalism on a fundamental basis, in that communism advocates communal ownership over the means of production and economic decision-making of a society, with the abolishment of private property and government. Friedrich Engels, one of the founders of modern socialist theory, advocated the creation of a society that allows for the widespread application of modern technology to rationalise economic activity by eliminating the anarchy in production of capitalism. Marxism argues for collective ownership of the means of production, the elimination of the exploitation of labor, and the eventual abolition of the state, with an intermediate stage, of indeterminate length, in which the state will be used to eliminate the vestiges of capitalism. Some Communist states claimed to have abolished capitalism, although some Marxist theorists describe them as state capitalist, rather than anti-capitalist.

Anti-globalization movement

The anti-globalization movement is a worldwide activist movement that is critical of the globalization of capitalism. Anti-globalization activists are particularly critical of the undemocratic nature of capitalist globalization and the promotion of neoliberalism by international institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank without much regard to the often devastating effects of global capital on local conditions. Meetings of such bodies are often met with strong protests.

See also

Capitalism

Corporatocracy

Critique of capitalism

Post-capitalism

The Black Book of Capitalism

Transformative Studies Institute

References

Further reading

The Anti-Capitalist Dictionary by David E Lowes 2006, London: Zed Books

Anti-Capitalism : A Guide To The Movement

External links

Rough Guide to the Anti-Capitalist Movement, League for the Fifth International

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" ''International Socialist Journal 2003

Marxists Internet Archive

Dr. Wladyslaw Jan Kowalski Anti-Capitalism: Modern Theory and Historical Origins

Anti-Capitalism as an ideology... and as a movement, Libcom.org

Studies in Anti-Capitalism

Capitalism/Anticapitalism: a survey and a view

Category:Political movements Category:Heterodox economics