Abstract
The collapse of capitalism does not presage the socialist utopia upon which twentieth century revolutionaries pinned their hopes. Nor does it mean the end of capital as the basis for the economy. The capitalism that is collapsing is the kind of political economy regnant since the early nineteenth century, centered first in northern Europe, then in the settler states of North America and Australia, and finally in Japan and other parts of Asia. It is the kind of industrial capitalism described and analyzed by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. Its essential features include free wage labor, private property, and a regulatory state. The successor system has yet to form. That position is up for grabs.
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© 2010 Geoffrey R. Skoll
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Skoll, G.R. (2010). Capitalism’s Collapse. In: Social Theory of Fear. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230112636_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230112636_2
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
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