Capital Circuits, Conflicts and Strategies

Abstract

In this last chapter we continue our discussion of capital circuits by describing the capital accumulation of merchant, banking and property capitalists. We look at the different strategies adopted by these different capitalist firms. This approach provides an understanding of the underlying nature of the conflicting interests of the various participants in the production process of the built environment. This is not to say that construction is more prone to conflict than any other sector, though it would appear to be more litigious than many. We argue that construction is more prone to expressions of explicit conflicts of economic interest than many other sectors, precisely because of the complexity of its organisation, its fragmentation and thus the number of interests existing.