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'Anti-capitalism' describes a wide variety of movements, ideologies, and attitudes which oppose capitalism. Some of these oppose each other more than they oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists, in the strict sense of the word, are those who wish to completely replace capitalism with another economic system; however, there are also ideologies 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.

Contents

Notable anti-capitalist ideologies, viewpoints, and trends

See also

External links

References

Notable anti-capitalist ideologies, viewpoints, and trends

★ Socialism argues for collective control of the economy, which may or may not be associated with democratic control by the people over the state (there are both democratic and undemocratic philosophies which call themselves socialist). In addition, socialism advocates some degree (depending on the type of socialism) of economic equality and the eradication of poverty and unemployment.

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★ Marxism argues for collective ownership of the means of production 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. Marxism is the foundation of several different ideologies, including communism and certain types of socialism. Some states that identified themselves with Marxism claimed to have abolished capitalism, although some Marxist theorists describe them as state capitalist, rather than anti-capitalist.^[1][2]

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★ Social democracy is a partially anti-capitalist ideology that has grown out of the reformist wing of the socialist movement. Social democrats wish to mitigate what they see as capitalism's most negative effects through the creation of a mixed economy and a welfare state.

★ Anarchist philosophies argue for a total abolition of the state, with many anarchists opposing capitalism on the grounds that it entails social domination, involuntary relations and coercive hierarchy. Some forms of anarchism oppose capitalism as a whole while supporting some particular aspects of capitalism. For further discussion, see ''Anarchism and capitalism''.

★ 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 snapping 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."^[3]

★ There are also strands of conservatism that are uncomfortable with liberal capitalism. Particularly in continental Europe, many conservatives have been uncomfortable with the impact of capitalism on culture and traditions. The conservative opposition to the French revolution, the Enlightenment, and 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.

★ Some religions criticize or outright reject capitalism:

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★ Islam forbids lending money at interest, an important aspect of capitalism.

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★ Christianity traditionally forbade usury but modern groups of Christianity has over time abandoned identifying every form of lending at interest as usury. Many denominations of modern origins have dropped the prohibition altogether. More recently, Christianity has been the source of many other criticisms of capitalism, particularly its materialist aspects. The first socialists drew many of their principles from Christian values (see Christian socialism and the Social Gospel movement), against the "bourgeois values" of profiteering, greed, selfishness and hoarding. Many Christians do not oppose capitalism entirely but support a mixed economy in order to ensure "decent" labour standards and relations, as well as economic justice. Nevertheless, there are also many Protestant denominations (particularly in the United States) who are reconciled or ardently in favour of capitalism, particularly in opposition to secular socialism.


★ Some writers, including right-wing libertarians, argue that fascism is a form of anti-capitalism, because it is opposed to laissez-faire capitalism, and because fascist governments made private corporations and other private individuals who owned the means of production to work to serve national interests--thus, undermining property rights--, and to employ more labor on the workers than is profitable for the employer. ^[4] Fascism protected the land owning elites and is regarded as a reaction against the rising power of the working class.^[5] The Nazis, due to a belief in a Jewish conspiracy, were particularly vocal in their opposition to finance capitalism, interest charging, and "profiteering."^[6] Fascists upheld the ownership aspect of private property - including private property over productive capital and the means of production^[7] - but said that property was to be regulated to ensure that "benefit to the community precedes benefit to the individual."^[8] Hitler stated in ''Mein Kampf'' that "the attitude of the State towards capital would be comparatively simple and clear. Its only object would be to make sure that capital remained subservient to the State" and also made a clear distinction between "capital which is purely the product of creative labour and ... capital which is exclusively the result of financial speculation" ^[9]. There exists a belief or claim that fascism represented a "third way" between Marxian socialism and capitalism.^[10] Marxists argued that fascism is a form of government control instituted to protect capitalism during a period of crisis or revolution.^[11] A claim that liberals dispute since Nazism and fascism, both anti-capitalist ideologies, arose in states with substantial amounts of state intervention in the economy (social-democratic Germany and conservative Italy).

See also

★ Capitalism

★ Critique of capitalism

★ Anti-Globalization

★ Corporatocracy

★ Post-capitalism

External links

★ David E Lowes (2006) The Anti-Capitalist Dictionary, Zed, London. Explains concepts and issues from an anti-capitalist perspective and shows how they have changed over time.

★ Summit Sieges and Social Forums; a Rough Guide to the Anticapitalist Movement, D., Stockton and R., Brenner, et al, London, 2004

★ Infoshop.org - Anarchists opposed to capitalism.

★ Marxists Internet Archive - Archive of Marxist and anti-capitalist literature.

★ [1] ''The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality'' book by the economist Ludwig von Mises

★ ''Anti-Capitalism: Modern Theory and Historical Origins''

★ Anti-Capitalism as an ideology... and as a movement

★ Anti-Capitalism : A Guide To The Movement Directory of Groups and Organisations, June 2001.

★ Industrial Workers of the World

★ Socialist Party USA

References

1. Friedrich Pollock, "State Capitalism: Its Possibilities and Limitations," Studies in Philosophy and Social Science, IX, 2 (1941), 200-255.
2. Tony Cliff, ''State Capitalism in Russia'' (1955).
3. Ecofeminism, , Maria, Mies, , 1993, ISBN 1-85649-156-0
4. Calvin B. Hoover, ''The Paths of Economic Change: Contrasting Tendencies in the Modern World'', The American Economic Review, Vol. 25, No. 1, Supplement, Papers and Proceedings of the Forty-seventh Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association. (Mar., 1935), pp. 13-20.
5. Fascism Encyclopedia Britannica
6. Frank Bealey & others. Elements of Political Science. Edinburgh University Press, 1999, p. 202
7. A private statement made by Hitler on March 24, 1942. Cited in ''Hitler's Secret Conversations.'' Translated by Norman Cameron and R.H. Stevens. Farrar, Straus and Young, Inc. 1953. p. 294
8. Richard Allen Epstein, ''Principles for a Free Society: Reconciling Individual Liberty With the Common Good'', De Capo Press 2002, p. 168
9. Adolf Hitler, ''Mein Kampf'', Murphy translation
10. Peter Davies and Dereck Lynch. Routledge Companion to Fascism and the Far Right. Routledge 2003, p. 101
11. Daniel Guerin, ''Fascism and Big Business'', excerpted at http://www.marxists.org/history/etol/writers/guerin/1938/10/fascism.htm