Capital As Power (권력 자본론)

It is hard these days to open a newspaper or watch television without coming across a debate about capitalism. “Globalization,” “imperialism,” and “neoliberalism” have become household words. Experts preach the gospel of productivity, while anti-globalization protestors blame the IMF and transnational companies for much of our social ills. Some view economic growth as a magic bullet, for others it spells ecological disaster. Many interpret the new wars of the twenty first century as serving “economic” interests and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism as a backlash against western “liberalism.” For some capitalism means the “end of history,” for others a source of conflict and an engine of change. No aspect of capitalism seems to escape controversy.

In this context, it is surprising to find little or no debate on the concept which matters the most: capital itself. Capital is the central institution of capitalism and yet we do not have a satisfactory theory to explain it. As it turns out, we do not know precisely what capital is. This omission is crucial. Without a clear definition of capital we cannot fully understand how it works and why. Until we understand capital we are destined to misunderstand our society, misjudge its alternatives and fail to imagine a better future. In order to debate capitalism we first need to debate capital. This book offers a new way to do so. The secret to understanding capital, we argue, lies not in the narrow confines of production but in the broader processes and institutions of power. Capital, we claim, is neither a material object, nor a social relationship embedded in material entities, but rather a symbolic representation of power.