The evidence of sustainability and capitalism being in conflict is mounting. A growing number of scholars call to address the deeply ingrained logics that drive the unsustainability of provision systems and at the same time expand the spectrum of ‘spaces of possibility’ for socio-economic dynamics. In a recent publication, I and my co-author answer this call and propose a framework that helps to reveal different ways in which capitalist, alternative capitalist, and non-capitalist elements can coexist in concrete initiatives (enterprises, cooperatives, associations, etc.).
Why look beyond capitalism?
With this analysis, I and my co-author aim to create awareness about ways of doing, thinking and organizing that go beyond the business-as-usual. Alternatives to capitalism can enable more sustainable forms of production and consumption and are already largely present in our economies. However, they are often made invisible or lacking in credibility by the mainstream economic, political and even cultural discourses.
My initial interest in the topic of alternatives to capitalism arose from experiences gained as a journalist. While reporting on various socio-economic issues, I could see that capitalist economy is not delivering wellbeing for many people. Then I learnt that similar situation repeats in many countries, and on the global scale we realise now that capitalist logics lead to sixth mass extinction and climate emergency. The time is ripe to take alternatives to the mainstream economy seriously, and to recognize them we first must be clear with the definition of capitalism.
Capitalism as a cultural and political architecture
We understand capitalism as a historically specific form of social and economic organization that is based on a few key principles: 1) private ownership of the means of production, and owners’ control of the generated value; 2) the imperative to pursue financial gains; 3) the transformation of labor into a commodity.
At the same time, capitalism represents a cultural and political architecture. Culturally, capitalism shapes individual and collective identities and relations beyond the economic sphere. The foundation for economic and power relations within capitalist systems is laid by a particular worldview. It posits that progress is linear and—in principle—endless; space - universal and homogeneous, open for the expansion of the market economy; while human subjects are rational, self-interested, and utility-maximizing. In this worldview, relations between people, and people and nature are predominantly built on separation and domination.
As a political architecture, capitalism rests on state structures (nationally and at lower administrative levels) that participate in its reproduction in periods of both stability and crisis. The state ensures ‘free’ markets, property rights, and the existence of a complex of institutions for organizing capitalist appropriation, commodification, production, exchange. Socioeconomic entities act mostly as adopters of state regulation. In this system, legitimation is often primarily based on the contribution to ‘the economy,’ which is deemed to exist in its own terms, such as through commitment and contribution to perpetual economic growth as a metric of societal progress, and the increase of overall production.
Knowledge is another essential component of the cultural and political architecture. The capitalist mode of knowledge production is largely centralized and circulation is unidirectional. Research and development centres or universities (both public and private) are the main locations for the generation of legitimate knowledge.
If we imagine economy as an iceberg, capitalism is only a tip of it
It is increasingly recognized that a multiplicity of other forms of alternative- and non-capitalist relations exist. Some scholars use an iceberg as an allegory to illustrate the hidden diversity of economic relations, explaining that ‘what is usually regarded as “the economy”—wage labor, market exchange of commodities and capitalist enterprise— [is only a tip of an iceberg and] comprises but a small subset of the activities by which we produce, exchange and distribute values …. [The image of an iceberg] opens up conceptions of economy and places the reputation of economics as a comprehensive and scientific body of knowledge under critical suspicion for its narrow focus and mystifying effects’ (Gibson-Graham, 2002).
In alternative capitalist and non-capitalist modes of production, the social and economic organization is much more diverse:
- ownership includes property schemes in which access is open within socially defined boundaries (e.g., state-managed assets, customary land, or community land trusts) as well as fully open access (the atmosphere, international waters, open-source computer codes);
- economic activity is driven not exclusively by for-profit motives and materializes in alternative capitalist (e.g., state enterprises, socially responsible firms, non-profits, producer/consumer cooperatives) and non-capitalist (e.g., communal) enterprises.
- people are not reduced to commodities. Alternative paid labor includes, among others, cooperative wage, in-kind retribution, reciprocated labor. The most prevalent form of labor over the world is the unpaid work that is conducted in the household, the family and the neighbourhood, or the wider community. Such non-capitalist labor includes family care, housework, and volunteering, among others, and is generally not remunerated in monetary terms, but rather compensated in the form of love, emotional support, protection, companionship, and a sense of self-worth.
Culturally, in diverse economies, logics of domination can coexist with relational logics, which rest on interdependence, re-connection, commoning, caring, sharing, and continuity. A ‘more-than-human world’ is among the terms that describe a complementarity, a co-fabrication, a ‘working together’ to maintain the rootedness, embeddedness, and richness of space. Relational notions of human nature foreground the predisposition of humans to reciprocate and cooperate, to create rather than just to profit, as well as to consider interests of larger societal groups, including future generations. This wider timescape opens new sources of solidarity and support and makes long term thinking a part of the daily decision making.
Politically, in alternative capitalist and non-capitalist modes of regulation, we observe a diversification of regulatory frames. A larger number and more diverse range of actors are involved in the creation of rules and regulations that extend beyond state legislation, such as voluntary practices and standards. We might even observe the existence of parallel governance arrangements that challenge the dominant regulation regime. Relations with the state are established and maintained through political legitimation that comes from contribution to ecological conservation or social inclusion (e.g., through the employment of laborers from disadvantaged social groups). Non-capitalist modes of political legitimation background contributions to ‘the economy’ and possibly challenge the existence of a separate economic sphere and emphasize contributions to broader societal well-being, cohesion, and sense of purpose.
When it comes to knowledge production, in diverse economies it rests on the multiplicity of actors in a distributed, horizontal structures, which implies less marked power relations and enables the production of different types of knowledge: e.g., scientific, traditional, and practice-based. Co-production is a key element of non-capitalist knowledge production modes; scientific knowledge is a public good, and therefore the barriers between knowledge producers and users are blurred, as are the boundaries of knowledge ownership.
Featured article
Koretskaya, O., & Feola, G. (2020). A framework for recognizing diversity beyond capitalism in agri-food systems. Journal of Rural Studies.
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Olga Coretcaia (publishing name - Olga Koretskaya) is a PhD researcher at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her current research focuses on making practices in contemporary urban economies and their potential to facilitate sustainability transformation beyond capitalism. Olga has an interdisciplinary background in economic, sustainability and communication sciences. In 2018, Olga graduated from the MSc in Sustainability Science and Policy at Maastricht University. Prior to that, Olga worked for five years as a journalist covering socio-economic issues of national interest.