Growing through Sabotage: Energizing Hierarchical Power

Growing through Sabotage: Energizing Hierarchical Power
Bichler, Shimshon and Nitzan, Jonathan. (2020). Review of Capital as Power. Vol. 1. No. 5. May. pp. 1-78. (Article - Journal; English).

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Alternative Locations

https://d2cdc49f-7865-45be-8071-a47ecaada5a3.filesusr.com/ugd/b54439_07825f91ce5b4991be94fbc95576f331.pdf, https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/218858, https://www.academia.edu/43217270/Growing_Through_Sabotage._Energizing_Hierarchical_Power, https://capitalaspower.com/2020/06/bichler-and-nitzan-growing-through-sabotage-energizing-hierarchical-power/

Abstract or Brief Description

According to the theory of capital as power, capitalism, like any other mode of power, is born through sabotage and lives in chains – and yet everywhere we look we see it grow and expand. What explains this apparent puzzle of ‘growth in the midst of sabotage’? The answer, we argue, begins with the very meaning of ‘growth’. Whereas conventional political economy equates growth with a rising standard of living, we posit that much of this growth has nothing to do with livelihood as such: it represents not the improvement of wellbeing, but the expansion of sabotage itself. Building on this premise, the article historicizes, theorizes and models the relationship between changes in hierarchical power and sabotage on the one hand and the growth of energy capture on the other. It claims that hierarchical power is sought for its own sake; that building and sustaining this power demands strategic sabotage; and that sabotage absorbs a significant proportion of the energy captured by society. From this standpoint, capitalism grows, at least in part, not despite but because of – and indeed through – sabotage.

Language

English

Publication Type

Article - Journal

Keywords

casp energy growth hierarchy power sabotage

Subject

BN Methodology
BN Power
BN Production
BN Resistance
BN State & Government
BN War & Peace
BN Business Enterprise
BN Capital & Accumulation
BN Civilization & Social Systems
BN Class
BN Conflict & Violence
BN Cooperation & Collective Action
BN Crisis
BN Distribution
BN Ecology & Environment
BN Growth
BN History
BN Institutions

Depositing User

Jonathan Nitzan

Date Deposited

01 Jun 2020 03:16

Last Modified

03 Jun 2020 14:58

URL:

https://bnarchives.net/id/eprint/639

Available Versions of this Item

• Growing through Sabotage: Energizing Hierarchical Power. (deposited 14 Jul 2017 02:43)
  • Growing through Sabotage: Energizing Hierarchical Power. (deposited 01 Jun 2020 03:16) [Currently Displayed]

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