Capital as Coordination: A Synthesis Encompassing Marx and CasP

Capital as Coordination: A Synthesis Encompassing Marx and CasP
De Beer, Pieter. (2025). Substack. 3 June. pp. 1-7. (Article - Magazine; English).

Full Text Available As:

Preview	Cover Image 20250603_de_beer_capital_as_coordination_front.jpg Download (413kB) | Preview
Preview	PDF (Full Text) 20250603_de_beer_capital_as_coordination.pdf Download (426kB) | Preview

Alternative Locations

https://substack.com/home/post/p-165074932?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Abstract or Brief Description

The global system we inhabit is often described in terms of markets, capital, and labor, but beneath these abstractions lies the deeper question of how coordination produces power and how power organizes coordination. Among the most influential traditions attempting to answer this question are Marxism and Capital as Power (CasP), two frameworks that, while sharing certain roots, diverge sharply in their interpretation of what capital is and how it operates. This divergence has led to ongoing tension. Marxists often argue that CasP misrepresents or abandons the core of Marx’s critique, while CasP theorists argue that Marxism remains tethered to outdated economic metaphysics. Both claim to reveal capitalism’s inner workings. But must we choose between them?

This essay argues that we do not. Through the lens of Coordination: the Fabric of Power (CfP), a broader theoretical framework that views coordination itself as the primary material of power, we can move beyond this impasse. Rather than asking whether capital is labor-time or capitalization, CfP reframes the question: How is coordination patterned, withheld, or manipulated in ways that produce asymmetries of power? In doing so, it offers a synthesis that integrates the structural insights of Marxism with the empirical clarity of CasP, not by erasing their differences, but by metabolizing their strongest claims.

Language

English

Publication Type

Article - Magazine

Keywords

coordination capital as power capitalization differential accumulation domination fabric of power labour Marxism mode of power production sabotage surplus value

Subject

BN Labour
BN Methodology
BN Money & Finance
BN Power
BN Production
BN Value & Price
BN Business Enterprise
BN Capital & Accumulation
BN Class
BN Conflict & Violence
BN Cooperation & Collective Action
BN Crisis
BN Distribution
BN Growth
BN Institutions

Depositing User

Jonathan Nitzan

Date Deposited

05 Jun 2025 00:29

Last Modified

05 Jun 2025 00:29

URL:

https://bnarchives.net/id/eprint/862

Actions (login required)

View Item