Expropriation and the Natural World: Some Reflections on Karl Polanyi and Thorstein Veblen

Manuel Luz and Ramon Fernandez

Journal of Economic Issues, 2023, vol. 57, issue 2, 432-437

Abstract: Karl Polanyi’s masterpiece, The Great Transformation, and Thorstein Veblen’s last book, Absentee Ownership and Business Enterprise in Recent Times, offer acute diagnoses of the relationship between capitalism and the natural environment. From Polanyi’s fictitious commodities to Veblen’s absentee ownership, this study explores the differences and similarities between these perspectives regarding the natural world. To organize our analysis, we follow Nancy Fraser’s and Rahel Jaeggi’s understanding of capitalism as an exploitative and expropriative system. In this sense, we state that despite their differences, Veblen and Polanyi emphasize seizure and confiscation when regarding the statute of the natural world in market societies.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1080/00213624.2023.2200646

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