 “Capitalism Without Capital†or “Technofeudalism†? Preliminary Thoughts Toward a Theory of Knowledge MonopolizationÖzgür Orhangazi Review of Radical Political Economics, 2025, vol. 57, issue 4, 817-825 Abstract: This article engages with the arguments that the rise of intangible assets, digital platforms, and knowledge monopolies represents either a fundamental transformation of capitalism or the emergence of “technofeudalism.†Drawing from Marxian economic theory, I propose a conceptual framework based on three appearances of knowledge in the economy: commodity, capital, and barriers to entry. Knowledge commodities challenge traditional Marxian value theory because of their infinite reproducibility and near-zero reproduction costs, enabling firms to extract rents rather than directly create new value. Intangible assets increasingly function as capital, intensifying labor exploitation and enabling surveillance and control. Finally, knowledge monopolization reinforces capitalist accumulation and monopolization tendencies by creating barriers to entry. The analysis underscores the persistence of core capitalist logic while highlighting new contradictions posed by digitalization, intangible assets, and intellectual property rights. JEL Classification: B51, O33, O34, L86 Keywords: knowledge monopolization; intangible assets; technofeudalism; intellectual monopoly capitalism; Marxian economics (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:reorpe:v:57:y:2025:i:4:p:817-825 DOI: 10.1177/04866134251350710 Access Statistics for this article More articles in Review of Radical Political Economics from Union for Radical Political Economics |
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