Anti-capitalism

Characteristics

Anti-capitalism can range from a reformist position, which aims to limit corporate power and oppose neoliberal policies, to a radical position, which entirely rejects capitalism and seeks to replace the existing social order. Key principles of anti-capitalism, as outlined by the charter of the World Social Forum, include a committent to democracy and egalitarianism. Anti-capitalists view capitalism either as a social relation or as a distinct economic and political system, and how they view it informs their methods of opposing it. Reformist anti-capitalism places itself in opposition to specific economic practices, including commodification and capital accumulation, and seeks to combat the negative externalities of capitalism without fundamentally altering the economic system; on the other hand, forms of revolutionary socialism see capitalism as a fundamentally flawed social system that needs to be overthrown and replaced. Although the reformist and revolutionary perspectives differ, they are not necessarily distinct, with anti-capitalists often taking aspects of one or the other depending on the material conditions they are faced with.

Various economic systems have been proposed as an alternative to capitalism. American economist Michael Albert proposed a system of participatory economics, a kind of democratic socialism which would involve social ownership, workers' self-management, participatory planning and system of remuneration based on contribution, among other factors. Neozapatismo emphasises the self-determination of indigenous peoples and a form of participatory democracy that stands in contrast to the centralisation and vanguardism of authoritarian socialist tendencies.

2 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

History

Early opposition to the rise of capitalism first arose during the 17th century, when feudal landowners first came under threat from the increasing power of business owners. During the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution gave rise to mass production, which accelerated the shift away from mercantilism as the predominant economic system and the globalization of capitalism. The division of labour within this industrial capitalist economy led to the rapid growth of the working class, who were increasingly drawn towards anti-capitalism and organised themselves in trade unions and socialist parties.

Contemporary anti-capitalist movement

1960s–1980s

Contemporary anti-capitalism finds its roots among the New Left and the counterculture of the 1960s, which infused anti-capitalism with a postmodern tendency by the end of the Cold War. During this period, anti-capitalism began to develop within the environmental movement, with green politics drawing a lot of its influence from the New Left and groups such as Greenpeace aligning themselves against economic growth and pioneering new methods of direct action which had previously been advocated by anarchists. Radical environmentalists such as Earth First, which infused their green politics with anti-capitalism, used decentralised clandestine cell systems to carry out large-scale acts of sabotage; tactics which would later be taken up by the wider anti-capitalist movement. Capitalism was increasingly seen as responsible for environmental degradation, leading to the adoption of anti-capitalism by those who aimed to stop it.

1990s

By the 1990s, neoliberalism had asserted a hegemonic influence over the global economy. In reaction against the rise of neoliberalism, a new anti-capitalist movement began to take shape. The contemporary anti-capitalist movement first emerged in January 1994, with the Zapatista uprising against the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Zapatista spokesperson Subcomandante Marcos explicitly expressed solidarity with minority groups throughout the world, seeking to make a common cause with others who experienced oppression under globalized capitalism. The Zapatista autonomous region in Chiapas inspired a new generation of anti-capitalists worldwide. Anti-capitalists began to defend cultural pluralism and stand in solidarity with indigenous rights movements, breaking from the 20th century's anti-capitalist movement, which had few links with the decolonial and anti-racist movements of its period.

In 1995, the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which sought to promote a neoliberal policy of economic globalization, met with opposition from the nascent anti-globalization movement (also known as the alter-globalization movement or global justice movement). Other opponents of neoliberal globalization included nationalists and religious fundamentalists, although these tendencies differed widely from anti-capitalism in their principles and objectives. The anti-capitalist movement provided a militant opposition to the WTO and its General Agreement on Trade in Services, distinguishing their progressive politics from the prevailing liberal democratic politics which upheld these institutions and had resigned to a belief that no alternative existed. English philosopher Mark Fisher referred to this phenomenon as capitalist realism.

Towards the end of the 1990s, the British environmentalist group Reclaim the Streets sought to build ties with the anti-globalisation movement, culminating with the Carnival Against Capital on 18 June 1999 in London. Although the protest precipitated a decline in the British anti-capitalist movement, following the rise of Tony Blair's New Labour government, it also renewed contacts within the international anti-capitalist movement and accelerated a shift towards revolutionary anti-capitalism. During the late 1990s, confrontations between militant anti-capitalists and the police became commonplace at G8 summits and WTO conferences, which were regularly targeted for protests by a diverse and decentralised coalition of organisations. The largest of these were the 1999 Seattle WTO protests, where anarchists, environmentalists and trade unionists caused conference negotiations to collapse; this inspired a new wave of anti-capitalist activism in the 21st century, with large protests taking place against the 26th G8 summit in Prague and the 27th G8 summit in Genoa.

2000s

2010s

During the 2010s, anti-capitalist ideas became synonymous with the a broader wave of global protest movements with regards to economic crises, policies on austerity, and growing inequality following the 2008 financial crisis. Mass mobilisations, including occupations of public spaces and large-scale demonstrations, were a defining feature of the decade.

Movements during this period differed in form from earlier anti-globalization protests. Rather than focusing primarily on international summits, more began to adopt sustained occupations and “movement of the squares” tactics, flat organisation, and participatory democracy. Protests framed their demands in terms of majoritarianism, presenting themselves as representing “the 99%”, or any part of the broader population affected by inequality.