Late capitalism

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Like early capitalism in economic and social history, late capitalism denotes a temporal classification for the period of the relevant economic and social structure. The term was coined at the beginning of the 20th century by the German sociologist Werner Sombart .

history

The theory of imperialism conceived by VI Lenin for Marxism-Leninism before the First World War had equated the monopoly stage of capitalism with imperialism . In contrast, Ernest Mandel used "late capitalism" as a guiding term to characterize the more recent developments after the Second World War : the shortened turnover time of fixed capital and thus the compulsion to economic programming and wage guidelines, a tendency towards permanent technological renewal based on the third technological revolution , a tendency towards permanent inflation, above all towards credit money inflation, the transition from colonialism to indirect “neocolonial” domination of poor countries, whereby the role of capital exports subordinate to the mechanisms of unequal exchange on the world market, “technological rents” as the main source for the monopolistic extra profits.

The Frankfurt School also used this term for post-liberal, monopoly capitalism, for example in the cultural industry chapter of the Dialectic of Enlightenment and in Theodor W. Adorno's Minima Moralia . Herbert Marcuse , on the other hand, still speaks of “advanced industrial society ” in the subtitle of his one -dimensional human being , but also of late capitalism in later publications.

According to Jürgen Habermas , the administrative system is focused on the functional gaps in the market in order to support the continued existence of capitalism. State intervention becomes the key political question of late capitalism. A decisive change in the relations of production is the increase in concerted action. Habermas understands this to mean purpose-oriented coalitions between business associations and trade unions that envision the omnipresence of capitalist functionality.

The term “late capitalism” was still in the foreground at the Frankfurt Sociologists' Day ( late capitalism or industrial society ?) In 1968. René König found it a little paradoxical that the term “late capitalism” was gaining ground in West German sociology just as it had lost its meaning in the socialist camp. In truth, nothing is gained with all these terms to which others could be connected, since they all try to describe tomorrow's from the perspective of yesterday.

See also

literature

  • Werner Sombart (1902/1927): Modern capitalism . 3 volumes. Duncker and Humblot, Leipzig
    • Vol. 1. The genesis of capitalism
    • Vol. 2. The theory of capitalist development
    • Vol. 3.1. Economic life in the age of high capitalism. The basics
    • Vol. 3.2. Economic life in the age of high capitalism. The course of the high capitalist economy
  • Annette Treibel : Introduction to contemporary sociological theories. Leske + Budrich: Opladen 1997. ISBN 3-8252-8070-5
  • Jürgen Habermas : Legitimation Problems in Late Capitalism. Frankfurt a. M. 1973. ISBN 3-518-10623-6
  • Ernest Mandel : Late Capitalism - Attempt at a Marxist Explanation. Suhrkamp 1972, ISBN 3-518-10521-3

Single receipts

  1. ↑ a b René König : Social consciousness and sociology. A speculative consideration. In: Günther Lüschen (ed.): German sociology since 1945. Development directions and practical relevance. West German publishing house Opladen 1979. ISBN 3-531-11479-4 . P. 358
  2. ↑ Manuel Kellner : On the topicality of Mandel's Marxist criticism of capitalism. In: Ernest Mandel: Marxist economic theory. Writings 1. Neuer ISP Verlag GmbH, Cologne-Karlsruhe, new edition 2007. ISBN 978-3-89900-115-0 . S. I-XI
  3. ^ Theodor W. Adorno (ed.): Late capitalism or industrial society. Negotiations of the 16th German Sociological Congress. Stuttgart 1969