Managerial Capitalism: Ownership, Management, and the Coming New Mode of Production

by Gérard Duménil, Dominique Lévy

Marxist analysis has traditionally been built on a two-class workers and capitalists. With Managerial Capitalism , Gerard Duménil and Dominique Lévy mount a powerful argument that such a framework is outdated—we are in fact amid a transition to a new mode of production, one that is fundamentally shaped by a third, intermediary managerialism.
            Drawing examples from the United States and Europe, the authors offer a historically rooted interpretation of major current economic and political trends. Without eschewing Marx’s theory of history and political economy, they update it to take account of the changes underway in class patterns and relationships to production. The result is a robust new Marxism for the present and the future.

Genres: Economics

224 pages, Paperback

Published March 20, 2018

Reviews

[Ravi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a somewhat odd book endorsing a new mode of production-socialization, managerial capitalism. It purports to provide a new theory of capitalism and the direction in which free market capitalism is moving. It is certainly engaging, well written and thoughtful. But at the end of the day I am not entirely convinced by the central ideas that animate this book. I suspect that the statistical data is much more complicated (they insist somewhat counterintuitively that the vast majority of income among the wealthiest Americans is from wages rather than capital) but I would have to leave that to experts. The biggest problem though is that it is almost entirely US-focused and yet the American state is a declining power. There is very little discussion of the rise of China. So while some may see this is pathbreaking, I found myself disappointed. Some of the most interesting topics are repeatedly identified as beyond the scope of the text. And there is virtually no discussion of how identity politics or Green issues complicate the analysis in a world facing climate change. For myself, I would rather read Luc Boltanski or Cornelius Castoriadis for cutting edge analysis of contemporary social theory.

[Гюстав · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad but below my expectation