Authors: Bobbio, Matteucci, Pasquino
Summary: This 5,200-word entry notes the major theoretical approaches to the study of capitalism, summarizes capitalism's historical evolution, and presents a critical analysis of the concept. The entry presents two main understandings of capitalism: (1) a particular historical form of economic behavior--capitalism, that is, as a particular mode of production; and (2) the whole society, historically characterized by its mode of production--capitalism, that is, as a general social relation. The entry focuses on the second, broader understanding.
The most acute critical analysis of capitalism was developed by Marx. Marx's analysis is based on the relation between wage-labor and capital. One of the most prominent critics of Marx was Max Weber, who did pioneering work on the cultural origins of modern capitalism.
The entry then considers the historical trajectory of capitalism. Capitalism dates back to the 17th century. It grew along with the Industrial Revolution, until it became the main form of economic organization in the industrialized West. In the 1920s and especially the 1930s, capitalism in its traditional form came under fierce pressure, and can be said to have declined.
The entry concludes by describing two forms of capitalism: "organized capitalism," characterized by an ongoing concentration of capital, and "corporatist capitalism," based on a particular cooperative relation among the main national protagonists of the capitalist process-entrepreneurs, trade unions and the state.