Blog on Capitalism

Exploring the Nature of Capitalism
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Following on from the first post, this post explores the historical conditions in western Europe which led to the emergence of capitalism. This is an exploration of how some of the most basic presumptions which underpin Western understandings of life have been shaped by history, becoming seen as features of the real world, the unfocused backdrop to secondary ideological disputes. The issues examined include:

• the ways in which ‘the economy’ became separated from other ‘environments’ in Western thinking;
• the emergence of an emphasis on ‘market exchange’ as the ‘correct’ form of exchange between individuals and groups;
• the reasons why formal economies are so strongly bound by legal frames and supported by both legal and fiscal bureaucracies;
• the nature of ‘consumerism’ and its historical underpinnings;
• and why those who became committed to Western ideologies became so missionary-oriented, focused on the material world and convinced of the need for the whole world to be organised according to their ideological understanding.
• … Read more
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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 7th, 2010 at 9:28 am and is filed under Capitalism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.