Theories of Capital

The module is about the notion of capital and the socio-economic formation called capitalism. It is an introduction to analyzing different aspects of capitalism and capitalist society from economic, sociological, historical and philosophical viewpoints. The goal is neither to present one “best” theory, nor even to develop a totally coherent interpretation of capitalism relying on different authors. Instead, the main objective of the module is to familiarize students with the conceptual tools that can be used for the interpretation and also critique of present-day economic and social developments. The concepts include for example commodity fetishism, use value and exchange value, exploitation, ideology, economic systems, but also symbolic capital and reproduction of inequalities. We will read from the following authors: Karl Marx, Karl Polányi, Herbert Marcuse and Pierre Bourdieu.