ipl-logo

John Comaroff Theory Of Capitalism

1237 Words5 Pages

Anxiety can be assumed one of the institutive mechanisms of neoliberalism. In the lights of that, Jean and John Comaroff evaluate production and accumulation processes in terms of how symbols and meanings are interpreted. The changes in the process of production affected people so that they manage their social and economic life in terms of their interpretation of neoliberal forces. They used millennial capitalism so that they tried to show the results of it. “To the degree that millennial capitalism fuses the modern and the postmodern, hope and hopelessness, utility and futility, the world created in its image presents itself as a mass of contradictions: as a world, simultaneously, of possibility and impossibility (Jean Comaroff and John Comaroff, …show more content…

Millennial capitalism is a system in which capital and production distanced from people and consumption becomes more visible. In that sense, illegal, unethical and magical implications take place to reverse the effects. It is another sense, as Comaroff states, casino capitalism. People have nothing to lose so they manage their social and economic life in this way. John and Jean Comaroff explain the results of millennial capitalism as follows: “A striking corollary of the dawning Age of Millennial Capitalism has been the global proliferation of occult economies. These economies have two dimensions: a material aspect founded on the sustained effort to conjure wealth - or to account for its accumulation - by appeal to techniques that defy practical reason; and an ethical aspect, grounded in the moral discourses sparked by the manufacture of value, either real or imagined, by arcane, "magical" means (Jean Comaroff and John Comaroff, 2000:301).” Thus, it can be said that drastically increased witchcraft in South African post-colonial life is a result of anxiety that neoliberal production of wealth …show more content…

For instance Scheper-Hughes discuss about human organ trafficking in relation to millennial capitalism and human values in her article. Organ donations have rules so that governments try to preserve equal value of human life. However people who have diseases or who live in poor conditions are desperate so that they voluntarily become a subject of occult economy. In the article, Rotten trade: Millennial capitalism, human values and global justice in organs trafficking, Mr K. has become a subject of kidney market. Former baker Mr. K. now earns $2 daily for living from junkman and lives in a room. Thus he runs into dealers and tries to sell his kidney. The beginning price was $50000 but when he realizes they are about to leave, he decides $10000 for his kidney. The anxiety of living bad conditions and lacking of the fiscal or/and cultural capital leads people to become a subject of millennial

Show More
Related
1762 Words | 8 Pages

Capitalism: Pro and Con by Phil Washburn is a philosophical debate seeking for reading to determine whether capitalism is a respectable way of society that provides the most sensible format of government for justice to thrive. The author first seeks to analyze the good of capitalism mentioning that it is the most practical answer for the issues that arrive from the idea of Justice. The key factors for the pro-capitalist society is people can succeed and or fail, government allows the economy to proliferate on its own, and most importantly what a person gives to society (making a living for themselves) is what they are able to take from it (profit and consumerism) (Washburn, pg.155). Afterwards, Washburn seeks to counter the argument and writes

Read More
502 Words | 3 Pages

Capitalism and democracy Some historians, such as Charles Sellers and Nancy Cott, label the period following the war of 1812 as a Market Revolution. Whether the historian labels the period as such or not, all agree on the economic, social, and innovative changes and developments that occurred during this era. However, historians disagree on the positive or negative effects that took place because of these changes. Charles Sellers argues that this “Market Revolution,” called so because it introduced capitalism and other drastic changes, served only to strip the small farmers or businesses of any advantages and give it to the large corporations. Or in Jill Lepore’s words, “made the poor poorer; the middle-class smug, pious, and bourgeois;

Read More
125 Words | 1 Pages

On the first page of E. E. Evans - Pritchard 's novel Witchcraft Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande he wrote that “These ideas [witchcraft] and actions are on the surface of their life and are accessible to anyone who lives for a few weeks in their homesteads.” (1937 p.1), the Sudanese Zande sociological theory of witchcraft is so deeply engrained in each area of the Zande lives that it was identifiable even to foreigners. Magic within the Zande people dictate most of their being. Their judicial system, their marital relationships, their politics. The Zande are reliant on the belief of witchcraft even when fronted with an alternative, and the strength of this embeddedness, this reliance is evident in the survival of these ideals (Granada 1982).

Read More
162 Words | 1 Pages

Benjamin Barber essay “Overselling Capitalism with Consumerism”, depicts the contrast between capitalism with consumerism. Barber describes the change from capitalism to consumerism by outlining how capitalism should be versus how its now effects on society and the impact of consumerism on people. One of the issues with capitalism is that there are such numerous items being mass-created which we don't genuinely require, but the buyer is being continuously conditioned by advertisers to believe we are flawed without them. Barber states that “Capitalism is stymied, courting long-term disaster” (23). Which can be explained by the American youth of today cannot go a day deprived of technology, while in over parts of the world are struggling to live

Read More
1582 Words | 7 Pages

The book Deadly Words: Witchcraft in the Bocage by Jeanne Favret-Saada is about witchcraft practiced in Bocage, an area of Western France. Since Bocage is a more rural area of France, Favret-Saada explains that the practice of witchcraft is unique here because, “…geographical and cultural ‘isolation’ are partly responsible for the ‘survival’ of ‘these’ (witchcraft) beliefs” (Favret-Saada 1980, 3). Throughout the book, Favret-Saada discusses problems within the realm of ethnography and how simply observing or writing about a practice is not the same as experiencing it. Thus, she argues that one does not understand Bocage witchcraft without experiencing it first-hand. Favret-Saada goes into detail about the experience of bewitchment and the

Read More
1285 Words | 6 Pages

In the novel The Gospel of Wealth by Andrew Carnegie capitalism is portrayed as a positive influence on society. Carnegie states his thoughts on capitalism at the beginning of his writing when speaking on the law of competition, “while the law may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it insures survival of the fittest in every department” (4). If you are rich, you have already made it and are surviving, however, if you are poor, you have to put more effort into working harder so that you can prosper instead of dying off in a sense and becoming a part of society that uses money for self interest rather than for the good of mankind. Carnegie also shows his position on capitalism through the statement, “the surplus

Read More
631 Words | 3 Pages

One of the most interesting parts of the reading is devoted to the Postmodern Shift. Postmodernization is a new occurence visible mostly in first world countries. It is focused on individual concerns, it does not give any authority to the state or religion. Individuals concentrate on the quality of life and maximize their well-being. Apparently, postmodernization brings a rejection to everything known so far: both Capitalist and Marxist values, science, technology, big centralized government, etc.

Read More
1084 Words | 5 Pages

The individuals who were able to keep their jobs were able to keep making money and widening the wealth gap. The outcome of marketization factors from personal responsibility and effort in neoliberalism, so COVID-19 ultimately halted everyone’s effort to individually marketize. Harvey states, “The fundamental mission of the neo-liberal state is, at its

Read More
2521 Words | 11 Pages

Capitalism is a highly dynamic system which brought immense material wealth to the human society. This essay traces the historical dynamism of capitalism from its minority status to its majority status in term of demand and supply of investment capital. The emergence of capitalism as a mode of production out of pre-capitalist mode of production was fully formed by the mid-nineteenth century (Hobsbawn, Age of Capital: 1848-1875) this in no way implies that it was quantitatively dominant mode of production.

Read More
477 Words | 2 Pages

In this article ” why Millennial will save us all” was written by Joel Stein and Josh Sanburn, which was published in May 20, 2013. In this article, the authors’ called Millennial generation which is now this generation “ lazy, entitled, selfish, and shallow”(Stein et al. 28) like how other generation had called. According, to the article  Stein explain that he called this generation with cure world because he had the evidence about that. In this article, Stein did not     In the beginning of this article, Stein argued that this generation are very different than others generation such as self-absorption.

Read More
846 Words | 4 Pages

Capitalism is understood to be the “economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.” In modern society, capitalism has become the dominant economic system and has become so integrated that it has resulted in a change in the relationships individuals have with other members of society and the materials within society. As a society, we have become alienated from other members of society and the materials that have become necessary to regulate ourselves within it, often materials that we ourselves, play a role in producing. Capitalism has resulted in a re-organization of societies, a more specialized and highly segmented division of labour one which maintains the status quo in society by alienating the individual. Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim theorize on how power is embodied within society and how it affects the individuals of society.

Read More
1048 Words | 5 Pages

Human trafficking is one of the largest and most prevalent issues that affects all walks of life both domestically and internationally. Human trafficking is not only a horrendous crime but a major human rights violation, impacting public health. “Human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery” . Human trafficking is the taking of a person with the intent to exploit them through, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery/servitude, or the removal of organs.

Read More
1269 Words | 6 Pages

It provides capital for economic development and encourages global expansion by compressing the world into a single space (Robertson and Khondker, 1998). This in turn delivers political stability (Miller, 2001), and as is seen in China, improves living conditions and educational opportunity for more people (Chun, 2013). Competition often drives technological innovation, and online debates has pointed interest towards capitalism in providing the impetus for democratisation through the creation of a middle class that demands civil liberties (Bailey, 2007). Furthermore, where individual liberties are prioritised, individuals are able to develop hobbies and activities that allow them to travel, create and explore, which arguably fosters the control over one’s environment that Marx believed to be natural. Hence, capitalism could possibly reduce alienation, although this can be considered to ultimately be a form of false

Read More
528 Words | 3 Pages

Commodity as Spectacle: Rhetorical Analysis Chapter two, ‘Commodity as Spectacle’ from the book ‘The Society of the Spectacle’ written by Guy Debord is a well written and insightfully presented approach, as it relates to the notion of commodity. Commodity as presented by the author Debord, in a Marxist sense, represents any raw material or product that essentially can be purchased or retailed. However as Debord believes the concept of commodity has transcended in resent year, due to a constantly developing economy. The author details the perception needed to sustain an already developed society’s constant need to keep developing, also referred to as an advanced capitalistic society, is the paramount reason for the formation of a spectacle.

Read More
1950 Words | 8 Pages

“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil but by those who watch them without doing anything”-Albert Einstein Human Trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of sexual slavery, forced labour, organs removal, commercial sex exploitation and economic exploitation. Normally, trafficking is done by threat, compulsion, abduction, fraud, misleading, abuse of power, vulnerability, giving payments or benefits to a person in control of the victim .Trafficking in person is a serious crime and dignified violation of human rights . Most of people nowadays do not know that human slavery still exists; after it was abolished 150 years ago, its proven when there is an auction of young women intended for sexual slavery occurred publicly in Britain highly policed location and another auction even took place in front of a café at Greenwich Airport, Britain (News by BBC UK, 4 June 2006, 14.31 GMT). These crimes have been booming and become a global phenomenon when victims from at least 153 countries were detected in 124 countries worldwide between 2010 and 2012.

Read More

More about John Comaroff Theory Of Capitalism

Related Topics

Open Document