Anti-capitalism is apolitical ideology andmovement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that opposecapitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism with alternativeeconomic systems such associalism andcommunism.
Anti-capitalism can range from areformist position, which aims to limit corporate power and oppose neoliberal policies, to aradical position, which entirely rejectscapitalism and seeks to replace the existingsocial order. Key principles of anti-capitalism, as outlined by the charter of theWorld Social Forum, include a committent todemocracy andegalitarianism.[1] Anti-capitalists view capitalism either as asocial relation or as a distincteconomic andpolitical system, and how they view it informs their methods of opposing it. Reformist anti-capitalism places itself in opposition to specific economic practices, includingcommodification andcapital accumulation, and seeks to combat thenegative externalities of capitalism without fundamentally altering the economic system; on the other hand, forms ofrevolutionary socialism see capitalism as a fundamentally flawed social system that needs to be overthrown and replaced. Although the reformist and revolutionary perspectives differ, they are not necessarily distinct, with anti-capitalists often taking aspects of one or the other depending on the material conditions they are faced with.[2]
Various economic systems have been proposed as an alternative to capitalism. American economistMichael Albert proposed a system ofparticipatory economics, a kind ofdemocratic socialism which would involvesocial ownership,workers' self-management,participatory planning and system of remunerationbased on contribution, among other factors.[3]Neozapatismo emphasises theself-determination ofindigenous peoples and a form ofparticipatory democracy that stands in contrast to thecentralisation andvanguardism ofauthoritarian socialist tendencies.[4]
Early opposition to the rise of capitalism first arose during the 17th century, whenfeudallandowners first came under threat from the increasing power ofbusiness owners. During the 19th century, theIndustrial Revolution gave rise tomass production, which accelerated the shift away frommercantilism as the predominant economic system and theglobalization of capitalism. Thedivision of labour within this industrial capitalist economy led to the rapid growth of theworking class, who were increasingly drawn towards anti-capitalism and organised themselves intrade unions andsocialist parties.[5]
Contemporary anti-capitalism finds its roots among theNew Left and thecounterculture of the 1960s, which infused anti-capitalism with apostmodern tendency by the end of theCold War.[6] During this period, anti-capitalism began to developed within theenvironmental movement, withgreen politics drawing a lot of its influence from the New Left and groups such asGreenpeace aligning themselves againsteconomic growth and pioneering new methods ofdirect action which had previously been advocated byanarchists.[7]Radical environmentalists such asEarth First, which infused their green politics with anti-capitalism, useddecentralisedclandestine cell systems to carry out large-scale acts ofsabotage; tactics which would later be taken up by the wider anti-capitalist movement.[8] Capitalism was increasingly seen as responsible forenvironmental degradation, leading to the adoption of anti-capitalism by those who aimed to stop it.[9]
By the 1990s,neoliberalism had asserted ahegemonic influence over theglobal economy. In reaction against the rise of neoliberalism, a new anti-capitalist movement began to take shape.[10] The contemporary anti-capitalist movement first emerged in January 1994, with theZapatista uprising against the implementation of theNorth American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).[4] Zapatista spokespersonSubcomandante Marcos explicitly expressedsolidarity withminority groups throughout the world, seeking to make a common cause with others who experiencedoppression under globalized capitalism.[11] TheZapatista autonomous region inChiapas inspired a new generation of anti-capitalists worldwide.[12] Anti-capitalists began to defendcultural pluralism and stand in solidarity withindigenous rights movements, breaking from the 20th century's anti-capitalist movement, which had few links with thedecolonial andanti-racist movements of its period.[13]
In 1995, the establishment of theWorld Trade Organization (WTO), which sought to promote a neoliberal policy ofeconomic globalization, met with opposition from the nascentanti-globalization movement (also known as thealter-globalization movement orglobal justice movement).[14] Other opponents of neoliberal globalization includednationalists andreligious fundamentalists, although these tendencies differed widely from anti-capitalism in their principles and objectives.[1] The anti-capitalist movement provided amilitant opposition to the WTO and itsGeneral Agreement on Trade in Services, distinguishing theirprogressive politics from the prevailingliberal democratic politics which upheld these institutions and had resigned to a belief thatno alternative existed.[15] English philosopherMark Fisher referred to this phenomenon ascapitalist realism.[16]
Towards the end of the 1990s, the British environmentalist groupReclaim the Streets sought to build ties with the anti-globalisation movement, culminating with theCarnival Against Capital on 18 June 1999 inLondon. Although the protest precipitated a decline in the British anti-capitalist movement, following the rise ofTony Blair'sNew Labour government, it also renewed contacts within the international anti-capitalist movement and accelerated a shift towards revolutionary anti-capitalism.[17] During the late 1990s, confrontations between militant anti-capitalists and the police became commonplace atG8 summits andWTO conferences, which were regularly targeted for protests by a diverse and decentralised coalition of organisations.[18] The largest of these were the1999 Seattle WTO protests, whereanarchists,environmentalists andtrade unionists caused conference negotiations to collapse; this inspired a new wave of anti-capitalistactivism in the 21st century, with large protests taking place against the26th G8 summit inPrague and the27th G8 summit inGenoa.[19]
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