The end of capitalism as a concept: Towards a new political economy for understanding monetary societies in the biosphere
Political economy has two major concepts of capital. In one, capital is defined as money. Adam Smith proposed the other, which considers capital as anything that has a role in the creation of wealth even if peripheral. It includes, for instance, machines, the biosphere (“nature capital” or “natural...
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| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Innovation and Green Development |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S294975312400078X |
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| author | Tiago Cardao-Pito |
| author_facet | Tiago Cardao-Pito |
| author_sort | Tiago Cardao-Pito |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Political economy has two major concepts of capital. In one, capital is defined as money. Adam Smith proposed the other, which considers capital as anything that has a role in the creation of wealth even if peripheral. It includes, for instance, machines, the biosphere (“nature capital” or “natural capital”), and even human beings (“human capital”). The concept of capitalism is generally derived from Smith's overinclusive concept of capital. This led to ambiguity and tautology. However, the pre-Smith concept of capital does not require the concept of capitalism. By removing non-monetary elements from the concept of capital, this study reaches an alternative ‘monetary society in the biosphere’ concept, which avoids confusion regarding monetary and non-monetary flows. This new concept integrates the economic and societal production in the biosphere. Furthermore, it recognizes that various monetary flows can be detrimental to ecological crises. Abandoning the concept of capitalism can contribute to conceptual precision in addressing the political economy of societal, environmental, and green development phenomena. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-de1d26fc400349fc866a20041d6e41e2 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2949-7531 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Innovation and Green Development |
| spelling | doaj-art-de1d26fc400349fc866a20041d6e41e22025-01-24T04:46:06ZengElsevierInnovation and Green Development2949-75312025-02-0141100201The end of capitalism as a concept: Towards a new political economy for understanding monetary societies in the biosphereTiago Cardao-Pito0Rua Miguel Lupi, No. 20, 1249-078, Lisboa, Portugal.; ISEG, Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Universidade de Lisboa [University of Lisbon], PortugalPolitical economy has two major concepts of capital. In one, capital is defined as money. Adam Smith proposed the other, which considers capital as anything that has a role in the creation of wealth even if peripheral. It includes, for instance, machines, the biosphere (“nature capital” or “natural capital”), and even human beings (“human capital”). The concept of capitalism is generally derived from Smith's overinclusive concept of capital. This led to ambiguity and tautology. However, the pre-Smith concept of capital does not require the concept of capitalism. By removing non-monetary elements from the concept of capital, this study reaches an alternative ‘monetary society in the biosphere’ concept, which avoids confusion regarding monetary and non-monetary flows. This new concept integrates the economic and societal production in the biosphere. Furthermore, it recognizes that various monetary flows can be detrimental to ecological crises. Abandoning the concept of capitalism can contribute to conceptual precision in addressing the political economy of societal, environmental, and green development phenomena.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S294975312400078XMonetary societyCapitalismFlow tangibilityEconomic phenomenaIntangible flow theoryBiosphere |
| spellingShingle | Tiago Cardao-Pito The end of capitalism as a concept: Towards a new political economy for understanding monetary societies in the biosphere Innovation and Green Development Monetary society Capitalism Flow tangibility Economic phenomena Intangible flow theory Biosphere |
| title | The end of capitalism as a concept: Towards a new political economy for understanding monetary societies in the biosphere |
| title_full | The end of capitalism as a concept: Towards a new political economy for understanding monetary societies in the biosphere |
| title_fullStr | The end of capitalism as a concept: Towards a new political economy for understanding monetary societies in the biosphere |
| title_full_unstemmed | The end of capitalism as a concept: Towards a new political economy for understanding monetary societies in the biosphere |
| title_short | The end of capitalism as a concept: Towards a new political economy for understanding monetary societies in the biosphere |
| title_sort | end of capitalism as a concept towards a new political economy for understanding monetary societies in the biosphere |
| topic | Monetary society Capitalism Flow tangibility Economic phenomena Intangible flow theory Biosphere |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S294975312400078X |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tiagocardaopito theendofcapitalismasaconcepttowardsanewpoliticaleconomyforunderstandingmonetarysocietiesinthebiosphere AT tiagocardaopito endofcapitalismasaconcepttowardsanewpoliticaleconomyforunderstandingmonetarysocietiesinthebiosphere |