Coercive Capitalism

Bibliographic Data

ID22125469
AuthorsCohn (0000-0002-4490-5034, corresponding author), Samuel Cohn
Year2021
Volume7
Issue2
Pages117-126
Publication date2021-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociology of Development (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2374-538X • E-ISSN: 2374-538X
PublisherUniversity of California Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1525/sod.2021.7.2.117
OpenAlexW3174408830
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited13

Coercive capitalism is development based on the use of force to dispossess either land or labor. Early macrosociologists, both functionalist and conflict-oriented, believed that feudal systems were based on the use of force but that capitalism is based on coercion-free free markets. Wallerstein argued that coercive capitalism exists in the periphery of world systems. We argue that coercion is endemic to all capitalism. Much of the land on which capitalism is based, including all of the Western Hemisphere, was seized from aboriginal populations. Land seizure was common in historic Europe. Forced labor existed until very recently in both bound apprenticeships and prison work crews. Coercion is used extensively in land acquisition for contemporary capitalism. It can take the form of legal sanctions exerted against the defenseless, or the use of paramilitaries and gangsters to exert pressure on the landholding poor

Capitalism · Feudalism · Political economy · Political science · Prison · Sanctions · Sociology · Corruption and Economic Development · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Law · Political Economy and Marxism