Unfettered capitalism

On Rackets, Cronies and Mafiosi

Bibliographic Data

ID2297757
AuthorsStefan Klein (0000-0001-7684-0565, Universidade Federal da Bahia), Ricardo Pagliuso Regatieri, Apresentação E Tradução De Ricardo Pagliuso Regatieri (0000-0003-0625-8275, Universidade Federal da Bahia)
Year2018
Volume30
Issue3
Pages67-84
Publication date2018-12-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueTempo Social (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0103-2070 • E-ISSN: 1809-4554
PublisherUniversidade de Sao Paulo, Agencia USP de Gestao da Informacao Academica (AGUIA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.11606/0103-2070.ts.2018.146125
OpenAlexW2905545444
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited16

In the early 1940s, critical theory borrowed the term racket from the urban crime underworld and applied it to criticize monopoly capitalism, which was regarded as a constellation ruled in a mafia-like manner. Decades later, after the experiences of the welfare state in the core counties and catch-up modernizations in the periphery, concepts such as cronyism and mafioso state were proposed. What these three approaches have in common is the fact that they highlight the mafia-like nature of capitalism and do so for different social and historical contexts. This article suggests that rackets, cronies or mafias have more recently, and increasingly, become structural elements of capitalism, as was first envisaged by critical theory during World War ii. We combine theoretical critique and insights with references to empirical expressions of this phenomenon to shed light on this development

Capitalism · Capitalist state · Cronyism · Economic system · Economics · Market economy · Monopoly · Neoclassical economics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Sociology · State (computer science) · Welfare state · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Political Economy and Marxism

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