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Provincialising American Capitalism: From Universal Instance to Contingent Case

2021; Wiley; Volume: 53; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/anti.12713

1467-8330

Mikael Omstedt,

Economic Theory and Policy

Abstract This article draws on theories of uneven development to deconstruct a set of universalising assumptions in the critique of American capitalism. While these theories have called for more relational understandings of capitalism, there is a tendency to naturalise the United States as an instance of universal capitalist relations. Engaging such diverse thinkers as Paul Baran and Paul Sweezy, Michel Aglietta, and Cedric Robinson, the article identifies three recurrent universals, including: (1) abstraction from the US as the most “advanced” capitalist formation; (2) assumption of American capitalism as developing in a particularly “pure” state; and (3) subsumption of the dynamics of American capitalism under universal logics. Reading these against the methodological principles of Uneven and Combined Development, the article argues for provincialising the capitalist formation that appears the most “complete”.