by Rainer Zitelmann
Following the collapse of socialist systems around the world at the end of the 1980s, the superiority of the market economy was clear to many. Nevertheless, latent or overt anti-capitalist animosities have persisted, and, since the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2008, have even gained considerable support. In particular among intellectuals, anti-capitalism is once again popular – as demonstrated, for example, by the widespread approval of Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century. But anti-capitalism among intellectuals has a long tradition.
“Anti-capitalism is the most widespread and widely practiced spiritual commitment among intellectuals,” concluded American historian Alan S. Kahan. The sociologist Thomas Cushman stated: “Anti-capitalism has become, in some ways, the central pillar of the secular religion of intellectuals, the habitus of modern critical intellectuals as a status group.”
Even those who doubt that a majority of intellectuals are outright anti-capitalists can hardly disagree that a critical stance vis-à-vis capitalism is widely shared among their ranks. This attitude is just as prevalent among leftists as it is among conservative or right-wing thinkers. In fact, what often connects both groups is their tendency towards etatism – the belief that economic and social problems can best be solved by state intervention. Alain de Benoist, one of the most prominent and prolific proponents of the French Nouvelle Droite movement, which takes its inspiration from the Conservative Revolution in 1920s Germany, recently admitted: “My principal enemies have always been capitalism in economic terms, liberalism in philosophical terms and the bourgeoisie in sociological terms.”
Anti-capitalism comes in various guises on both sides of the political spectrum, manifesting as a critique of globalization directed against free trade and its allegedly exploitative practices, cultural levelling or capitalism’s supposed complicity in creating poverty in Africa. Alternatively, it may take the form of anti-American resentment that regards the United States as the epitome of the heartless and mercenary worldview embodied by capitalism. Since the 1970s, it has also reared its head in the environmentalist movement, which blames capitalism for climate change and the destruction of the natural environment. Though subject to changing fads and tastes – the Marxist ideology dominant in the 1960s is currently out of fashion – it has been replaced by an anti-globalist rhetoric and ideology. Nevertheless, anti-capitalism has consistently targeted the same enemy and been driven by the same resentments against market forces.
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About the Author
Rainer Zitelmann holds doctorates in History and Sociology. He is the author of 22 books. He has taught at the Free University of Berlin and was a section head of a major newspaper in Germany. This think piece is based on his latest book, The Power of Capitalism.
About The Adam Smith Institute
The Adam Smith Institute is one of the world's leading think tanks, recognised as the best domestic and international economic policy think-tank in the UK and ranked 2nd in the world among Independent Think Tanks by the University of Pennsylvania.
