Knowing Capitalism′This is an ambitious, original, and complex treatment of key aspects of contemporary capitalism. It makes a major contribution because it profoundly destabilizes the scholarship on globalization, the so-called new economy, information technology, distinct contemporary business cultures and practices′ - Saskia Sassen, author of Globalization and its Discontents ′Nigel Thrift offers us the sort of cultural analysis of global capitalism that has long been needed - one that emphasizes the innovative energy of global capitalism. The book avoids stale denouncements and offers instead a view of capitalism as a form of practice′ Capitalism is well known for producing a form of existence where `everything solid melts into air′. But what happens when capitalism develops theories about itself? Are we moving into a condition in which capitalism can be said to possess a brain? These questions are pursued in this sparkling and thought-provoking book. Thrift looks at what he calls ′the cultural circuit of capitalism′, the mechanism for generating new theories of capitalism. The book traces the rise of this circuit back to the 1960s when a series of institutions locked together to interrogate capitalism, to the present day, when these institutions are moving out to the Pacific basin and beyond. What have these theories produced? How have they been implicated in the speculative bubbles that characterized the late twentieth century? What part have they played in developing our understanding of human relations? Building on an inter-disciplinary approach which embraces the core social sciences, Thrift outlines an exciting new theory for understanding capitalism. His book is of interest to readers in geography, social theory, anthropology and cultural economics. |
From inside the book
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... knowledge of position' scheduled for publication in Environmentand Planning D: Society and Space, 2004, vol. 22, issue 1: 175190. 1 Adventures of Capitalism Businessartisthestepthat comes afterArt...Beinggoodin business is the.
Nigel Thrift. 1. Adventures. of. Capitalism. Businessartisthestepthat comes afterArt...Beinggoodin business is the most fascinating kind of art. (Andy Warhol, cited in Taylor, 2001, p. 233) There are no bad ideas. (Rasiel, 1999, p. 97) Alas ...
... the theorists of modernity would like to tell us. I am notatall convinced that the managersofcapitalist firms –jointly or severally– know whatthey aredoingfor quitea lot ofthe time. And I am ... is a set of poised systems (DeLanda, 2002).
... that results,or riskbeing washedupon the reefs of irrelevance– and thrown into bankruptcy. (It isalways worth remembering just how few capitalist firms surviveoverthe long term; surely Schumpeter was right to argue thatcapitalism is a ...
... is to lay an undueemphasis on money and finance. Even in continental Europe, the 'financialization' ofthe economy is now afactoflife,as are its effects– rampant ... the commodity, and the pivotal role of space and time as not merely.
Contents
The Globalization of Reflexive Business | |
Reengineering the SoulofCapitalism | |
Coauthor Kris Olds Part II The New Economy | |
The Automatic Production of Space | |
Closer to the Machine? Intelligent Environments New Forms | |
New ModelsofEveryday | |
Remembering the Technological Unconscious by Foregrounding | |
Index | |