Financialization and Marx: Giving Labor and Capital a Financial Makeover

Abstract

Financialization challenges some established ways of thinking within Marxist categories. We explore the way in which financialization is not simply shifting the balance of power between classes and generating economic volatility, but also re-constituting our understanding of class (as a formal economic category) and class relations. In particular, we examine how financialization is re-constituting labor as a form of capital, and giving capital a fluidity which serves to intensify competition. JEL classification: B51, G32