Milan Zafirovski identifies and investigates the resurgence of capitalist dictatorship in contemporary society, especially after 2016. This book introduces the concept of capitalist dictatorship to the academic audience for the first time. It examines the capitalist dictatorship as a total social system composed of specific systems such as a coercive economy, repressive polity, illiberal civil society and irrational culture in contrast to liberal democracy. It also investigates multiple dimensions, forms and indicators of capitalist dictatorship, and calculates degrees of capitalist dictatorship for contemporary Western and comparable societies such as OECD countries. Capitalist dictatorship, including autocracy, Zafirovski argues, is the gravest threat to contemporary democratic society post-2016.
Milan Zafirovski, Ph.D. (1999), Florida International University, is Professor in the Department of Sociology at University of North Texas, USA. He has published various articles and books, including Identifying a Free Society (Brill, 2017) and Modernity and Terrorism (Brill, 2013).
Acknowledgements
List of Figures and Tables
1âIntroduction â1âThe Concept of Capitalist Dictatorship
â2âA Sociological Study of Capitalist DictatorshipâGeneral Outlines
2âCapitalist Dictatorship as an Economic System â1âNegative Definition and Specification of Capitalist Dictatorship
â2âPositive Definition and Specification of Capitalist Dictatorship
â3âEconomic Forms and Agents of Capitalist Dictatorship
ââ3.1âCapitalist Autocracy ââ3.2âCapitalist Dynasty ââ3.3âCapitalist Plutocracy, Oligarchy, and Aristocracy ââ3.4âSecondary Forms and Agents of Capitalist Dictatorship ââ3.5âPlutocracy and Secondary Forms and Agents of Capitalist Dictatorship â4âEconomic Indicators and Proxies of Capitalist Dictatorship
ââ4.1âIndicators and Proxies of Economic Coercion, Oppression and Non-democracy âââ4.1.1âSuppression of Unionization
âââ4.1.2âRestriction of the Scope of Unionization
âââ4.1.3âSuppression of Collective Bargaining
âââ4.1.4âSuppression of Codetermination
â4.2âIndicators and Proxies of Economic Inequality, Degradation and Deprivation âââ4.2.1âExtreme Concentration of Wealth
âââ4.2.2âExtremely Unequal Income Distribution
âââ4.2.3âEconomic Degradation, Deprivation and Hardship
âââ4.2.4âEconomic Exploitation and Non-protection and Insecurity
3âCapitalist Dictatorship as a Political Regime â1âMoving from Economy to Polity, Transforming Economic to Political Domination
â2âNegative Definition and Specification of Capitalist Dictatorship as a Political Regime
â3âPositive Definition and Specification of Capitalist Dictatorship as a Political Regime
â4âPolitical Forms and Agents of Capitalist Dictatorship
ââ4.1âCapitalist Autocracy as a Political Regime ââ4.2âCapitalist Dynasty as a Political Regime ââ4.3âCapitalist Plutocracy, Aristocracy and Oligarchy as a Political Regime ââ4.4âSecondary Forms of Capitalist Dictatorship as Political Regimes â5âPolitical Indicators and Proxies of Capitalist Dictatorship
ââ5.1âSuppression of Political Freedoms and Rights âââ5.1.1âSuppression of Voting and Related Political Freedoms and Rights
âââ5.1.2âSuppression of Free Political Competition for Power
âââ5.1.3âSuppression of Political âVoiceâ
ââ5.2âConcentration of Political Power âââ5.2.1âMistreatment and Subordination of Non-capital Groups
âââ5.2.2âDenial of Equal Political Freedoms and Rights
âââ5.2.3âSuppression of Political Pluralism and Imposition of Ideological Monism
âââ5.2.4âUnequal Legal Treatment
ââ5.3âSevere Penal Repression and Punishment âââ5.3.1ââLaw and Orderâ for Non-capitalists, Lawlessness for Capital
âââ5.3.2âPolitical Terror:Â Mass Imprisonment, Executions, Violations of Human Rights
ââ5.4âMilitarism âââ5.4.1âThe Military-Capitalist Complex and Aggressive Wars
âââ5.4.2âMilitarized Political Repression
4âCapitalist Dictatorship as Civil Society â1âCapitalist Dictatorship and Civil Society
â2âNegative Definition and Specification of Capitalist Dictatorship as Civil Society
â3âPositive Definition and Specification of Capitalist Dictatorship as Civil Society
â4âForms and Agents of Capitalist Dictatorship as Civil Society
ââ4.1âCapitalist Autocracy and Dynasty in Civil Society ââ4.2âCapitalist Plutocracy, Oligarchy, and Aristocracy in Civil Society ââ4.3âSecondary Forms of Capitalist Dictatorship in Civil Society â5âIndicators and Proxies of Capitalist Dictatorship as Civil Society ââ5.1âSuppression of Individual Liberty and Other Civil Liberties âââ5.1.1âDenial of Personal Freedom of Moral Choice
ââ5.2âNegation of Civil and Other Human Rights ââ5.3âCriminalization and Severe Sanctioning of Moral Offenses ââ5.4âMoralistic-Religious Terror âââ5.4.1âMassive Populations of Prisoners of Ethical Conscience
5âCapitalist Dictatorship as a Cultural System â1âCapitalist Dictatorship and Culture
â2âNegative Definition and Specification of Capitalist Dictatorship as a Cultural System
â3âPositive Definition and Specification of Capitalist Dictatorship as a Cultural System
â4âForms and Agents of Capitalist Dictatorship as a Cultural System
â5âIndicators and Proxies of Capitalist Dictatorship as a Cultural System
ââ5.1âSuppression of Artistic and Cultural Liberties and Devaluation of the Arts and Culture ââ5.2âExtreme and Compulsory Religiosity ââ5.3âObstruction and Suppression of Scientific Progress and Freedom ââ5.4âPersistence of Widespread Religious Superstitions
6âDegrees of Capitalist Dictatorship for Contemporary Societies â1âSummary and Specification of Societal Indicators of Capitalist Dictatorship
ââ1.1âEconomic Indicators ââ1.2âPolitical Indicators ââ1.3âCivil-Society Indicators ââ1.4âCultural Indicators â2âMeasures of Capitalist Dictatorship
ââ2.1âEconomic Measures ââ2.2âPolitical Measures ââ2.3âCivil-Society Measures ââ2.4âCultural Measures â3âCalculation of the Degrees of Capitalist Dictatorship
â4âDegrees of Capitalist Dictatorship for Western and Comparable Societies
7âConclusion
Appendix 1 Capitalist Dictatorship in the Literature Appendix 2 Data on Capitalist Dictatorship Measures References Index
The book would be of immediate interest or relevance to institutes, academic libraries, specialists, post-graduate students, practitioners, and educated laymen interested in the subjects of comparative economic-political sociology and economics.