From Shared Prosperity to Shareholder Supremacy: The Moral Reordering of Capitalism

Author(s): Mir Shahnawaz Ali

Abstract:

This paper examines the transformation of capitalism’s moral and institutional order from the Fordist era of shared prosperity to the contemporary regime of shareholder value. This paper argues that capitalism has always been a moral economy-an order organized by ideas of what is fair, virtuous, and necessary. Fordism linked productivity to collective welfare, sustaining capitalism’s legitimacy through stability and inclusion. Shareholder capitalism, by contrast, constructs a new moral economy that sanctifies efficiency, competitiveness, and shareholder return as supreme virtues. Empirical examples-from layoffs at GE to the normalization of buybacks and executive pay-illustrate how these practices enact this moral order. Against the claim that capitalism evolves as a scientific system, the paper contends that each phase redefines the moral language through which accumulation is justified.

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Pages: 117-120     |    3 View     |    0 Download