David Harvey's Anti-Capitalist Chronicles

Technology has become the largest industry in the world. In this episode of Anti-Capitalist Chronicles, Prof. Harvey picks up where he left off from the previous episode to further explore the implications of technology as a business. To do this, Harvey looks closely at Apple as an example—the labor conditions in China, where the product value actually comes from, and the differences in profit rates between the company itself and the production companies further down the supply chain. As the tech sector continues to explode, Harvey begs us to investigate the ways in which it shapes our lives and choices: through concealed exploitative practices, monetization of access, artificial intelligence, and more.

In this episode of Anti-Capitalism Chronicles, Prof. Harvey explores the issue of US indebtedness. Drawing on various Marxist theories—the coercive laws of competition, the falling rate of profit, and capitalism’s irrationality—Harvey explains how the US ended up in such a deep foreign indebtedness position, who it may benefit, and the implications on the global economy.

On this episode of ACC, Prof. Harvey talks about the integration of race and class. He argues that wealthy elites in the US have weaponized white racism to gain political power and amass excessive wealth. He believes we are living through a key moment in history where real change is possible. Integrating class and race will be an important and powerful driver of change.

Prof. Harvey continues his discussion of rate and mass of surplus value. He argues that the emergence of the Equalization of the Rate of Profit (ERP) in the 1980s has been responsible for the transfer of value from labor-intensive to capital-intensive modes of production. Knowledge has become a valuable commodity that can be bought and sold in the market.

Prof. Harvey talks about what is needed to move beyond capitalism, what are the crucial aspects of the social struggle that will take place in the coming years.