The Tools of Law that Shape Capitalism

The book provides a critical analysis of the legal mechanisms that help shape the capitalist system, and also makes proposals for deploying these tools in a different manner. Although often disguised in difficult legal jargon, in reality the main legal building blocks of the prevailing capitalist socio-economic system are simple, the most important being: (1) money; (2) the company form and (3) (neo)liberal state organization aimed at making markets as free as possible for the entrepreneurial sector. Having been used to create the socio-economic order over 2-3 centuries, the legal systems that helped shape capitalist societies around the globe have also contributed to a variety of fundamental problems that remain unaddressed by the capitalist system itself, such as ever-mounting public and private debt, pollution and climate change, an increasing polarization between rich and poor and a globally unjust fiscal order. By proposing alternative uses for the tools of law that shape capitalism, the book also makes proposals for dealing with these matters.

Auteur
Koen Byttebier, Vrije Universiteit Brussels

Contenu
Introduction.- Main legal building stones of the capitalist socio-economic order.- Neoliberalism.- Some major unanswered challenges of our times.- Some thoughts on a monetary way out.- Introducing a universal "care state" model.- A new focus on man.- General conclusion.