Unsustainable Capitalism: Marx and Polanyi Contributions

The article explores the importance of Marx's and Polanyi's theoretical thinking to understand the dynamics of capitalism. Both Marx and Polanyi assume the importance of agency in shaping contemporary societies by means of different logics and methodologies. Marx is explicit in his theoretical frame but leaves various problems open to further theoretical investigation with reference to the impact of class agency in the historical transformation of capitalism. Polanyi is relatively more attentive to the roles of agencies in building historically different and changing forms of re-embedding processes. Marx’s views on the capitalist economy may bolster the argument that contemporary global capitalism is an unsustainable and tension-ridden form of development. His contribution is, in some way, complementary to an interpretation of the current perspectives of capitalism inspired by Polanyi’s idea of the “double movement”.