Based on Marx and Lefebvre, we can outline some systematic aspects of capitalist society. Table 5.7 applies Table 5.1 to capitalist society. It shows what forms structures take on the various levels of capitalist society.
Table 5.8 shows how we can make sense of accumulation as general process and in capitalist society. In capitalism, alienation takes on the form of accumulation processes that create classes and inequalities. Capitalism is based on capitalists’ accumulation of capital in the economy, bureaucrats’ accumulation of decision-power and influence in the political system, and ideologues’, influencers’, and celebrities’ accumulation of reputation, attention, and respect in the cultural system. Accumulation is an antagonistic relation that not just constitutes dominant classes and groups but also subordinated, dominated, and exploited groups such as the working class in the capitalist economy, dominated citizens in the capitalist political system, and ideologically targeted everyday people in capitalism’s cultural system.
Chapter Five | Communication in Everyday (Digital) Life
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Everyday Life and Communication in Capitalism