1. Apples/Oranges: Feudalism was an economic/political system; the corporate model depends on an underlying capitalist economic/political system. So it's not quite right to compare corporatism to feudalism.
2. Feudalism does not aim at creating surplus value.
3. Under Feudalism, there is the recognition of the right of the people to a "commons" -- be it of woods, land, rivers, sea, etc. There is no recognition of a commons under capitalism.
4. Feudalism, if anything, tended toward decentralization/fragmentation of power; corporatism aims toward the consolidation of centralized power.
It seems that when people compare Corporatism to Feudalism, what they mean is that capitalism has reached a stage where it can no longer afford any vestige of democracy (or a "middle" class). But I am a poor student of history and political economy, and I am willing to stand corrected if others can put forward a case for the aptness of the comparison.
Joanna
----- Original Message ----- Arthur: "Would you do me a favor and explain in what ways feudalism and corporate structure are polar opposites?"
[WS:] To make a long story short, corporate structure is based on formal bureaucracy which separates office from office holder, and subjects the holder to some form of collective control (it does not have be fully democratic, a select group like cardinals in the Catholic Church, electoral college in the US, or stockholders will do). Feudalism is based on power structure vested in particular individuals and thus inherited and not subjected to any collective control. This is classical Weber.
Wojtek
On Wed, May 22, 2013 at 1:44 PM, Arthur Maisel <arthurmaisel at gmail.com>wrote:
> WS---I think if we seem to disagree at all---aside from the bit about
> feudalism---it is probably only the result of my lack of a systematic
> theoretical framework (my degree is in music) combined with the struggle I
> have to engage in to try to make myself clear.
>
> Would you do me a favor and explain in what ways feudalism and corporate
> structure are polar opposites?
>
> On Wed, May 22, 2013 at 12:42 PM, Wojtek S <wsoko52 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Joanna: "As a friend once put it: "It takes a long time to become little
> > and stupid, and a great deal of collaboration.""
> >
> > [WS:] Very true, indeed. Parents are willing collaborators.
> >
> >
> > On Wed, May 22, 2013 at 12:36 PM, <123hop at comcast.net> wrote:
> >
> > > Woj sez:
> > >
> > > Stupidity is not natural - it is learned and right now the captains of
> > > industry work very hard to run crash courses in stupidity for the
> masses.
> > > -----------
> > >
> > > As a friend once put it: "It takes a long time to become little and
> > > stupid, and a great deal of collaboration."
> > >
> > > Joanna
> > > ___________________________________
> > > http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Wojtek
> >
> > "An anarchist is a neoliberal without money."
> > ___________________________________
> > http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
> >
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>
-- Wojtek
"An anarchist is a neoliberal without money." ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk