The application of Critical Theory to markets—examining how markets are constructed, how they operate, and how they concentrate power and produce inequality. Critical Theory of Market asks: What is a market, really? Is it natural or created? Who has power within markets? How do markets produce winners and losers? What's hidden by the idea of "free" markets? Drawing on Marx, Polanyi, and economic sociology, it insists that markets are never just exchanges—they're social institutions, shaped by power, law, and history. Understanding markets requires understanding who they serve.
"Markets are just supply and demand, they say. Critical Theory of Market asks: supply controlled by whom? Demand shaped by what? Markets aren't natural; they're created by laws, enforced by states, shaped by power. Some enter markets with capital, others with only their labor. The market isn't neutral; it's a battlefield. Critical theory insists on asking: who wins, who loses, and who wrote the rules?"
by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal March 4, 2026
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