Beyond rentiership: Standardisation, intangibles and value capture in global production

We examine corporate rentiership in the contemporary economy and suggest that idea we are a moment of step-change within capitalism may be premature. Implicit arguments for is claim present-day emphasises unproductive or rentier forms rather than more productive entrepreneurial past. In contrast, argue to understand our current situation need focus on division labour most especially processes standardisation rise intangible assets. Moving from Marx’s understanding rent as class relation, re-embed circuit capital realm value distribution investigate dynamics (among labour, state) through which giant firms seem generate out rentierism. these include crucial unexplored relation between intangibles. renders people, places, things interchangeable that, assets differentiate them. When emerge new property, they enable owners scarcity exert direct and/or indirect control over wider labour. Through examining combined technical demonstrate how hierarchy social empowers some corporations capture produced elsewhere capital.