Abstract
Responding to the widespread celebration of venture capital (VC) as a means to accelerated progress, this paper argues that supposedly ‘new’ markets are better understood as ‘frontier’ markets, and that the path between oppression and emancipation hinges on choices of design. The argument has four parts. First, drawing on Jacque Rancière’s distinction between politics and police I outline the concept of a ‘Police Economy.’ I argue that neoliberal capitalism constitutes a field of immanence in which the new markets championed by VCs are better framed as ‘frontier’ markets. Just as historical encounters at frontiers displaced and dominated pre-existing communities, frontier markets often disrupt pre-established social order. Second, I develop a new concept: frontier legality. This concept demonstrates how frontier markets exploit gaps in the law via innovations not yet accounted for by pre-existing regulation and capture value through monopoly formation. These disruptions are followed by demands for a continuation of the anarchic (and inequitable) conditions preceding regulatory action. Third, I show how markets offer the possibility of transcendence, and therefore an approximation of justice, but that the inherently expansionary role of capital perverts the design of markets towards a profit motive rather than emancipatory justice. I argue that rethinking and redesigning markets according to principles of equity offers an achievable glimmer transcendent justice. Finally, I explore the intricacies and implications of my argument through a detailed study of Section 230, the US law that enables online freedom of speech to both the benefit and detriment of the world.
Presenters
Mark HowardPh.D Student, Graduate Student Instructor, Teaching Assistant, Politics, History of Consciousness, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
DESIGN, MARKETS, VENTURE CAPITAL, LEGAL ENDOGENEITY, POLITICAL ECONOMY, POLITICAL THEORY
