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What Is the Wrong of Capitalism? A Reply to Chiara Cordelli

Nicholas Vrousalis

American Political Science Review2026https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003055426101567article
AJG 4*ABDC A*
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0.50

Abstract

Chiara Cordelli has recently criticized radical republicans for failing to ground a domination-based anti-capitalism. Cordelli argues that radical republicans “cannot prove either that domination under capitalism is less contingent than other wrongs, that capitalism’s distinctive wrong amounts to domination, or that such domination is unjust.” This article responds to Cordelli’s objections. I argue that Cordelli’s emphasis on capitalization does not threaten the non-contingency of capitalist domination; that capitalism’s distinctive wrong is domination and not alienation, and that this wrong is structural all the way down. Cordelli is right that capitalism involves alienation of our future to the vagaries of profit-maximization. But alienation is only a moment in capitalism’s fundamental wrong and ill—the domination of labor by capital.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003055426101567

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@article{nicholas2026,
  title        = {{What Is the Wrong of Capitalism? A Reply to Chiara Cordelli}},
  author       = {Nicholas Vrousalis},
  journal      = {American Political Science Review},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003055426101567},
}

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What Is the Wrong of Capitalism? A Reply to Chiara Cordelli

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0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

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