“Technofeudalism” and “Intellectual Monopoly Capitalism”: A Critical Review

Abstract

This article critically examines some key formulations that have shaped the notions of “technofeudalism” and “intellectual monopoly capitalism.” These concepts suggest that global capitalism's development hinges on accumulation processes involving the dispossession and appropriation of intangible goods and intellectual property, which are concentrated as monopoly rent, creating inequality between the core and the periphery. Contrary to this view, and drawing from significant contributions in Latin American political economy, especially the Marxist dependency theory, we argue that the development of global capitalism and the primary difference between core and peripheral countries cannot be fully understood through intellectual dispossession and extraction alone, but in the profound asymmetries in science and technology production within the global system, stemming from the subordinate integration of peripheral economies in the international division of labor. As argued, the structural condition of labor superexploitation in dependent capitalism configures a scenario of technological dependence based on the uprooting of domestic scientific and technological knowledge, and the productive subordination implicit in the chronic importing of innovations from imperialist economies.

JEL Classification: J3, O1, P1