Branding and capitalist social relations of production – property rights, monopoly capitalism, and consuming subjectivities
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This paper examines branding and intangible assets to suggest they are umbilically tied to changes in the mode of production, new property rights, and altered social relations. These social relations enable intangible asset rich capital to extract value from labour, to capture surplus profits from non-intangible asset rich capitals, and to create quasi-monopolies. It argues that branding is inextricably linked to struggles in production and the need to weaken labour, increase production and consumption, and further embed capitalist social relations. This paper concludes by separating branding into two related but distinct functions. One, to develop capitalist consumer subjects for “capital in general” and two, to develop competitive advantage for individual capitals in competition with one another.
Source: Consumption Markets & Culture
Author: Gerard Hanlon
Institution: Queen Mary University of London
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4416187296