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Theory in Economic Anthropology Edited By Jean Ensminger Published in cooperation with the Society for Economic Anthropology AltaMira PRESS A Division of Row-man and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Walnut Creek • Lanham • New York • Oxford 2002 Chapter 6 Polanyi and the Definition of Capitalism Duran Bell It is argued, herein, that every hierarchical social formation rests on a form of wealth whose ownership is denied to many of those who are responsible for its production and augmentation. This includes societies based on wealth in female reproductivity, cattle, land, and, of course, capital. The Marxian overthrow of capital presupposes that workers have so aug- mented the forces of capital that its marginal valuation has fallen to zero leading to a collapse of the system. However, Polanyi attempts to define capitalism without reference to capital and without reference to the dy- namics of capitalist production. Because of his characterization of capitalism as (in principle) an un- regulated market system, Polanyi was unable to address the factors that are responsible for the dynamic properties of the system. And in his attempt to distance himself from Marxian materialism and class struggle, he falls headlong into the camp of neoliberalism, suggesting that efforts to improve the well-being of workers are necessarily counterproductive. Introduction Several years ago, it was my practice to assign to students in my under- graduate class in