Capitalism Reloaded: The Rise of the Authoritarian-Financial Complex

by Peter Bloom

Overview

Available Open Access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND license. In Capitalism Reloaded, Peter Bloom charts a pivotal shift from the well-known military-industrial complex to a new ‘Authoritarian-Financial Complex’. Unlike its predecessor, which centred on armaments and defence, this emerging power structure fuses financial interests with advanced surveillance and digital control, turning social repression into a lucrative industry. Bloom introduces a ground breaking theory of ‘complex power', where control itself becomes a central driver of capitalism, shaping economies and societies. Bloom explores how this insatiable demand for security and profit extends beyond traditional authoritarian regimes, permeating everyday life and eroding democratic freedoms. This book challenges readers to confront the deep entanglements of modern capitalism before they solidify into a techno-authoritarian order.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781529233858
Publisher:	Bristol University Press
Publication date:	05/27/2025
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	270
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

Peter Bloom is Professor of Management at the University of Essex.

Table of Contents

1. Capitalism Reloaded

2. Complexifying Power

3. The Rise of the Authoritarian-Financial Complex

4. Securitizing History

5. Growing Global Authoritarian Markets

6. Producing Precarity

7. Insatiable Control

8. Repressive Progress

9. Perpetual Crisis

10. Breaking Free from the Authoritarian-Financial Complex

Editorial Reviews

Bloom provides a provocative and insightful account of how financial, technological, and authoritarian processes combine to configure contemporary capitalism.” Paul Langley, Durham University

“Now, more than ever, critical analyses of capitalism and power structures are sorely needed. In this fascinating new book, Peter Bloom provides an unflinching and searching view on what has gone wrong, and what needs to happen to mount an effective fight against authoritarianism driven by vested interests. Highly recommended for all those who care about the state of the world.” Deborah Lupton, UNSW Sydney

“Bloom’s work contributes tremendously to quantified work debates with a new philosophy of authoritarian neoliberalism, where financialization now dominates subjectivity.” Phoebe Moore, University of Essex

“Capitalism Reloaded is a scathing indictment of the multiple ways financial power and authoritarian governance are intertwined. In this urgently needed book, Peter Bloom masterfully dissects the toxic core of capitalism - control, securitization, and financialization - exposing them as the dreadful combo behind the ever-expanding thirst for profit maximization. This must-read depicts the transformation of the military-industrial complex that moved beyond the supply of military hardware to become a key surveillance-industrial wing of contemporary capitalism. Capitalism Reloaded is a powerful wake-up call, laying bare the dark systemic forces we must confront before we can even begin to talk seriously about democracy.” Juan Grigera, Kings College London

"In Capitalism Reloaded, Peter Bloom lays out the dynamics that are reconfiguring our economies and societies as authoritarian-financial complexes. Financial risk is turned into a tradable security, while everyday livelihoods and security are turned into objects of surveillance. As finance and surveillance meld together to constitute contemporary society, we are left with an increasingly repressive and regressive capitalism in which increasing and reproducing precarity has become a strategic choice for elites. Bloom concludes with stirring and hopeful call to arms to challenge this repression, centred on creating radical breaks in the prevailing financial and technological apparatuses that underpin contemporary capitalism." Kean Birch, York University

From the Publisher