Gilbe , Paul Robe
A icle
The an h opology o inancial in en
Finance and Socie y
P o ided in Coope a ion wi h:
Finance and Socie y Ne wo k (FSN)
Sugges ed Ci a ion: Gilbe , Paul Robe (2017) : The an h opology o inancial in en , Finance and
Socie y, ISSN 2059-5999, Uni e si y o Edinbu gh, Edinbu gh, Vol. 3, Iss. 1, pp. 91-98,
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The an h opology o inancial in en
Co esponding au ho :
Paul Robe Gilbe , School o En i onmen & Technology, Uni e si y o B igh on, Lewes Road, B igh on BN2 4GJ.
Email: p.gilbe [email p o ec ed]
Paul Robe Gilbe
Uni e si y o B igh on, UK
Abs ac
Much has been lea ned abou calcula ion, commodi ica ion and ma ke iza ion om he social
s udies o ma ke s and inance. Bu wha o capi aliza ion? Wha is dis inc i e abou his mode
o alua ion and he eali y i impels? Wha does i mean o li e unde he ‘asse condi ion’? In
Capi aliza ion: A Cul u al Guide, Fabian Muniesa and his colleagues a he Cen e de
Sociologie de l’Inno a ion ake us on a ou ac oss mul iple con inen s and se e al cen u ies,
in oducing us o capi aliza ion as a ‘cul u al synd ome’. Thei p agma is enqui y in ol es
acing capi aliza ion ia he scena ios in which alue is c ea ed, and he gaze ha s imula es
such alue-c ea ion. The esul is a ield guide o he e ain o capi aliza ion ha in eg a es
an h opological wo k on he d ama u gy o inance wi h sociological a en ion o he
echnicali ies o alua ion. The s age is se o u he in es iga ion in o he une en dis ibu ion
o he capaci y o capi alize and i s consequences.
Keywo ds
Capi aliza ion, asse condi ion, e hnog aphy o inance
Muniesa, F., Liliana, D., O iz, H., Pina-S ange , Á., Pa e son, F., Bou goin A., Eh ens ein, V., Ju en, P.-A.,
Pon ille D., Sa aç-Lesa e, B. and Yon, G., Capi aliza ion: A Cul u al Guide, Pa is, Mines Pa is Tech.,
2017, 167 pp., €20.00 (pbk), ISBN 978-2-35671-422-0
The e is no denying he impac ha he Cen e de Sociologie de l’Inno a ion (CSI) a Mines
Pa is Tech has had on he ‘social s udies o ma ke s’ o he ‘social s udies o inance’. A he
hea o he CSI’s app oach o s udying ma ke s and inance si s Michel Callon, and his
conce n wi h “ he pe manen wo k o economy” (Hennion, 2017: 115) ha is ende ed
in isible when a emp s a e made o explain ansac ions and p ice o ma ion in e ms o he
‘laws’ o supply and demand. Wi h Fabian Muniesa, a colleague a CSI and lead au ho o
Capi aliza ion: A Cul u al Guide, Callon has buil a p og amme o esea ch ha ejec s
explana ions o calcula i e beha iou which in oke “disembodied economic agen s educed o
hei p e e ences”, as well as hose ha dissol e “ he p oblem o calcula ion in he de ail o
Finance and Socie y
2017, 3(1): 91-98
© The Au ho (s)
10.2218/ insoc. 3i1.1941
Re iew essay
92 Finance and Socie y 3(1)
e hnog aphic desc ip ion” (Callon and Muniesa, 2005: 1230). Ins ead, close a en ion should
be paid o dis ibu ed, socio- echnical calcula ing agencies. Thus, double-en y bookkeeping,
s ock icke s, alua ion o mulas, e en Bloombe g e minals (Wood e al., 2016) – and
coun less o he calcula ing agencies – a e no o be app oached jus as e icien ools h ough
which sel -con ained economic agen s pu sue hei ends. No a e hey me e a e ac s o
cul u al no ms ha exceed calcula i e p ac ice. Ra he , hey a e de ices ha in i e and a o d
pa icula o ms o calcula ion, pe o med in andem wi h hei use s.
F om he e i is a sho hop o he no ion ha economics and economis s make o pe o m
ma ke s (Callon, 1998; MacKenzie, 2001); ha he economy is ‘embedded’ no in socie y bu
in he dis ibu ed calcula i e agencies ha gi e ma e ial o m o he ideas o economic agen s.
Successi e i e a ions o his ‘pe o ma i i y hesis’ ha e been me wi h s iden c i icism om
an h opologis s, his o ians and e en linguis s. Muniesa has assigned his b oad discom o
wi h he pe o ma i i y hesis o he ac ha “ he ul ima e, qui e na u alis ic, epis emic
c i ique – ha o accusing a body o science o being w ong – is jeopa dized wi hin he
pe o ma i e idiom” (Muniesa, 2014: 38). Abandoning he na u alis ic pe spec i e, Muniesa
ad oca es d awing on p agma is hough o examine “wha i is o make some hing economic
o o economize some hing”, wi h an eye on he no ion ha “ o mula ing eali y in capi alis
e ms migh , in some ci cums ances, ans o m he o mula ed eali y” (ibid., 29-35). Bu wha
is i o o mula e eali y in capi alis e ms, o capi alize? In Capi aliza ion: A Cul u al Guide,
Muniesa and his colleagues a he CSI espond o a 2011 semina a Pa is Mines Tech in
which pa icipan s we e asked o “Desc ibe an ac o capi aliza ion (one page)”, bu le
“clueless and diso ien ed” (7). This collec i ely au ho ed esul is s yled as a a el guide o he
e ain o capi aliza ion: ha “pe asi e o m o alua ion ha p opels conside a ion o e u n
on in es men and shapes ou wo ld acco dingly” and which pe ains o “ inance p ope ”, bu
is also abou “mo e han ha ” (11). The u gency o he olume is gi en by he ac ha he
social s udies o ma ke s and inance – as well as economic an h opology and science and
echnology s udies (see Bi ch, 2016; Kalb, 2013) – ha e ocused excessi ely on ma ke iza ion
and commodi ica ion a he expense o an “analysis o capi alis ic alua ion [which] p opels, in
ou opinion, a qui e singula o m o eali y” (13).
Muniesa and his colleagues’ p agma is conce n wi h he ‘ eali y e ec s’ ha di e en
o ms o alua ion en ail leads hem o ejec he widesp ead Ma xis and he e odox conce n
wi h “ alua ion as a ma e o ma ch o misma ch be ween an objec and i s ep esen a ion”
(15). Indeed, hey a e insis en ha his is “no a book on he economics (he e odox o no ) o
capi aliza ion” (20). The ope a ions and e ec s o capi aliza ion mus be aced ia he
scena ios in which alue is c ea ed, and he gaze ha s imula es his alue-c ea ion. We begin
ou ou he e o e, wi h Ha un Fa ocki’s Nich ohne Risiko (No hing Ven u ed, 2004), ilmed on
he p emises o a en u e capi al and p i a e equi y i m in Ge many. As an in en o and a
en u e capi alis g apple o e he dis ibu ion o u u e e enue s eams in ligh o he isk o
a pa en dispu e, we a e in oduced o he kinds o encoun e s upon which he “join
ealiza ion o he asse condi ion” (34) depends. Bu how did hese capi aliza ion scena ios
become possible, and how did he gaze o he in es o become o ien ed owa ds u u e lows
o e enue?
Remaining in Ge many, we jump backwa ds o 1849, and he wo k ha o es e s Edmund
F anz on Geh en and Ma in Faus mann accomplished in o ien ing he aluing gaze owa ds
he u u e. Re ining on Geh en’s ini ial e o s o ea alue no as some hing ha land ‘has’,
bu as some hing i achie es wi hin a “s eam o ac ion” (39), Faus mann de eloped one o
he ea lies Discoun ed Cash Flow (DCF) models. He hus “enabled he alua ing gaze o b eak
ee om he cha ac e is ics o i s objec . The encoun e be ween gaze and objec s ill
93
Gilbe
occu ed, bu only a he end o he p ocess” (41). In o he wo ds, Faus mann dis inguished
ma ke alue – he sale p ice o a o es ed piece o land a any gi en momen – om i s
economic alue, o po en ial alue a ma u i y. As migh be expec ed, his impac ed upon
decision-making. Valua ion in e ms o discoun ed po en ial ea nings a ma u i y ga e p io i y
o he p esen , hus p o oking a eali y in which sho e o a ion leng hs we e conside ed
sensible.
No wi hs anding he many c i iques o DCF models ha ha e been made on he basis o
hei sho - e mism and endency o s i le inno a ions, he gaze ha Faus mann’s o mula
helped o p opaga e emains ounda ional o he “cul u al synd ome” (23) o capi aliza ion.
The “DCF ecipe migh o cou se sound old- ashioned … bu i de ini ely p o ides he a elle
wi h a sense o he cuisine o capi aliza ion” (45). And so we emain wi h o es y, bu e u n o
he p esen and mo e now o he Ba éké Pla eau no heas o Kinshasa in he Democ a ic
Republic o Congo. This sec ion o ou a el guide d aws p ima ily on Vé a Eh ens ein’s
esea ch in o p ojec s egis e ed unde he Clean De elopmen Mechanism (CDM). The CDM
allows seques e ed ca bon o be con e ed in o c edi s, which can be pu chased as ‘o se s’ by
pollu ing i ms in he Global No h. To egis e wi h he CDM, a ca bon seques a ion p ojec
mus ha e a business pu pose, allowing i o be “ e alued based on he expec ed
comme cializa ion o ca bon seques a ion bene i s” (48). The p ojec on he Ba éké Pla eau
in ol es plan ing Acacia, which is hen ans o med in o cha coal. Once again, we see eali y
being p oduced h ough alua ion: he p ojec was o iginally o in ol e plan ing Eucalyp us, bu
cash lows om Acacia can be ealized ea lie :
The design o he u u e o es is based on op imizing i s economic iabili y. Thus, c ea ing he la ges
possible quan i y in he sho es possible ime becomes he p ima y conside a ion bo h in he p oduc ion o
wood uel and o ca bon s o age … O , in o he wo ds, i is he logic o en ep eneu ial iabili y ha is
condensed wi hin he [p ojec design] pape wo k ha de e mines he e y physical dis inc i eness o he
u u e o es . (49)
Capi aliza ion, Muniesa and colleagues a gue, is o has a na a i e plo , in which “ he iabili y
o all hings esides, p ima ily, in he asse condi ion” (52).
Bu he e a e, o cou se, di e en e sions o he capi aliza ion plo . Muniesa and
colleagues now e u n us o mee ings be ween in es o s and en u e capi alis s, no dissimila
o hose ea u ed in Ha un Fa ocki’s ilm. Bu his ime hey a e conce ned wi h he
capi aliza ion o bio echnology, and he e is in ac a ounda ional sub-plo o bio echnology
en ep eneu s. This consis s in an encoun e be ween a isiona y scien is and a well-
connec ed en u e capi alis in he US, which esul ed in he o ma ion o Genen ech in 1976.
Bu F ance oday is di e en , and a “shoo ing sc ip ” (55) has o be de eloped o each
indi idual scena io. The idealised encoun e be ween a isiona y scien is and a p escien
en u e capi alis does no always go o plan. Fo ins ance, F ench inno a ion policy in ol es
p o iding ax incen i es o indi iduals in es ing in i e-yea inno a ion unds. Capi aliza ion
hus becomes a ma e o “app op ia ion” (63) o in es o s, and bio ech companies a e e-
o ganized in acco dance wi h he sea ch o an exi a e i e yea s. So he na a i e plo o
capi aliza ion un olds in ce ain scena ios, wi h con ingencies applied acco ding o he se ing.
Bu his begs u he ques ions: “Whe e a e he documen s in which his li e a y o m is
exe cised and played wi h? Whe e is he plo line o capi aliza ion powe insc ibed?” (65).
And so we u n o Muniesa and Liliana Dogano a’s wo k on business models as
capi aliza ion de ices (see also Dogano a and Muniesa, 2015). He e he legacy o he CSI
app oach o he social s udies o ma ke s and inance, and Muniesa’s ea lie wo k on
94 Finance and Socie y 3(1)
calcula ion (Callon and Muniesa, 2005), can be clea ly disce ned. The business model is
ea ed as a “p ime calcula i e space”; a “sel -cen ed su ace on which calcula i e o de can
be es ablished” (70). I is he cohe ence be ween he igu es p esen ed in he model, he
alue p oposi ion ( ela ion be ween an inno a ion and i s use s), he alue ne wo k ( he i m’s
ela ion o i s compe i o s) and he e enue model ( owa ds which he in es o ’s gaze is
o ien ed) ha coun s. The business model is no conce ned wi h p edic ion. Ra he , i is a
calcula i e space conce ned wi h “ ans o ming i s subjec ma e in o a s eam o u u e cash
lows” (72). Thus, i is hose who “p o ile hei echnologies o capi aliza ion in an icipa ion o
he in es o ’s gaze” (73) ha a e he mos likely o ge he chance o blossom.
The business model, hen, is he “p ime exempli ica ion o he iew o capi al as semio ic
assemblage ha we wo k wi h in his enqui y” (73). Bu is i no also, as was sugges ed in he
book’s in oduc ion, mo e han ha ? Pe haps e en “a semio ic condi ion o ou ime”, akin o
he “spi i ” o capi alism (74)? Whe e else can we ind he asse logic a wo k? D awing on
Ala ic Bou goin’s e hnog aphy o managemen consul ancy, he au ho ial collec i e a gue ha
knowledge is o de ed by consul an s no on he basis o i s abili y o educe p oduc ion cos s.
Ra he , knowledge is managed wi h a iew o a consul ancy p oducing u u e e enue by i ue
o he owne ship o ha know-how as an ‘in angible’ asse . Managemen consul ancy is like
managing capi al. And his, hey a gue, is mo e han a me apho ; capi aliza ion is a “p ope ly
genuine cul u al ke nel ha we ind a wo k he e” (77). Likewise, academics seeking
employmen in ins i u ions embedded wi hin he “scien ome ic complex” (81) a e aced wi h
hei scien i ic ac i i y being al e ed om wi hin by he logic o capi aliza ion. Impo an ly,
iewing a scien is in e ms o hei abili y o gene a e a low o ci a ions – bes se ed by
dicing esea ch in o ‘leas publishable uni s’ – does no e lec a logic o ma ke iza ion o
commodi ica ion. Scien is s a e no alued in e ms o hei esale alue. Wha is a s ake is
p ospec i e e u n, and he scien is s’ alue becomes he alue o in es ing in hem.
Fo Muniesa and colleagues, capi aliza ion is “bes unde s ood as a semio ic igu a ion”
(86) – albei one ha has i s ounda ions in he now- i ed looking DCF models ha we e
iewed as “ icious”, “unsound” (Ni zan and Bichle , 2009: 155-57) o “dange ous nonsense”
(Mille , 1991: 740; 1998: 182-85) by accoun an s and in es o s as ecen ly as he 1920s and
1930s. Wha happens, hen, when his analysis o capi aliza ion as a widesp ead cul u al
synd ome u ns back on i sel o conside he alua ion p ac ice o inancial analys s?
The nex s op on ou ou o he e ain o capi aliza ion d aws on Ho acio O iz’s
e hnog aphy o inancial analys s in Pa is, and examines he deploymen o Weigh ed A e age
Cos o Capi al (WACC) models o calcula e he Ne P esen Value o a i m. He e Muniesa and
colleagues ein o ce hei poin abou he impo ance o p agma is inqui y. In a WACC model,
he capi alizing gaze emana es om he indi idual in es o , bu he dis inc posi ion o ha
in es o is nega ed by he assump ions o he e icien ma ke s hypo hesis, which a e also
olded in o WACC calcula ions (as is he so e eign s a e, in i s guise as a gua an o o he ‘ isk
ee’ in e es a e). The au ho s’ poin is ha hough he “epis emology o he WACC” may
equi e he “agency o a conjec u al ee in es o who o e ides he agg ega e in elligence o
e icien ma ke s, bu hen qui e no ” (99), his should no pose a me hodological p oblem.
Recalling Muniesa’s (2014) ea lie challenge o c i iques o pe o ma i i y oo ed in a
‘na u alis ’ epis emology:
Ou p agma is inqui y is no abou eplacing exis ing knowledge wi h a be e u h, bu abou ecognizing
he a angemen s ha make eali y happen as i happens. And he in ellec ual collage ha o ms he WACC
happens o wo k. (99)

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How di e se, hen, a e he capi aliza ion a angemen s ha ‘wo k’? In he closing
chap e s o Capi aliza ion: A Cul u al Guide, Muniesa and his colleagues u n o he p o ision
o public se ices, and he ex ension o – i no he asse condi ion, hen “asse condi ioning”
– o he planning o ene gy p o ision, he adminis a ion o public hospi als, and he
managemen o nuclea was e. They ask:
Is no , a e all, conside ing some hing in e ms o capi al a synonym o ca ing o i in he long un, as
opposed o, say, jus h owing i away, dumping i in o he ma ke and cashing p o i s on he spo ? (124)
This is ce ainly ue, hey no e, o he pa icula “ egime o u h” wi hin which “capi aliza ion
is powe ” (125). As Liisa Ku unmaki, And ea Mennicken and Pe e Mille (2016) ha e ecen ly
obse ed, i is necessa y o dis inguish be ween ac s o quan i ica ion (which may emana e
om logics o ca e and public accoun abili y), ac s o economizing (acco ding o he p inciple
o e iciency) and ac s o ma ke izing (o ganized by compe i ion), i public se ices a e o be
managed in an o he - han-neolibe al ashion. No doub we should add he need o pa se ac s
o capi aliza ion o ien ed owa ds app op ia ing alue, and hose conce ned wi h i s long- e m
cu a ion, o his lis .
The au ho s a e clea : “Ou cul u al guide ce ainly sugges s a poli e a i ude owa ds he
na i es – he e he capi alize s … and his implies aking hold o he mo al dimension o
capi aliza ion be o e de eloping, e en ually, any mo al s ance agains o in a ou o i ” (51).
Bu a ce ain hospi ali y owa ds capi aliza ion and i s semio ic igu a ion is no oo a om
he su ace. Thus, e u ning o Eh ens ein’s wo k on Acacia plan a ions, ca bon c edi s, and
he CDM on he Ba éké Pla eau:
This is undeniably abou en i onmen al p o ec ion, abou ca ing o ees and e aluing he plane . And how
do you p o ec some hing, ees included, om he pe ils o dilapida ion? In he land o capi aliza ion, you
do i by u ning hings in o capi al. In a sense, his is wha you do in o de o p o ec some hing om he
aga ies o commodi ica ion. Remembe how ou inqui y s a ed wi h an in e oga ion on he ension
be ween ma ke iza ion and capi aliza ion. Imagine now wha capi aliza ion makes o he en i onmen al
me apho o ou plane as a p ope y we inhabi and ha we should alue mo e in o de o p e en decay.
(51)
Ce ainly, his is eminiscen o E.F. Schumache ’s o iginal a icula ion o he concep o
‘na u al capi al’. Schumache (1973: 3-5) p o ided an ea ly wa ning agains ea ing ossil
uels as eely p oduced commodi ies, a he han as e enue ealised om “i eplaceable
asse s”. Bu capi aliza ion can also a icula e a he nea ly wi h ma ke iza ion,
commodi ica ion, and cos -bene i analysis. Leah Tempe and Joan Ma inez-Alie (2013)
engage wi h he capi alizing gaze as i has been applied o sac ed o es s in eas e n India, in
o de o de e mine whe he hey we e ‘wo h’ p o ec ing, o could be ‘compensa ed’ o by
bauxi e mine s se o des oy hem. When migh p agma is inqui y need o be ushe ed away
om examining a angemen s ha wo k (o en iolen ly), and owa ds a icula ing ‘be e
u hs’ abou he appo ionmen and ealiza ion o alue?
O cou se, he au ho s ecognize in closing ha he ques ion o whe he o no
capi aliza ion is good o bad “qui e ob iously depends on who is si ing in a capi alizing
posi ion” (134). I capi aliza ion is powe , hey a gue, i is because he gaze o capi aliza ion
and he scena io in which i is pu o wo k “p omp he capaci y o cons i u e eali y” (132). Bu
he e is, o hem, “no pa icula class o people ha would be g an ed he an h opological
exclusi i y” o he capi alizing gaze (132). None heless, hey se o hemsel es a du y o
“imagine a di e en se up, an al e na i e gaze o an al e na i e becoming, a possibili y o
96 Finance and Socie y 3(1)
his wo k o be o alue wi hou becoming an asse ” (134). Wha escaping he asse condi ion,
and eschewing he desi e o capi alize upon his collec i ely au ho ed olume in o de o
acc ue “pee ecogni ion…and scien i ic sa is ac ion” (134) migh look like emains o be seen.
None heless, some measu e o bo h is su ely due o he au ho ial collec i e.
The i s clea con ibu ion o Capi aliza ion: A Cul u al Guide in ol es pushing he social
s udies o inance and ma ke s away om an exclusi e ocus on “ he ules o en anglemen
and disen anglemen ” and “calcula i e manipula ions” ha cha ac e ize comme cial
ansac ions (129-30). I is ime ha he asse condi ion, and i s dis inc i e logics,
equi emen s, and en ailmen s we e se cen e s age. Secondly, Muniesa’s au ho ial collec i e
app oaches capi aliza ion as a cul u al synd ome possessed o a na a i e plo , bu
none heless dependen upon pa icula li e a y o ms and echnicali ies. This allows hem o
e ec i ely b idge he gap be ween exis ing an h opological s udies o inance, which ha e
aken d ama u gy, na a i e, and specula i e hype as hei ocus (Appadu ai, 2012; Rajan,
2005; Tsing, 2000), and wo k ca ied ou by membe s o he CSI and o he s in he social
s udies o inance, which has ended o emphasize socio- echnical ma e iali ies o e mo e
di use cul u al ‘imagina ies’ (MacKenzie 2007).
Finally, as he au ho s no e, “capi aliza ion is also abou each, one o global
p opo ions,” since i “connec s dis an si ua ions and con igu es la ge social eali ies” (17).
And he semio ic igu a ion o capi aliza ion ensu es ha he “ eali y ha ge s he chance o
blossom is necessa ily he eali y ha mos app oaches he one he in es o wan s o in es
in” (73). O , as Nick Hildya d (2016: 8) pu s i in his ecen in es iga ion in o he p i a iza ion
o public se ice p o ision in he Global Sou h, in as uc u e is “being ewo ked o p o ide
wha inance seeks o i : s able, con ac ed income s eams.” As a esul , he acili ies ha
would bene i he poo es a e inc easingly no buil . Hildya d asks a simila se o ques ions o
hose asked by he au ho s o Capi aliza ion: A Cul u al Guide:
How a e oads, b idges, hospi als, po s and ailways being eyed up by inance? Wha be els and polishes
he lens h ough which hey a e iewed? How is in as uc u e being ans o med in o ‘asse s’ ha will yield
he e u ns now demanded by inance om in as uc u e? (Hildya d, 2016: 7).
He e Hildya d has iden i ied, on he one hand, an u gen need o open he black boxes o
capi aliza ion, o ace ou hei global each and o ganiza ional e ec s. On he o he hand,
Muniesa and his colleagues ha e p o ided us wi h an elegan and p ac icable ield guide o
he capi aliza ion synd ome. The emainde o he jou ney, hey insis , emains “open o he
eade ’s own ail” (127).
Hildya d, howe e , ends his book by no ing ha he as majo i y o people a e unlikely o
encoun e “in as uc u e-as-asse -class” in e ms o a inancial abs ac ion (no , indeed, as a
‘gaze’ ope a ing in a speci ic ‘scena io’). Ins ead, people expe ience he eali y o mula ed by
capi alis alua ion as
hikes in hei wa e bills o hei elec ici y being cu o because hey can no longe a o d o pay he bills;
as enginee s u ning up unin i ed o su ey hei land; … as he disman ling o long- ough - o public
heal hca e and educa ional se ices; and as he ich ge ing iche while he poo ge poo e . In a wo d: as
‘injus ice’. (Hildya d, 2016: 88)
Clea ly, he asse condi ion is no always easily econciled wi h logics o ca e o
p o ec ion. So how migh we con inue down he ail blazed by Muniesa and colleagues, while
main aining a wea he eye on he unjus eali ies ha Hildya d makes his conce n? One op ion
would be o bo ow om A jun Appadu ai’s (2013) wo k on he capaci y o aspi e, which, he
97
Gilbe
no es, is ne e e enly dis ibu ed. Ce ain g oups and indi iduals a e be e equipped o
“p oduce jus i ica ions, na a i es, me apho s, and pa hways h ough which bundles o goods
and se ices a e ac ually ied o wide social scenes and con ex s” (Appadu ai, 2013: 188). I
may be ue, as he au ho s o Capi aliza ion: A Cul u al Guide sugges , ha no one class may
be g an ed ‘an h opological exclusi i y’ o e he capi alizing gaze. Bu i is ce ain ha he
capaci y o capi alize and e ec i ely o mula e capi alis eali y is subjec o a p o oundly
unequal dis ibu ion. Wha ma e s, hen, is no only he scena ios in which he capi alizing
gaze is ac i a ed. We mus also ask: who has he capaci y o capi alize, and how migh he
dis ibu ion o his capaci y help us be e unde s and capi aliza ion – as ei he a ‘synonym o
ca ing’, o a synonym o injus ice.
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