Atlas Unplugged: Re-Imagining the Premises and Prospects of Capitalism for Business and Society

Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand’s dystopian work of fiction, became a cornerstone of libertarian philosophy and its influence continues as an articulation of contemporary capitalism. In introducing this Special Issue, we revisit its core assumptions and contradictions in order to reimagine capitalism and reflect on the potential of management studies to contribute alternatives. These aspirations are reflected in the contributions. They discuss Indigenous views of capitalism, the ethics of care, insights from self-determination theory, the logic of marketization, and how capitalist institutions foster violence, racism, inequality, and environmental crisis. Building from these insights, we discuss the potential for future research to draw on a combined critical lens of place and intersectionality in developing systemic analyses of capitalism. Place situates action in its meaningful social and geographical spaces, recognizing the specific historical, political, and community relations through which global forces are (re-)produced and experienced. Intersectionality interrogates the capitalist system through various axes of identity to understand its consequences and inequalities. We use this framing to assess key aspects of contemporary capitalism: labour markets, globalization and global value chains, and access to resources. We then reflect on the prospects for alternative imaginings of capitalism and how management research might contribute to these.