Chapter 4 from the book
“Destructive Coordination, Anfal and Islamic Political Capitalism: A New Reading of Contemporary Iran”
The primary aim of the fourth chapter is to clarify the concept of political capitalism, a term that, along with the fundamental institutions of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist (Velayat-e Faqih) and Anfal (state-owned properties), plays a pivotal role in fully understanding the destructive system of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In this context, by referencing the initial formulation of this concept by Max Weber, political capitalism will be explained in contrast to market-based capitalism. In the subsequent sections of this chapter, the interpretation of political capitalism within economic literature will be critiqued, followed by a discussion of the various perspectives on the application of this concept in examples such as China and the United States. The final section will examine the relationship between Islam and political capitalism on one hand, and market capitalism on the other.
