Digital platforms: monopoly capital through a classical-marxian lens

Abstract

The classical-marxian conception of capitalist monopoly, based on restrictions to capital mobility arising from production conductions and property rights rather than oligopolistic market structure, is a fruitful way of approaching the implications of the pervasive spread of modern corporations—what has been termed the stage of Monopoly Capital. The relevance of the classical-marxian conception of ‘capitalist monopoly’ in the context of new technology is investigated by applying it to the monopoly exercised by contemporary digital platforms, with a specific focus on Google (Alphabet), Amazon and Facebook.