Economic conventions are historically specific constructions that class struggle can overthrow

Evidence

In the view of Gramsci and his cohort, economic conventions such as private property were not fi xed and indisputable givens, but rather the embodiment of collective actions that constitute a historically specifi c economic system— i.e., capitalism. In its simplicity this intuition actually carries radical political signifi cance: it allows us to realize that strong and conscious class struggle may completely overthrow the current order and reinvent a new social world. — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 505

Categorization

• XREF: This is the Gramscian historicizing of capitalism that connects to modern debates about austerity as a constructed rather than natural constraint — resonates with the reader’s purpose of seeing austerity as a class weapon rather than necessity.
• DEFINE: Defines the core concept that economic ‘givens’ like private property are actually collective, historically-specific constructions.