Pollock argued the Nazis had destroyed private property’s essential features

Evidence

In his next essay in the Studies in Philosophy and Social Science, entitled “Is National Socialism a New Order?,” Pollock focused on the Nazi variant of state capitalism. In opposition to Gurland and Neumann, he argued that almost all the essential characteristics of private property had been destroyed by the Nazis. No longer was investment for maximum profits an inalienable prerogative of big business. Although Nazi planning was still haphazard, the government had introduced a deliberate, and generally successful, policy of full employment, capital rather than consumer production, price control, and relative economic autarky. The individual’s position in Nazi society, Pollock continued, was now dependent on his status in the social hierarchy rather than on his entrepreneurial skill or private property. In general, technical rationality had replaced legal formalism as the guiding principle of the society. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 488

Categorization

• XREF: Sets up the famous Pollock-Neumann debate over whether Nazi economics was state capitalism or monopoly capitalism; Neumann’s Behemoth argued the opposite position. — connects to: Pollock’s state capitalism theory erased class antagonisms in favor of purely political rulers — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 599; Pollock treated state capitalism as an ideal-typical model spanning Nazi and American varieties. — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 525; Nazi law abolished contract freedom while keeping private property, serving the rulers — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 499 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Pollock’s state capitalism theory erased class antagonisms in favor of purely political rulers #expands (0.80) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 599
• Pollock treated state capitalism as an ideal-typical model spanning Nazi and American varieties. #expands (0.75) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 525
• Nazi law abolished contract freedom while keeping private property, serving the rulers #expands (0.75) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 499
• The Nazis deliberately duplicated every state function with a competing party organ #expands (0.70) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 904