Capitalism and intersecting modes of domination

By expanding Marx's original formulation, Cowan reconceptualizes subsumption as a historically and geographically contingent process through which capital organizes diverse social relations and offers a compelling account of the uneven, differentiated, and spatially variegated development of capitalism. Building on these insights, this commentary explores the broader theoretical implications of subsumption for examining the relationship between capitalism and other enduring structures of power. I argue that a comprehensive critique of domination requires understanding capitalism and other systems of domination, such as patriarchy and state power, not as a singular, unified matrix of oppression but as distinct social systems possessing irreducible ontologies that nevertheless become structurally articulated in concrete social formations. Such a critique demands a relational framework capable of analyzing how multiple forms of domination intersect and reshape one another while preserving their analytical specificity.