Atlas unplugged: Re-imagining the premises and prospects of capitalism for business and society

Delbridge, Rick ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8451-265X, Zietsma, Charlene, Suddaby, Roy, Chowdhury, Rashedur and Wickert, Christopher 2025. Atlas unplugged: Re-imagining the premises and prospects of capitalism for business and society. Journal of Management Studies Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand’s dystopian work of fiction, became a cornerstone of libertarian philosophy and its influence continues as an articulation of contemporary capitalism. In introducing this Special Issue, we revisit its core assumptions and contradictions in order to re-imagine capitalism and reflect on the potential of management studies to contribute alternatives. These aspirations are reflected in the contributions. They discuss Indigenous views of capitalism, the ethics of care, insights from self-determination theory, the logic of marketization and how capitalist institutions foster violence, racism, inequality and environmental crisis. Building from these insights, we discuss the potential for future research to draw on a combined critical lens of place and intersectionality in developing systemic analyses of capitalism. Place situates action in its meaningful social and geographical spaces, recognizing the specific historical, political and community relations through which global forces are (re-)produced and experienced. Intersectionality interrogates the capitalist system through various axes of identity to understand its consequences and inequalities. We use this framing to assess key aspects of contemporary capitalism: labour markets, globalization and global value chains, and access to resources. We then reflect on the prospects for alternative imaginings of capitalism and how management research might contribute to these.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Business (Including Economics)
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	0022-2380
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	25 November 2025
Date of Acceptance:	14 November 2025
Last Modified:	25 Nov 2025 12:50
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/182566

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