Jacobin Radio: Escaping Capitalism w/ Clara Mattei

Suzi speaks with political economist Clara Mattei about her new book, Escape from Capitalism. The title is provocative: What does it mean to escape capitalism? Not reform it, regulate it, or make it kinder, but escape it altogether? Mattei argues that capitalism is not a system gone wrong but one working exactly as intended. Her core claim is that austerity is not a policy mistake or ideological excess, it is structurally necessary. It is how capitalism reproduces itself: maintaining unemployment, disciplining labor, and foreclosing challenges before they can take shape. Drawing on both historical analysis and present-day realities, Mattei shows how even hard-won social democratic gains are temporary — rolled back as soon as they threaten profits. From post–World War I Europe to today’s neoliberal order and the resurgence of right-wing authoritarianism, austerity remains the system’s core logic. As Mattei puts it: Unemployment isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. And anti-austerity politics already point beyond capitalism itself. In this wide-ranging conversation, Mattei and Weissman unpack the “capital order,” the role of the state in enforcing it, and what it would actually mean to break free. Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman features conversations with leading thinkers and activists, with a focus on labor, the economy, and protest movements.