To do so is to resist simplifications in which capital is a thing, or a core feature of social relations between a proletariat and a bourgeoisie: ‘Against this background, one might even question whether it makes sense to bundle historical epochs that differ so fundamentally from one another under a single rubric of “capitalism”’(10). But Pistor argues that even to do just this, it is necessary to be cognisant of how capital is made. A standard response to such disparity is simply to hold ‘capitalism’ accountable. But instead, contemporary levels of inequality are comparable to those that prevailed before the French Revolution. These economic and legal reforms coincided with the demise of the Iron Curtain and socialist governments, and were implemented in developing as well as emerging markets, and promised eventual benefits for everyone.

Organised as nine chapters, the book begins by drawing linkages between present-day patterns of wealth inequality and market-centric policy shifts in the 1980s. The hurried reader will appreciate the structure of the book, which makes its salient features easily accessible. It is legal coding that turns an asset into capital and gives it the capacity to generate wealth for its owner. This process-of construction-involves two ingredients: an asset and the legal code. In essence, this book is a probe into the construction of capital. Katharina Pistor’s The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality is impressive and expansive. The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality. This is a welcome interdisciplinary contribution which attaches fresh dimensions to debates on the political economy of wealth and inequality and will be a valuable resource for anyone seeking to grapple with the formidable nature of global capital, writes Juvaria Jafri. In The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality, Katharina Pistor offers an expansive analysis of the construction of capital, showing legal coding to be at the heart of this process.

The Code of Capital by Katharina Pistor