Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book demonstrates why the economics-politics separation needs to be reconsidered and why capital accumulation needs to be reframed in light of power. It looks at Marxist economics more closely and demonstrates why the Marxist assumption about the nature of economic value has, when applied to mass culture, little explanatory power. The book develops a more comprehensive concept of capitalist power by putting power at the heart of capital accumulation. It explains why the Hollywood film business seeks to create and reinforce deterministic social relations in the world of cinema. The book outlines some of the business strategies that have been instrumental ever since the US supreme court demolished aspects of the classical studio system in 1948. It shows that the highest level of risk occurred in the late 1960s and 1970s.