Abstract

In the process of research andcritique of capitalist society，two main research ideas，the critique of ideology and the critique of surplus-value，have actually been formed，both of which have their own advantages in criticizing capitalist society，but they also face certain theoretical difficulties. As an important perspective for studying capitalist society，critique of capital power can，to a certain extent，organically combine the two ideas and complement each other，thereby deepening the overall critique of capitalist society. The core work of this dissertation is to make a general critique of the manifestation，substance，historical generation and internal mechanism of capital power in capitalist society from the perspective of power，so as to expand the theoretical horizon of critique of political economy，deepen the understanding of capitalist society，and then explore the possibility of transcending capital power.

Themainstream ideology of capitalist society，liberalism，believes that on the one hand，the purpose of government in modern society is to protect property，so the problem of power can only exist between people and government，but not between individuals. On the other hand，it also believes that market principle，as the principle of equal exchange，inevitably lead to an equal relation of power between people. As a result，liberalism firmly believes that there is no relation of domination between people in private area and economic area. In fact，this kind of belief masks the real existence of capital power in modern capitalist society. By critically analyzing and examining modern capitalist society，this dissertation figures out that there is still a kind of widespread dominant power relation between people in modern society，and only from the view of Marx's critique of political economy can we reveal the secret of capital power. On the one hand，the critique of political economy penetrates into the field of production，thus revealing the unequal power relation embedded in the field of production，which is masked by the egalitarian illusion of market principle. On the other hand，it also reveals the falseness of political liberation. Therefore，it also reveals that the relation of domination，capital power，still exists in the private and economic area of human life. First，capital，as a certain amount of money accumulated，inherits the purchasing power that money has as a general equivalent，which also existed in the pre-capitalist era，and thus purchasing power constitutes a a prehistoric form of capital power. Second，when capital is able to purchase the living labor of workers in capitalist society，it acquires the dominance of labor that dominates workers in the field of production，which constitutes the core form of capital power. Third，along with the development of capitalist society，capitalist mode of production gradually penetrated into every corner of human society，and the forms of labor became more diversified，which allowed capital power to acquire a richer and more diverse form of socialization.

Like the capitalist mode of production，capital powerdoes not exist naturally，but is gradually built up with the historical process of human society. The progress，which goes from primitive accumulation to capital accumulation，“financial-digital” capital，illusory community，and then to imperialism，shows the progress of capital power from birth to gradual maturation. In pre-capitalist society，capital power was subordinate to political power，divine power and other forms of power. But with the gradual development of economic activities，money became the general representative of material wealth and acquired an independent status，which gave birth to people’s desire to become rich. Driven by the desire to become rich，the process of primitive accumulation based on the use of political power and violent means was launched. On the one hand，the primitive accumulation deprived the old feudal nobility and the church of their wealth，thus leading to the decline of political and divine power. On the one hand，it deprived serfs，subsistence farmers and small handicraftsmen of their means of production，and created a large number of free workers，which laid the foundation of capitalist society. In the process of gradual establishment of capitalist mode of production，capital power and capital accumulation promoted each other and developed simultaneously. Capital power promoted the process of capital accumulation，and capital accumulation also contributed to the expansion and strengthening of capital power. With the gradual strengthening of capital power，labor developed from a formal subordination of capital to a actual subordination of capital，which in turn promoteed the enhancement of capital power. The “financial-digital” capital formed by the combination of financial capital and digital capital further promoted the expansion of capital power. The simultaneous development of capital accumulation and capital power gives rise to the birth of illusory community in domestic area，and imperialism in international area. The illusory community is in a complicit relationship with capital power，and they are mutually reinforcing. As a result，capital power becomes the supreme power in the illusory community. Imperialism is first manifested as classical imperialism which concentrates on the use of political power in the international arena. But in the present era the new imperialism no longer relies only on the political power of the state. Instead，it tries to rely on capital power itself for global accumulation. The formation of the new imperialism shows that capital power has developed to an unprecedented level.

The mechanism of capital power isbiopolitical. Foucault discovered the biopolitical mechanism of modern power by exploring the bourgeois techniques of governance in modern society，which mainly includes the technique of discipline the body and the technique of regulate the life. In fact，this also reveals the mechanism of capital power. In the aspect of discipline the body，the capitalists achieved the initial discipline of workers in handicraft and Manufacture by deepening the division of labor. With the use of the machine system，the modern factory system was established，and not only could the capitalists further discipline workers through stricter work discipline and more detailed division of labor，but the machines themselves could also play the role of discipline. Ultimately，the modern enterprise became a complete panopticon，which pushed the capitalist's discipline of workers to its peak. In the aspect of regulate the life，the capitalists are only willing to pay workers for their productive consumption，and the wages paid to workers can only satisfy their physiological needs and the needs of the necessities，but not their social needs. Therefore，the form of wages deprives workers of the dimension of all-round development，and it turns workers into bare life. The widespread use of machines makes workers' lives attached only to machines. In the modern society，with the tendency of acceleration and digitization，the combination of capital and technology achieves full control over workers' lives. At the same time，capital power creates an industrial reserve army opposite to the active army of workers. It transfers the contradiction between workers and capitalists to the contradiction between the active army and the reserve army，and through the competition between the two further dismantles the resistance of workers. In this way，capital power achieves full control over both the active army and the reserve army.

Capitalists，by using capital power，have achieved full control over all workers and the entire human society. So to achieve human freedom，it is necessary to transcend capital power. The quest for transcending capital power should not only resort to a radical transcendence of capitalism at a fundamental level，but also at a level that is realistically feasible and operable. The multitude revolution theory has explored the possibility of regaining revolution，but it is not enough to rely solely on the intrinsic power of the subject. The study of economic democracy theory suggests that while the conditions for fundamental revolution are not yet available，we can we can resort to the power of institutional legal system to deal with capital power to a certain extent. Therefore，by taking the reform of the institutional legal system as a starting point，and first trying to realize some new systems，such as the co-operative factories of the laborers themselves，which Marx had explored，at the level of production organization，and then realizing the fundamental transcendence of capitalist society by rebuilding individual ownership and realizing the community of free individuals. In this way，it may be possible for us to explore a possible path to transcend capital power that combines a fundamental level with a feasible and operable level.

Keywords： capital power，critique of political economy，capitalist mode of production，biopolitics，institutional legal system