Political economy of love: Nurturance gap, disembedded economy and freedom constraints within neoliberal capitalism

Abstract

This article critically evaluates the forms of love capital being accumulated by people in capitalist economies, through the lens of some of the core general principles of heterodox political economy (HPE). We start by situating love historically in the neoliberal culture and then examine the six main love styles as well as the five critical factors through the process of circular and cumulative causation. We then scrutinise the contradictions of neoliberal capitalism involving the nurturance gap, disembedded economy and freedom constraint which inhibit the generation of holistic love capital. The path dependent nature of love is then linked to relational phases and instabilities, especially involving serial monogamy in the United States. Some of the core principles of HPE provide a vantage point for scrutinising the problems involved in stimulating holistic love capital in the contemporary environment.