No. 2017/01: Cochrane, ‘Differentiating Diamonds: Transforming Knowledge and the Accumulation of De Beers’

Abstract In 1939, the De Beers diamond company faced a dire situation. The company’s accumulation had been dwindling for decades. The Great Depression not only pushed diamond sales to historic lows, it shifted American attitudes around consumption and thriftiness to the detriment of the luxury object. In this article, I bring together Liz McFall’s assertion […]

Continue Reading

No. 2016/5: Cochrane, ‘Disobedient Things: The Deepwater Horizon oil spill and accounting for disaster’

Abstract Analysis of the Deepwater Horizon disaster and the accumulatory decline of BP demonstrates both the analytical efficacy of the capital-as-power (CasP) approach to value theory, and the irreducible role of objects in the process of accumulation. Rather than productivity per se, accumulation depends on control of productivity. Owners’ control is over both the human […]

Continue Reading

No. 2016/02: Cochrane, ‘Why Diamonds and De Beers?, or The Need for Accumulation Studies’

Abstract I successfully defended my dissertation in December. This served as the introductory presentation for the defence. In it, I explain what I tried to do with the dissertation, the methods I used, and the larger project I hope it is initiating. Specifically, I suggest there is a need for accumulation studies as a field […]

Continue Reading

Why Diamonds and De Beers?, or The Need for Accumulation Studies

DT Cochrane Preface. I successfully defended my dissertation in December. This served as the introductory presentation for the defence. In it, I explain what I tried to do with the dissertation, the methods I used, and the larger project I hope it is initiating. Specifically, I suggest there is a need for accumulation studies as […]

Continue Reading