What is privatization? A political economy framework

This paper presents a political economic framework for understanding privatization. Its claims are illustrated empirically through examples from contemporary Europe. Theoretically, it starts with the concept of accumulation by dispossession, which refers to the conversion of non-capitalist spaces and practices into the capitalist sphere. This conversion occurs through privatization, liberalization, and marketization. The paper focuses on privatization and presents a schematic that outlines four forms it can take: corporatization, outsourcing, public–private partnerships, and divestiture/asset transfer. These are located on a continuum denoting the extent of private sector involvement. The schematic is an important methodological contribution that enables comparative research on privatization across economic sectors and geographical settings. It thus improves on the accumulation by dispossession literature, which has focused largely on case studies but neglected generic frameworks.