This paper develops a critique of the 'class struggle' theory of value that emerged out of the autonomist Marxist tradition, arguing that although this theory has the merit of putting forward a production-centred, value-form approach, it eventually fails to grasp the deter minations of value-producing labour. In particular, the notion of value as a mode of existence of the class struggle inverts the real relation between them and, more importantly, deprives the latter of both its historical specificity and the social and material basis of its transformative powers. This paper examines the political implications of these theoretical issues in value theory.
This article offers a reply to Werner Bonefeld’s recent contribution to the debate on value and abstract labour, in which he critically engages with our previous articles dealing with these questions. We argue that Bonefeld’s criticisms are not simply based on disagreements over these controversial issues, but also on a misunderstanding of our stance on abstract labour and value. In addition to clarifying our position, the article provides some brief critical remarks on Bonefeld’s own intervention in the debate and shows that his contribution fails to offer a solid analysis of the fundamental categories of the critique of political economy.
Th is paper critically examines I.I. Rubin's Essays on Marx's Th eory of Value and argues that two different approaches to value theory can be found in that book: a more 'production-centred' value-form theory uneasily co-exists with a 'circulationist' perspective. Th is unresolved tension, the authors claim, reflects a more general theoretical shortcoming in Rubin's work, namely, a problematic conceptualisation of the inner connection between materiality and social form that eventually leads to a formalist perspective on the value-form. Furthermore, the paper argues that all those antinomies are an expression of the historical and political context underlying Rubin's work, in which Marxism was being codified as state ideology. Th e political implications of Rubin's formalism are explored through the critical examination of its consequences for the comprehension of the social determinations of the revolutionary subjectivity of the working class. . In addition to their circulationism, these contributions also share a methodological preoccupation with the reconstruction of Marx's critique of political economy along 'systematic-dialectical' lines. However, the central substantive aspects of the approach can be found in a broader number of authors writing from rather diverse methodological traditions and which include, among others:
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