Techno-Economic Determinism and the Work of Marx on Pre-Capitalist Societies

Llobera, Josep R.

doi:10.2307/2801566

Cited by 18 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The appearance of the Grundrisse in English beginning in 1964, in particular the passages concerning “forms which precede capitalist production”, was critical in dislodging the “techno‐economic determinism” and “unilineal evolutionism” that had dominated interpretations of Marx since the turn of the century (Llobera 1979). In Lefebvre's (1991 [1974]:102) words, “Less rigour, less emphasis on logical consistency, and hence a less elaborate formalization or axiomatization—all leave the door open to more concrete themes, especially in connection with the (dialectical) relations between town and country, between natural reality and social reality”.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Not only does this deflate the universal pretensions of any “scientific laws” in political economy (see Mandel (1978 [1972]) for an indication of earlier interpretations and Llobera (1979) for an historical account of their emergence’) it also specifies the relation between the world and any attempt to apprehend it in thought, with priority placed on the actual, material world. “As a rule, the most general abstractions arise only in the midst of the richest possible concrete development … Not only the category, labour, but labour in reality has here become the means of creating wealth in general, and has ceased to be organically linked with particular individuals in any specific form” (Marx 1973:104).…”

Section: Effects In Geographymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing the Effects of the Grundrisse in Anglophone Geography and Anthropology

Sayre

2008

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Selections of the Grundrisse were translated into English beginning in 1964; a full translation did not appear until 1973. Anglophone Marxian social science has changed dramatically since then; this article attempts to assess the role of the Grundrisse in these changes, focusing specifically on anthropology and geography. In geography the effects are most apparent in the work of David Harvey, who was among the earliest Anglophone social scientists to undertake a full reinterpretation of Marx in the light of the Grundrisse. I identify four insights that can be seen in Harvey's writings and elsewhere in recent human geography, but whose relation to the Grundrisse is not often acknowledged. In anthropology, the effects of the Grundrisse are perhaps even more pronounced but also more complex and obscure; nonetheless, a similar, and similarly under-acknowledged, influence can be discerned, especially in historical anthropology and recent studies of value. I suggest that the Grundrisse's translation into English has facilitated a convergence of anthropology and geography, and that critical ethnography in this vein is needed to grapple with the financialization of everything, in which commodification is only a preliminary step.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Effects In Geographymentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Effects of the Grundrisse in Anglophone Geography and Anthropology

Sayre

2008

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“…Ausgeklam-mert wird der technologische Reduktionismus, da er -entgegen anderslautender Gerüchte -bei Marx und Engels nicht zu finden ist (Bimber 1990;Frison 1988;Llobera 1979;McKenzie 1984;Rosenberg 1976 Das Vorwort wurde eilig geschrieben und so formuliert, dass es keine Probleme mit der Zensur geben sollte . An wichtigen Punkten ist der Text mehrdeutig und etwas dunkel .…”

Section: Starke Und Schwache Dicke Und Dünne Formen Des öKonomischenunclassified

Der ökonomische Determinismus – neu betrachtet

Jessop¹,

Kaufmann²

2011

PROKLA

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This article revisits the claim that the social relations of production determine, at least in the last instance, the overall nature and dynamic of social formations. The claim in its original form is often misunderstood, its later justifications are generally weak, and efforts to improve it are mostly unconvincing. An alternative interpretation is presented that identifies four complementary meanings of economic determinism that are all consistent with historical materialism. The fourth meaning draws on the relatively new concept of ‘ecological dominance’ but it was anticipated, the author argues, in certain arguments of Marx and Engels themselves.

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“…Benjamin's appropriation of the notion of 'natural history' in Hanssen, 1998), here I draw mainly on Benjamin's views expressed in 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction' (published in 1936) and 'Theses on the Philosophy of History' (completed shortly before his death in 1940 and first published in 1950). 2 Here, we may for the moment at least remain agnostic as to whether or not Marx engaged in a techno-economic determinism in his historical materialism (see Cohen, 1978;Llobera, 1979;cf. Shaw, 1978).…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

History, Memory and Identity

Yelvington

2002

Critique of Anthropology

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Lembrar é viver. (To remember is to live.) (Brazilian saying) Memory is vicarious experience. ( John Dewey) The twilight zone that lies between living memory and written history is one of the favorite breeding places of mythology. (C. Vann Woodward) Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past. (Party slogan in George Orwell's 1984)History, Memory and Identity in the Americas Downloaded from Such a breakdown in the temporal order of things also gives rise to a peculiar treatment of the past. Eschewing the idea of progress, postmodernism abandons all sense of historical continuity and memory, while simultaneously developing an incredible ability to plunder history and absorb whatever it finds there as some aspect of the present. (1989: 54) 228 Critique of Anthropology 22 (3)

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Techno-Economic Determinism and the Work of Marx on Pre-Capitalist Societies

Cited by 18 publications

References 12 publications

Assessing the Effects of the Grundrisse in Anglophone Geography and Anthropology

Assessing the Effects of the Grundrisse in Anglophone Geography and Anthropology

Der ökonomische Determinismus – neu betrachtet

History, Memory and Identity

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