The Theory of Rent: From Crossroads to The Magic Roundabout

Abstract

The Theory of Rent has been the focus of heated debate over a number of years—prompted in part by the swing from boom to bust in commercial property markets in cities such as London. Kerr analyses different strands in this debate, revealing that in fact they have much in common. He argues for a return to Marx in order to understand the real dynamics of urban property markets.

The Internet of Landlords: Digital Platforms and New Mechanisms of Rentier Capitalism

“…Rentiers are defined by their “ownership of the access to a condition of production” (Felli :269) and their ability to derive income (rent) from access to assets. The function of platforms—as crystallised in the above quote by Langley and Leyshon (:11)—is similar to the way “landed property mediates the production and circulation of surplus value” (Kerr :67). In other words, landlords and platforms both possess similar positions of mediation, powers of access, purposes of extraction—enough so that I argue we should define them as rentiers.…”

“…Over the last few decades, many key contributions to this literature have provided in‐depth descriptions of how the political economy of rent and landed property has developed from Ricardo () and Marx () up to Harvey () (e.g. Christophers ; Haila ; Kerr ). Rather than provide another full recounting, I will greatly simplify three major theses of this classical analysis: (1) landed property is not itself a source of value creation (Christophers ); (2) rent is a redistribution of value from labour’s wages and capital’s profits to the landlord’s pockets (Neocosmos ); and (3) it is for these reasons that the landlord class is denounced as unproductive “parasites” and “usurers in land” who, by owning and controlling property, latch onto the circuits of capital and consumption (Marx :1023).…”

“…And indeed, many if not most of our daily activities—as well as the core operations of governments, businesses, and universities—wholly take place within the “ecosystem” of private platforms. By investing in the construction and maintenance of property, which “mediates the production and circulation of surplus value”, the rentier platforms capture part of that value (Kerr :67).…”

Lost in Space? Lefebvre, Harvey, and the Spatiality of Negation

“…And, in trying to make his earlier critique more 'relevant' (Castree 2007), has Harvey fallen prey to the view that 'social theory requires "validation by means of empirical corroboration" (Callinicos 2005: 85), [which] debases the critical purpose of thought' (Bonefeld 2012: 128)? Kerr (1996) appears to corroborate such a view, and he questions even Harvey's works that Castree suggests do fulfill the role of critique. In Harvey's keystone The Limits to Capital (1982), Kerr identifies two fundamental and related dualisms: between the twin themes of accumulation and class struggle, and between theory and history.…”

City of Rents: The limits to the Barcelona model of urban competitiveness

“…The application of rent theory to the urban context has been much debated Ball (1985),. for example, has argued that a general theory should be rejected and instead proposes a 'structures of building provision' approach that can better grasp the complexities of land ownership and rentier practices Kerr (1996). has defended the general theory.…”