Time, Labor, and Social Domination: A Reinterpretation of Marx's Critical Theory

In this ambitious book, Moishe Postone undertakes a fundamental reinterpretation of Marx's mature critical theory. He calls into question many of the presuppositions of traditional Marxist analyses and offers new interpretations of Marx's central arguments. These interpretations lead him to a very different analysis of the nature and problems of capitalism and provide the basis for a critique of "actually existing socialism." According to this new interpretation, Marx identifies the central core of the capitalist system with an impersonal form of social domination generated by labor itself and not simply with market mechanisms and private property. Proletarian labor and the industrial production process are characterized as expressions of domination rather than as means of human emancipation. This reformulation relates the form of economic growth and the structure of social labor in modern society to the alienation and domination at the heart of capitalism. It provides the foundation for a critical social theory that is more adequate to late twentieth-century capitalism.

Politics & Social Sciences

Postone, Moishe

Social Sciences

Cambridge University Press

In this ambitious book, Moishe Postone undertakes a fundamental reinterpretation of Marx's mature critical theory. He calls into question many of the presuppositions of traditional Marxist analyses and offers new interpretations of Marx's central arguments. These interpretations lead him to a very different analysis of the nature and problems of capitalism and provide the basis for a critique of "actually existing socialism." According to this new interpretation, Marx identifies the central core of the capitalist system with an impersonal form of social domination generated by labor itself and not simply with market mechanisms and private property. Proletarian labor and the industrial production process are characterized as expressions of domination rather than as means of human emancipation. This reformulation relates the form of economic growth and the structure of social labor in modern society to the alienation and domination at the heart of capitalism. It provides the foundation for a critical social theory that is more adequate to late twentieth-century capitalism.

This special issue examines the global economic crisis in systemic terms that encompass economic, social, and cultural dimensions of contemporary life. The essays analyze not only the nature of the crisis but also the possibilities of transformative action. One contributor evaluates the historical structural causes of the contemporary crisis to propose future tactics for the Left in promoting egalitarian and locally autonomous and self-sufficient economic practices. Another explores crises in the global pharmaceutical industry, particularly in India and the United States, and the inherent structures of global capital and biocapital through which health itself becomes a source of capitalistic value. Another essay reads the current credit crisis as a way to illuminate how deeply financial markets are embedded in the social fabric of work, ritual, and play and how the persistent failure to regulate market rule has led to an endless cycle of crisis-induced and crisis-inducing restructuring of policy. Together, the essays reinvigorate the study of global and long-term historical processes and structures. In this issue’s special topical section, “Against the Day,” edited by Priyamvada Gopal, contributors analyze the current assault on higher education in Great Britain, including dramatic budget cuts and tuition increases, the resultant student protest movements, and the future of the humanities.
Contributors: Giovanni Arrighi, Gurminder Bhambra, Neil Brenner, Duncan K. Foley, Priyamvada Gopal, Michael Hardt, Gary Herrigel, John Holmwood, Simon Jarvis, Benjamin Lee, Edward LiPuma, Claudio Lomnitz, Jamie Peck, Moishe Postone, Nina Power, Kaushik Sunder Rajan, Beverly Silver, Nik Theodore, Immanuel Wallerstein
Moishe Postone is Professor of History at the University of Chicago.

Perspective on Global Crisis (South Atlantic Quarterly)

Business & Money

Economics

Duke University Press Books

Marx, par-delà le marxisme: Repenser une théorie critique du capitalisme pour le XXIe siècle

CRISE ET CRITIQ

Zeit, Arbeit und gesellschaftliche Herrschaft.

Ca Ira Verlag

Marx reloaded : repensar la teoría crítica del capitalismo

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

Traficantes de Sueños

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