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Full-Text Articles in Political Economy
Opening The System: (Re)Writing Value Theory Discursively, David Kristjanson-Gural
Opening The System: (Re)Writing Value Theory Discursively, David Kristjanson-Gural
Faculty Journal Articles
In this article I argue that modern and postmodern critics of value theory share the premise that Marx’s theory of value disables the project of emancipatory social change. The modern critics claim the theory is logically flawed and must be either resituated in a consistent logical framework or replaced by a Sraffian alternative. The postmodern critics claim that the theory is necessarily reductionist and excludes or renders secondary important axes of social struggle. I argue that by using a poststructural logic, Marx’s theory of value can be interpreted in a way that both overcomes the perceived consistencies of the modern …
Post-Structural Logic In Marx's Theory Of Value, David Kristjanson-Gural
Post-Structural Logic In Marx's Theory Of Value, David Kristjanson-Gural
Faculty Journal Articles
In this essay I use Louis Althusser’s observation concerning the synchrony and diachrony of Marx’s logic in Capital to detail changes in the meaning of value, defined as socially necessary abstract labor time, throughout the three volumes of Capital. I use this analysis to identify three common types of logical error in reading Marx that result from failing to recognize this aspect of his methodology, and I provide examples to illustrate each of these common errors. I then argue that, by recognizing the synchrony and diachrony of Marx’s method, it is possible to read value theory in a way that …