David Norman Smith — Sharing, Non Selling: Marx Against Value

In 1975, when I began to report Capital every bit a first-year graduate student, I was looking for the errors that my undergraduate economic science teachers had told me rendered Capital obsolete. Several of these teachers belonged to the Union of Radical Political Economists as well as saw themselves every bit Marxists. But they agreed amongst their non-Marxist colleagues that Marx’s marrow value concepts were naively Hegelian. The skillful news, they said, was that the superstructure of Marx’s theory–class, uppercase exploitation–was sociologically valid. I had already begun to write near uppercase as well as course of teaching as well as thus I institute this perspective congenial.(20) But, since I was besides drawn to Capital’s value-logic, I was perplexed. I was even as well as thus a raw beginner, as well as I was opened upwards to the premise that the critical theory of the hereafter would canvas from harbors other than Capital. But a unproblematic inquiry remained unclear to me: Was Capital genuinely wrong?

To come across for myself I annotated Chapter i of Capital discussion for word, twenty-four threescore minutes menstruation after day, for a year, searching for Marx’s key error. Decades after I even as well as thus haven’t institute it. I’ve right away been immersed inwards Capital as well as Marx’s ancillary texts for a long time, as well as I e'er honor them profound as well as convincing.(21) I honor it jarring to laid Capital aside to read lesser works. But I’ve besides taught Capital for decades, as well as I know from sense that readers honor his terminology confusing. So, inwards what follows, I endeavour to explicate Marx’s ABCs inwards a fresh way. My finish is non to reproduce every nuance of Chapter i simply to capture Marx’s enduring, essential logic....

Monthly Review

Sharing, non selling: Marx against value
David Norman Smith | Professor of Sociology, University of Kansas
Originally published at Continental Thought & Theory i (4), 2017, 653-695