Overview
This book demonstrates the continuing relevance of Marx’s critique of the capitalist system, in which value is simply equated with market price. It includes chapters specifically on the environment and financialisation, and presents Marx’s qualitative theory of value and the associated concept of fetishism in a clear and comprehensive manner. Section I demonstrates how fetishism developed in Marx’s writing from a journalistic metaphor to an analytical device central to his critique. In Section II, commodity fetishism is distinguished from other forms: of money, capital and interest-bearing capital. There follows an analysis of Marx’s complex attempt to distinguish his argument from that of Ricardo, and Samuel Bailey. The section ends with a discussion of the ontological status of value: as a social rather than a natural phenomenon. Section III considers the merits of understanding value by analogy with language, and critically assesses the merits of structural Marxism. Section IV challenges Marx’s emphasis solely on production, and considers also exchange and consumption as social relations. Section V critically assesses recent Marx-inspired literature relating to the two key crises of our time, finance and the environment, and identifies strong similarities between the key analytical questions that have been debated in each case.
Full Product Details
Author: Desmond McNeill
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Imprint: Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Edition: 1st ed. 2021
Weight: 0.452kg
ISBN: 9783030561253
ISBN 10: 3030561259
Pages: 322
Publication Date: 13 November 2021
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
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Language: English
Reviews
“The history of Desmond McNeill’s fascinating and extraordinarily ambitious Fetishism and the Theory of Value covers nearly 40 years, and involved three stages, all of which are clearly reflected in the nature of the final result. … he presents a very thorough and instructive summary of Marx’s work in this area … . McNeill usefully details the origins of fetishism in Marx’s writings … .” (John, McKay, Marx and Philosophy, marxandphilosophy.org.uk, January 22, 2022)
The history of Desmond McNeill's fascinating and extraordinarily ambitious Fetishism and the Theory of Value covers nearly 40 years, and involved three stages, all of which are clearly reflected in the nature of the final result. ... he presents a very thorough and instructive summary of Marx's work in this area ... . McNeill usefully details the origins of fetishism in Marx's writings ... . (John, McKay, Marx and Philosophy, marxandphilosophy.org.uk, January 22, 2022)
Author Information
Desmond McNeill (PhD, economics, University of London) graduated from Cambridge University in 1969. He has been a lecturer at University College London and the University of Edinburgh and recently retired from the Centre for Development and the Environment, at the University of Oslo, Norway, where he had formerly been Research Professor and Director.
