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en:the-commodity-and-communism [2022/09/10 13:37]
eaustreum |
en:the-commodity-and-communism [2022/09/11 08:37]
eaustreum |
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| Peter Åström | Peter Åström |
| ((This is a slightly extended version of "Varan, värdet och kommunismen", //riff-raff// no. 10, April 2022.)) | ((This is a slightly extended version of “Varan, värdet och kommunismen", //riff-raff// no. 10, April 2022.)) |
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| ===== 1 Introduction ===== | ===== 1 Introduction ===== |
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| Capital is self-expanding value, dead labour that enslaves the living. It is therefore close at hand to make value and abstract labour the main target of social critique. If abstract labour is the root out of which the categories of capital grow up -- wage labour, profit, modern land rent, accumulation, etc. -- then it must be abolished for a classless state of things to be established. This could conceivably take place in a revolution where the means of existence are made available to all without restriction, since the compulsion to work for a wage then falls away. A social reorganisation that, on the contrary, relies on work as a distinct social activity would then constitute a dead-end. At least that was formerly the opinion of the undersigned.((See e.g. Peter Åström, "Crisis and communisation", //Sic// no. 1, 2011.)) | Capital is self-expanding value, dead labour that enslaves the living. It is therefore close at hand to make value and abstract labour the main target of social critique. If abstract labour is the root out of which the categories of capital grow up -- wage labour, profit, modern land rent, accumulation, etc. -- then it must be abolished for a classless state of things to be established. This could conceivably take place in a revolution where the means of existence are made available to all without restriction (gratis), since the compulsion to work for a wage then falls away. A social reorganisation that, on the contrary, relies on abstract labour, or //work// as a distinct social activity, would then constitute a dead-end. At least that was formerly the opinion of the undersigned.((See e.g. Peter Åström, “Crisis and communisation", //Sic// no. 1, 2011.)) |
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| Under the influence of the Arab Winter((That is the counter-revolution in the Middle East and North Africa that began in 2012. See | Under the influence of the Arab Winter((That is the counter-revolution in the Middle East and North Africa that began in 2012. See |
| [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Winter|Arab Winter]], //Wikipedia//.)), I came to abandon this perspective which emphasises the radically anti-capitalist side of the revolution.((As Henriksson mentions, I took issue with "The suspended step of communisation”, //Sic// no. 1, 2011; see especially pp. 152ff and 164. The author of that article saw the introduction of communism as dependant on the immediate abolition of value, which he assumed require combating all //measuring of labour time//, any distinction between production and consumption as well as the notion of a //product//.)) I became convinced that the positive side must also be emphasised, not dismissed as mere speculation. Despite being completely unsustainable in the long term, the dynamic of the capitalist mode of production does in fact, in the normal case, satisfy basic human needs such as food, water and shelter. For communism to constitute a real alternative, it must therefore take seriously the question of how to secure material reproduction. Otherwise, one or the other reactionary perspective will surely be put forward instead, for example nationalism or religious fanaticism. | [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Winter|Arab Winter]], //Wikipedia//.)), I came to abandon this perspective which emphasises the radically anti-capitalist side of the revolution.((As Henriksson mentions, I took issue with “The suspended step of communisation”, //Sic// no. 1, 2011; see especially pp. 152ff and 164. The author of that article saw the introduction of communism as dependant on the immediate abolition of value, which he assumed require combating all //measuring of labour time//, any distinction between production and consumption as well as the notion of a //product//.)) I became convinced that the positive side must also be emphasised, not dismissed as mere speculation. Despite being completely unsustainable in the long term, the dynamic of the capitalist mode of production does in fact, in the normal case, satisfy basic human needs such as food, water and shelter. For communism to constitute a real alternative, it must therefore take seriously the question of how to secure material reproduction. If not, one or the other reactionary perspective will surely be put forward instead, for example nationalism or religious fanaticism. |
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| When, in the light of this revaluation, I returned to //Capital// and other writings, I made a discovery that should have been obvious from the very beginning: Marx does not take //value// as his point of departure but //the commodity//, which puts the question of the former in a very different light. This text, taking the commodity form as its point of departure, is an attempt to summarize important parts of Marx's analysis of capital so as to answer | When, in the light of this revaluation, I returned to //Capital// and other canonical writings, I made a discovery that should have been obvious from the very beginning: Marx does not take //value// as his point of departure but //the commodity//, which puts the question of the former in a very different light. This text, taking the commodity form as its point of departure, is an attempt to summarise important parts of Marx's analysis of capital so as to answer |
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| * what is value; | * what is value; |
| ===== 2 The commodity ===== | ===== 2 The commodity ===== |
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| Marx begins his critical exposition in //Capital// and //A contribution to the critique of political economy// with an analysis of the single commodity, more precisely "the commodity form of the product of labour"((MECW 35, p. 8)). As pointed out by Ricardo, products of labour constitute by far the greatest share of all commodities, because "they may be multiplied […] almost without any assignable limit, if we are disposed to bestow the labour necessary to obtain them.”((David Ricardo, //On the principles | Marx begins his critical exposition in //Capital// and //A contribution to the critique of political economy// with an analysis of the single commodity, more precisely “the commodity form of the product of labour"((MECW 35, p. 8)). As pointed out by Ricardo, products of labour constitute by far the greatest share of all commodities, because “they may be multiplied […] almost without any assignable limit, if we are disposed to bestow the labour necessary to obtain them.”((David Ricardo, //On the principles |
| of political economy and taxation// (London 2002 [1821]), p. 6.)) On a higher level, production, exchange and consumption of commodities is the specific way in which social reproduction takes place in the capitalist epoch.((See for example MECW 28 p. 26 and “Notes on Wagner's Lehrbuch der politischen Oekonomie" in MECW 24, pp. 531--559.)) | of political economy and taxation// (London 2002 [1821]), p. 6.)) On a higher level, production, exchange and consumption of commodities is the specific way in which social reproduction takes place in the capitalist epoch.((See for example MECW 28 p. 26 and “Notes on Wagner's Lehrbuch der politischen Oekonomie" in MECW 24, pp. 531--559.)) |
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| ==== 2.1 Use value ==== | ==== 2.1 Use value ==== |
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| A product of labour is, to begin with, the result of productive human activity which -- together with a larger or smaller amount of natural substrates -- turns it into something useful, a //use value//.((MECW 35, p. 51)) Its character as a use value or its use-value form "is independent of the amount of labour required to appropriate its useful qualities".((MECW 35, p. 46)) On the other hand, a use value may be considered higher or lower depending on the degree to which other use values (and thus other labour processes) form a part of it as a precondition.((See MECW 30, p. 58.)) | A product of labour is, to begin with, the result of human activity which -- together with a larger or smaller amount of natural substrates -- turns it into something useful, a //use value//.((MECW 35, p. 51)) Its character as a use value or its use-value form “is independent of the amount of labour required to appropriate its useful qualities".((MECW 35, p. 46)) On the other hand, a use value may be considered higher or lower depending on the degree to which other use values (and thus other labour processes) form a part of it as a precondition.((See MECW 30, p. 58.)) |
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| Products of labour that satisfy human wants can be found in all human societies; they are a necessary part of human existence.(("As the former of use-values, as //useful labour//, labour is thereby the precondition of existence for man – independent of all social forms – and an eternal necessity of nature for the sake of mediating the material interchange between man and nature (i.e., human life)." From the first chapter of the first German edition of //Capital//. See Albert Dragstedt, //Value: Studies By Karl Marx//, New Park Publications, London, 1976, pp. 7--40.)) From this general point of view, the determination as use value "lies outside the sphere of investigation of political economy."((MECW 29, p. 252. This is further developed on p. 270.)) Marx therefore discusses the concept of use value primarily from the point of view of present social conditions where the means of production are dispersed "among many independent producers of commodities",((MECW 35, p. 361)) the division of labour "is brought about by the purchase and sale of the products of different branches of industry"((MECW 35, p. 360)) and where the products are consumed not by the producers themselves but by "consumers". In order to be saleable, i.e. to function as a //commodity// in exchange, the product of labour must thus be useful to some buyer.(("Whoever directly satisfies his wants with the produce of his own labour, creates, indeed, use | Products of labour that satisfy human wants can be found in all human societies; they are a necessary part of human existence.((“As the former of use-values, as //useful labour//, labour is thereby the precondition of existence for man – independent of all social forms – and an eternal necessity of nature for the sake of mediating the material interchange between man and nature (i.e., human life)." From the first chapter of the first German edition of //Capital//. See Albert Dragstedt, //Value: Studies By Karl Marx//, New Park Publications, London, 1976, pp. 7--40.)) From this general point of view, the determination as use value “lies outside the sphere of investigation of political economy."((MECW 29, p. 252. This is further developed on p. 270.)) Marx therefore discusses the concept of use value primarily from the point of view of present social relations where the means of production are dispersed “among many independent producers of commodities",((MECW 35, p. 361)) the division of labour “is brought about by the purchase and sale of the products of different branches of industry"((MECW 35, p. 360)) and where the products are consumed not by the producers themselves but by “consumers". In order to be saleable, i.e. to function as a //commodity// in exchange, the product of labour must thus be useful to some buyer.((“Whoever directly satisfies his wants with the produce of his own labour, creates, indeed, use |
| values, but not commodities. In order to produce the latter, he must | values, but not commodities. In order to produce the latter, he must |
| not only produce use values, but use values for others, social use values." MECW 35, p. 51)) The product of labour is //not use value for the producer//; its use value only emerges when it meets a buyer on the market.(("To //become// a use value, the commodity must | not only produce use values, but use values for others, social use values." MECW 35, p. 51)) The product of labour is //not use value for the producer//; its use value only emerges when it meets a buyer on the market.((“To //become// a use value, the commodity must |
| encounter the particular need which it can satisfy. Thus the use | encounter the particular need which it can satisfy. Thus the use |
| values of commodities //become// use values by a mutual exchange of | values of commodities //become// use values by a mutual exchange of |
| consumer goods. Only as a result of this universal //alienation// of | consumer goods. Only as a result of this universal //alienation// of |
| commodities does the labour contained in them become useful | commodities does the labour contained in them become useful |
| labour." MECW 29, p. 283)) Finally, the use value only exists as an object for consumption and "is realised only in the process of consumption."((MECW 29, p. 269)) | labour." MECW 29, p. 283)) Finally, the use value only exists as an object for consumption and “is realised only in the process of consumption."((MECW 29, p. 269)) |
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| ==== 2.2 The form of value ==== | ==== 2.2 The form of value ==== |
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| The seller's use of the product of labour comes from what it can fetch by being exchanged -- its //exchange value//.((Use value as an active bearer of exchange value becomes a means of exchange. Here the commodity is a use value for its owner | The seller's use of the product of labour comes from what it can fetch by being exchanged -- its //exchange value//.((Use value as an active bearer of exchange value becomes a means of exchange. Here the commodity is a use value for its owner |
| only so far as it is an exchange value.)) In this function it presents itself in a //value form// that is separate from its bodily form.(("Commodities come into the world in the shape of use values, articles, or goods, such as iron, linen, corn, etc. This is their plain, homely, | only in so far as it is an exchange value.)) In this function it presents itself in a //value form// that is separate from its bodily form.((“Commodities come into the world in the shape of use values, articles, or goods, such as iron, linen, corn, etc. This is their plain, homely, |
| bodily form. They are, however, commodities, only because they are something twofold, both objects of utility, and, at the same time, depositories of value. They manifest themselves therefore as commodities, or have the form of commodities, only in so far as they have two forms, a physical or natural form, and a value form." MECW 35, p. 57.)) | bodily form. They are, however, commodities, only because they are something twofold, both objects of utility, and, at the same time, depositories of value. They manifest themselves therefore as commodities, or have the form of commodities, only in so far as they have two forms, a physical or natural form, and a value form." MECW 35, p. 57.)) |
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| What interests us in this section is not any actual exchange of commodities -- especially not barter where commodity is exchanged directly for commodity -- but //commodity value//. The latter is expressed in money through the price form. However, the form of money is complicated and requires its own explanation. We shall therefore begin by ignoring money and instead investigate commodity value by means of other commodities. | What interests us in this section is not any actual exchange of commodities -- especially not barter where commodity is exchanged directly for commodity -- but //the expression of commodity value//. In everyday life, the latter takes the form of money through the price form. This form is complicated, however, and requires its own explanation. We shall therefore begin by ignoring money and instead investigate how commodity value is expressed through other ordinary commodities. |
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| The value form of a product of labour is completely absent when you look at it in isolation. Then only its bodily form, which gives it its specific properties of utility, appears. The value form shows up, however, as soon as the product of labour is placed in a relation of exchange to some other commodity-body. | The value form of a product of labour is completely absent when you look at it in isolation. Then only its bodily form, which gives it its specific properties of utility, appears. The value form shows up, however, as soon as the product of labour is placed in a relation of exchange to some other commodity-body. |
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| In the simple form of value, the value of linen was expressed but in an insufficient manner, for coat value is not an expression of value or interchangeability | In the simple form of value, the value of linen was expressed but in an insufficient manner, for coat value is not an expression of value or interchangeability |
| //in general// but only in relation to some arbitrary commodity separate from itself.((See "Ergänzungen und Veränderungen zum ersten Band des Kapitals”, in MEGA II.6, p. 25.)) By placing the linen in the same kind of exchange relation to //all other use values// this insufficiency is overcome and a new, developed form of value enters into it place. | //in general// but only in relation to some arbitrary commodity separate from itself.((See “Ergänzungen und Veränderungen zum ersten Band des Kapitals”, in MEGA II.6, p. 25.)) By placing the linen in the same kind of exchange relation to //all other use values// this insufficiency is overcome and a new, developed form of value enters into it place. |
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