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Invisible Leviathan
Marx's Law of Value in the Twilight of Capitalism
Series: - Historical Materialism Book Series, Volume: 177
Author:
In this updated and expanded edition of Invisible Leviathan, Murray E.G. Smith critically explores and makes significant contributions to the debate surrounding Karl Marxâs âcapitalist law of valueâ and its corollary, the law of the falling rate of profit. A powerful case is presented that capitalism has exhausted its potential to contribute to human progress. Humanity confronts a fateful choice: to allow this obsolescent system â which necessarily measures âwealthâ in terms of âabstract social labourâ and money profit â to destroy human civilisation; or to make the leap toward a global, egalitarian-socialist society in which the satisfaction of human need is the starting-point and the all-round development of each and every human individual the goal of the socio-economic life process.
First printed in 1994 as Invisible Leviathan: The Marxist Critique of Market Despotism Beyond Postmodernism by University of Toronto Press. This second and revised edition includes a new Foreword by Michael Roberts, and a Preface to the Second Edition.
First printed in 1994 as Invisible Leviathan: The Marxist Critique of Market Despotism Beyond Postmodernism by University of Toronto Press. This second and revised edition includes a new Foreword by Michael Roberts, and a Preface to the Second Edition.
Murray E.G. Smith is Professor of Sociology at Brock University, Canada. His previous books include Culture of Prejudice (University of Toronto Press, 2007), Global Capitalism in Crisis (Fernwood, 2010), and Marxist Phoenix (Canadian Scholars Press, 2014).
Foreword Preface to the Second Edition Preface to the First Edition (Excerpts) Copyright Acknowledgements Figures, Charts and Tables
1 Invisible Leviathan: Marxâs Law of Value in the Twilight of Capitalism â1âReflections on Wealth, Human Development and the âTriumphâ of Capitalism â2âThe Triple Crisis of the Twenty-First Century â3âThe Necessity of Marxâs Value Theory in the Twilight of Capitalism
2 The Value Abstraction and the Dialectic of Social Development â1âThe Value Abstraction in Pre-capitalist History: Cognitive Faculties as Forces of Production â2âCohen, Sayer and Söhn-Rethel on Historical Materialism â3âValue Relations and Social Progress â4âAn Unresolved Issue
3 Science, Ideology and âEconomic Valueâ â1âThe Labour Theory of Value in Classical Political Economy â2âThe Economics Profession Repudiates the Labour Theory of Value â3âLabour Value: From âRicardian Socialismâ to Marx â4âMarginalism versus Marx â5âScience, Ideology and the Theory of Value
4 Marxâs Capital and the Early Critiques â1âElements of Marxâs Theory of Value â2âValue, Capital, and Exploitation â3âValue, Capitalist Competition, and the General Rate of Profit â4âTraditional Criticisms and Orthodox Responses â5âThe Controversy Surrounding the âTransformation Problemâ
5 Currents within the Value Controversy â1âThe Second Phase of the Value Controversy â2âThe Neo-Ricardian Challenge â3âNeo-Orthodoxy and the Rediscovery of the Value-Form â4âFundamentalist Value Theory â5âTrends in the Value Controversy since the 1990s
6 An Assessment of the Value Controversy â1âPreliminary Thoughts on the Road Just Travelled â2âSome Philosophical and Methodological Considerations â3âTheoretical Considerations â4âValue Theory and Programme
7 Value, Economy and Crisis â1âCapitalist Development and Its Cyclical Crises â2âThe Falling Rate of Profit and the Dimensions of Capitalist Crisis â3âTendencies Counteracting the Fall in the Rate of Profit â4âTheoretical Arguments Surrounding the Law of the Falling Rate of Profit â5âDimensions of Capitalist Crisis â6âCrises of Valorisation and Crises of Realisation â7âThe Historical-Structural Crisis of Capitalism
8 Socially Necessary Unproductive Labour, Valorisation and Crisis â1âMarx and the Problem of Unproductive Labour â2âSNUL and Marxâs Value Categories â3âConstant Capital and Capital Fetishism â4âTheoretical Advantages of Treating SNUL as Constant Capital
9 Imperialism, Unequal Development and the Law of Value â1âUnequal Capitalist Development on a World Scale â2âEmmanuelâs Theory of Unequal Exchange â3âCritiques of Emmanuel â4âShaikhâs Critique of Emmanuel and the Ricardian Theory of Trade
10 âTesting Marxâ in the Twilight of Capitalism: Marxian Value Categories, National Income Accounts and the Crisis of Valorisation â1âPart I: The Profitability Crisis of the 1970s and 1980s: Contradictory Testimonies of Empirical Marxian Research â2âPart II: The LTRPF and the Rise of âFictitious Capitalâ: The Case of the US Economy, 1950â2013 â3âProfitability Trends in the US Economy: Some Recent Findings and Debates â4âAppendix 1: Data Sources and Methods for Smith (1991b) Study of Canadian Economy, 1947â80 â5âAppendix 2: Data Sources and Methods Used in Smith-Taylor (1996) Study of the Canadian Economy, 1947â91 â6âAppendix 3: Data Sources and Methods Used in Smith-Butovsky (2018) Study of the US Economy, 1950â2013
11 Beyond the Law of Value: Class Struggle and Socialist Transformation â1âThe Working Class, Value, and Anti-Capitalist Struggle â2âValue Theory and Socialist Construction
Bibliography Index
1 Invisible Leviathan: Marxâs Law of Value in the Twilight of Capitalism â1âReflections on Wealth, Human Development and the âTriumphâ of Capitalism â2âThe Triple Crisis of the Twenty-First Century â3âThe Necessity of Marxâs Value Theory in the Twilight of Capitalism
2 The Value Abstraction and the Dialectic of Social Development â1âThe Value Abstraction in Pre-capitalist History: Cognitive Faculties as Forces of Production â2âCohen, Sayer and Söhn-Rethel on Historical Materialism â3âValue Relations and Social Progress â4âAn Unresolved Issue
3 Science, Ideology and âEconomic Valueâ â1âThe Labour Theory of Value in Classical Political Economy â2âThe Economics Profession Repudiates the Labour Theory of Value â3âLabour Value: From âRicardian Socialismâ to Marx â4âMarginalism versus Marx â5âScience, Ideology and the Theory of Value
4 Marxâs Capital and the Early Critiques â1âElements of Marxâs Theory of Value â2âValue, Capital, and Exploitation â3âValue, Capitalist Competition, and the General Rate of Profit â4âTraditional Criticisms and Orthodox Responses â5âThe Controversy Surrounding the âTransformation Problemâ
5 Currents within the Value Controversy â1âThe Second Phase of the Value Controversy â2âThe Neo-Ricardian Challenge â3âNeo-Orthodoxy and the Rediscovery of the Value-Form â4âFundamentalist Value Theory â5âTrends in the Value Controversy since the 1990s
6 An Assessment of the Value Controversy â1âPreliminary Thoughts on the Road Just Travelled â2âSome Philosophical and Methodological Considerations â3âTheoretical Considerations â4âValue Theory and Programme
7 Value, Economy and Crisis â1âCapitalist Development and Its Cyclical Crises â2âThe Falling Rate of Profit and the Dimensions of Capitalist Crisis â3âTendencies Counteracting the Fall in the Rate of Profit â4âTheoretical Arguments Surrounding the Law of the Falling Rate of Profit â5âDimensions of Capitalist Crisis â6âCrises of Valorisation and Crises of Realisation â7âThe Historical-Structural Crisis of Capitalism
8 Socially Necessary Unproductive Labour, Valorisation and Crisis â1âMarx and the Problem of Unproductive Labour â2âSNUL and Marxâs Value Categories â3âConstant Capital and Capital Fetishism â4âTheoretical Advantages of Treating SNUL as Constant Capital
9 Imperialism, Unequal Development and the Law of Value â1âUnequal Capitalist Development on a World Scale â2âEmmanuelâs Theory of Unequal Exchange â3âCritiques of Emmanuel â4âShaikhâs Critique of Emmanuel and the Ricardian Theory of Trade
10 âTesting Marxâ in the Twilight of Capitalism: Marxian Value Categories, National Income Accounts and the Crisis of Valorisation â1âPart I: The Profitability Crisis of the 1970s and 1980s: Contradictory Testimonies of Empirical Marxian Research â2âPart II: The LTRPF and the Rise of âFictitious Capitalâ: The Case of the US Economy, 1950â2013 â3âProfitability Trends in the US Economy: Some Recent Findings and Debates â4âAppendix 1: Data Sources and Methods for Smith (1991b) Study of Canadian Economy, 1947â80 â5âAppendix 2: Data Sources and Methods Used in Smith-Taylor (1996) Study of the Canadian Economy, 1947â91 â6âAppendix 3: Data Sources and Methods Used in Smith-Butovsky (2018) Study of the US Economy, 1950â2013
11 Beyond the Law of Value: Class Struggle and Socialist Transformation â1âThe Working Class, Value, and Anti-Capitalist Struggle â2âValue Theory and Socialist Construction
Bibliography Index
Scholars and activists interested in Marxâs critique of capitalism, his theories of labour-value and crisis, and the historical limits of the âcapitalist law of valueâ.