Class, Surplus, and the Division of Labour

The traditional Marxian picture of a two-class polarisation seems far removed from today's diverse society. Re-examining the very foundations of the Marxian theory in the process, the author argues that important critiques can fruitfully be understood and to accomplish the goal, he extends the traditional concepts in innovative and original ways.

Autorentext
Michal Polák (PhD Philosophy, LSE) splits his time between Slovakia and the UK, and his writings on politics between academia and journalism. In 2012, a collection of his articles Head Against the Wind was published in his original home country, where he currently works as an advisor at the Finance Ministry.

Inhalt
Introduction: The Legacy and The Crisis PART I: ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS 1. It's Not What You Have, It's What You Do: The Return of the Division-of-Labour View of Class 2. Exploitation Is Not a Game: A Critique of John Roemer PART II: RECONSTRUCTING THE FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS 3. Back to Basics: Reproduction, Subsistence, Exploitation, Class PART III: A DUAL THEORY OF EXPLOITATION AND PRICE 4. If Profit is the Answer, What Should Be the Question? Income from Capital and the Labour Theory of Value 5. What Price Value? Beyond the Transformation Problem and the Sraffian Critique Appendix to Chapter 5 PART IV: INTEGRATING THE TWO CONCEPTS OF CLASS 6. A Beast of Many Faces: Complex Exploitation, the Sphere of Necessity and the Sphere of Freedom