42,332 research outputs found
The Karl Marx Problem in Contemporary New Media Economy: A Critique of Christian Fuchsâ Account
This article focuses on five flaws of Christian Fuchsâ approach of Web 2.0 economy.
Here, Fuchsâ views on immaterial production, productivity of labor, commodification
of usersâ data, underestimation of financial aspects of digital economy, and the violation
of Marxâs laws of value production, rate of exploitation, fall tendency of profit rate,
and overproduction crisis are put into question. This article defends the thesis Fuchs
fails to apply Marxian political economy to the contemporary phenomena of Web 2.0
economy. It is possible to avoid Fuchsâ errors, and another approach is possible to
remake Marxism relevant for an analysis of the new media econom
Sean Sayers' Concept of Immaterial Labor and the Information Economy
The concept âimmaterial laborâ is one of the most hotly debated topics
in contemporary social theory. In his 2007 work The Concept of Labor: Marx
and His Critics, Sean Sayers offered an extensive response to several critical
redefinitions of labor (Habermas, Benton, Arendt) and immaterial labor
(Lazzarato, Hardt and Negri). Sayers returned to the subject in his more
recent book, Marx and Alienation: Essays on Hegelian Themes.1 As one of the
few accounts that contests the contemporary Marx critics with regard to
fundamental concepts such as labor and immaterial labor, his contribution
should be taken seriously
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Corporate Social (Ir)Responsibility in Media and Communication Industries
Microsoft is the most socially responsible company in the world, followed by Google on rank 2 and The Walt Disney Company on rank 3 â at least according to the perceptions of 47,000 people from 15 countries that participated in a survey conducted by the consultancy firm Reputation Institute. In this paper I take a critical look at Corporate Social Responsibility in media and communication industries. Within the debate on CSR media are often only discussed in regard to their role of raising awareness and enabling public debate about corporate social responsibility. What is missing are theoretical and empirical studies about the corporate social (ir)responsibility of media and communication companies themselves. This paper contributes to overcoming this blind spot. First I systematically describe four different ways of relating profit goals and social goals of media and communication companies. I argue for a dialectical perspective that considers how profit interests and social responsibilities mutually shape each other. Such a perspective can draw on a critical political economy of media and communication. Based on this approach I take a closer look at Microsoft, Google and The Walt Disney Company and show that their actual practices do not correspond to their reputation. This analysis points at flaws in the concept CSR. I argue that despite these limitations CSR still contains a rational element that can however only be realised by going beyond CSR. I therefore suggest a new concept that turns CSR off its head and places it upon its feet
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From Communism to Postcapitalism: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engelsâ The Communist Manifesto (1848)
History bears testament to the Manifestoâs planetary circulation, global readership and material impact. Interpretations of this short document have affected the lives of millions globally, particularly in the second half of the twentieth century. The text is somehow able to outline the complex theoretical foundations for the worldâs most enduring critique of capitalism in a comprehensible and persuasive language, and as such, readers of all classes, professions, nations and ethnicities have drawn on â and in many cases warped and manipulated â its valuable insights. Whilst arguing for the importance of the Manifesto as an anti-imperial book and exploring the reasons for its viral circulation, this chapter will also show that it is a self-reflexive text that predicts its own historic impact. It is the formal and generic â or, in fact, âliteraryâ â qualities of this astonishing document that have given it such primacy in the canon of anti-imperial and anti-capitalist writing
Reconsidering the Marxist-anarchist controversy in and through Radical Praxis
This paper reflects on the Greek revolt of December 2008 and reexamines the dispute between Marxism and anarchism in and through the social unrest. It argues that their polemic and intolerance should not be perceived as established and unchanging. Throughout the uprising, both Marxists and anarchists created a space of openness, united action and active solidarity overcoming their sectarianism and closure. The study considers that the two opposing currents could learn valuable lessons and draw significant conclusions from the radical practice of the insurgents concerning the critical organizational issue and the means-end relationship. It argues, also, that the revolted questioned the existing Marxist and anarchist presuppositions as regards the issues of state and time. The paper maintains that the continuation of the Marxist-anarchist conflict perpetuates the crisis of the international radical movement. It concludesthat both Marxism and anarchism could play a constructive role in order to form a new radical alternative and return to the practical and theoretical broadmindedness of the First International
Marxian Reproduction Prices Versus Prices of Production: Probability and Convergence
I shall argue two main points. The first is that although Marx is
conventionally taken to have formulated two different theories of
price in the the three volumes of Capital, labour values in volume
I and prices of production in volume III, there is actually a third
theory, hidden inside the reproduction schemes of volume II. This
theory is not explicit, but can be logically deduced from the constraints
that he presents on simple reproduction. It is not a theory of individual
prices, but a theory of relative sectoral prices.
I will go on to argue that this theory of sectoral prices allows us
to make probabilistic arguments about the relative likely-hood that
either production prices or labour values will operate at the level
of reproduction schemes. This paper provides a measure on the configuration
space associated with Marxian prices of production and labour values.
By use of random matrix techniques it shows that the solutions space
associated with prices of production is similar to that associated
with classical labour values.
In the latter part of the paper, a sample of reproduction schemes
is simulated over time, under assumptions of capital movement,
to see whether such systems dynamically converge on prices of production.
It is found that some converge, and some fail to converge
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