The Colonialism of Value

2020 ◽  
pp. 178-197
Author(s):  
Thomas Nail

This chapter posits that the secret of commodity fetishism is nothing other than “The Secret of Primitive Accumulation” of chapter twenty-six of Capital. It is no coincidence that the titles of chapter one, section four and chapter twenty-six are the only two in all of Capital to reference “the secret.” They are two sides of the same twofold kinetic theory of value laid out in this book. Fetishism and primitive accumulation are entangled with each other in a way rendered explicit in the history of colonialism and in the founding mythology of capitalism itself: the story of Robinson Crusoe.

2002 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Henderson

This essay explores a particular moment in the history of commodity fetishism by means of an examination of Frances Burney's The Wanderer (1814). The novel, which is explicitly concerned with the social changes facing early-nineteenth-century England, reveals that at this historical moment the commodity inspired emotions of a particular kind: it was idealized and perceived as attractively individualized, aloof, exotic, and changeable, and it elicited a passionate and sometimes even painful form of desire. In The Wanderer Burney explores the human repercussions of this new way of engaging with objects in the marketplace. She reveals, moreover, the extent to which the fetishism of the commodity reflected not just developments within the economy but also political change: under the influence of the French Revolution the charisma once generated by social status was transferred to the economic realm, where, embodied in the commodity, it gave rise to a pleasurable but masochistic reverence. Burney'sargument for the usefulness of economic independence necessarily leads her to appreciate the commodity fetishism she describes: even while she develops a labor theory of value, Burney promotes a mystification of the commodity by insisting on the aloof independence of both labor and its products. Thus, Burney uses the apparent autonomy of things——which Marx decries——as a means to argue for the autonomy of the makers of those things.


2021 ◽  
pp. 228-248
Author(s):  
Nathan Brown

Chapter 10 develops an approach to the relation between historical and conceptual registers of Marx’s Capital by foregrounding the importance of “separation” (Scheidung) in Volume One. I argue that “separation” is the key to understanding how Marx’s theory is both empiricist and rationalist: derived from the history of capital and structured by conceptual relationships. I theorize the implicit centrality of separation to every major conceptual category developed in Volume One of Capital, showing that it traverses the theory of value, the history of the division of labor, and Marx’s account of primitive accumulation. The chapter concludes by assessing the consequences of this reading of Marx for theorizing the category of the proletariat beyond the limitations of Marx’s own system.


2009 ◽  
Vol 42 (S 01) ◽  
pp. S4-S8
Author(s):  
S. Bhattacharya ◽  
V. Khanna ◽  
R. Kohli

ABSTRACTThe earliest documented history of cleft lip is based on a combination of religion, superstition, invention and charlatanism. While Greeks ignored their existence, Spartans and Romans would kill these children as they were considered to harbour evil spirits. When saner senses prevailed Fabricius ab Aquapendente (1537–1619) was the first to suggest the embryological basis of these clefts. The knowledge of cleft lip and the surgical correction received a big boost during the period between the Renaissance and the 19th century with the publication of Pierre Franco's Petit Traité and Traité des Hernies in which he described the condition as “lièvre fendu de nativitè” (cleft lip present from birth). The first documented Cleft lip surgery is from China in 390 BC in an 18 year old would be soldier, Wey Young-Chi. Albucasis of Arabia and his fellow surgeons used the cautery instead of the scalpel and Yperman in 1854 recommended scarifying the margins with a scalpel before suturing them with a triangular needle dipped in wax. The repair was reinforced by passing a long needle through the two sides of the lip and fixing the shaft of the needle with a figure-of-eight thread over the lip. Germanicus Mirault can be credited to be the originator of the triangular flap which was later modified by C.W. Tennison in 1952 and Peter Randall in 1959. In the late 50s, Ralph Millard gave us his legendary ‘cut as you go’ technique. The protruding premaxilla of a bilateral cleft lip too has seen many changes throughout the ages OE from being discarded totally to being pushed back by wedge resection of vomer to finally being left to the orthodontists.


2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 260-270
Author(s):  
Iara Vigo de Lima

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse Michel Foucault’s new epistemological model regarding an analogy between the theory of language and economic thought in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Design/methodology/approach – Through the scrutiny of language, Foucault intended to demonstrate that some analogies, among different branches of knowledge (interdiscursive practice), allow us to apprehend the underlying configuration of thought regarding ontological and epistemological conditions that have historically determined knowledge. He draws a parallel between four theoretical segments borrowed from general grammar (Attribution, Articulation, Designation and Derivation) and economic thought on wealth. Findings – One of the most remarkable propositions of this approach is that the theory of language and economic thought were epistemologically isomorphic in that context. What the theory of language stated in relation to “attribution” and “articulation” corresponded to the “theory of value” in economic thought. What grammar investigated regarding “designation” and “derivation” was analogous to the “theory of money and trade” in economic thought. The relationships that were – directly and diagonally – identified between and among them led to the conclusion that there was ‘a circular and surface causality’ in economic thought insofar as “circulation” preceded “production”. It was “superficial” because it could not find an explanation for the cause of “wealth”, which was only possible when “production” was placed in the front position of theories. Practical implications – Such an epistemological point of view can inspire other studies in the history of economic thought. Originality/value – This paper offers a perspective on how to think about the history of ontological and epistemological conditions of economic thought.


On 24 May 1820 a manuscript entitled ‘A Mathematical Inquiry into the Causes, Laws and Principal Phenomena of Heat, Gases, Gravitation, etc.’ was submitted to Davies Gilbert for publication in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society . The author was John Herapath (1790-1868), and his article included a comprehensive (if somewhat faulty) exposition of the kinetic theory of gases. Sir Humphry Davy, who assumed the Presidency of the Royal Society on 30 November 1820, became primarily responsible for the fate of the article and wrote several letters to Herapath concerning it. After it became clear that there was considerable opposition to its publication by the Royal Society, Herapath withdrew the article and sent it instead to the Annals of Philosophy , where it appeared in 1821 (1). Herapath’s theory received little notice from scientists until thirty-five years later, when the kinetic theory was revived by Joule, Krönig, Clausius, and Maxwell. The incident is significant in the history of physical science because it illustrates an important distinction between the two doctrines concerning the nature of heat—the kinetic and the vibration theories—a distinction which is often forgotten because of the apparent similarity of both doctrines as contrasted with the caloric theory. It also throws some light on the character of early nineteenth century British science, both in and out of the Royal Society.


HUMANIKA ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Sindung Tjahyadi

This article discusses about a paradigm shift in the social sciences based on "the history of science" perspective. The key question is how the recent development of the discourse about the paradigms of the social sciences. The paradigmatic and methodological development forward directed through a post-empirical approach to the exclusion of desire unification cause or structure as the objective theory of social action, and develop a multi-theoretical paradigms on the basis of variations in the structure that can be applied to the various regions and types of action. Furthermore, elaborated further needed is to develop methodological pluralism and theoretical unification in the social sciences are expected to confirm the two sides of the comprehensive-pluralistic approach in the philosophy of social sciences. The main thing about the legitimacy of the methodology underlying the study is to examine the criteria on what should have knowledge of it. Finally, that the dimensions of "ontological" social science should be "liberated" from the illusion of objectivism


2021 ◽  
pp. 90-108
Author(s):  
Владимир Сергеевич Коробов

В статье рассматривается история толкования отрывка из Евангелия от Иоанна: « Отец Мой более Меня » (Ин. 14, 28). Тема, которой посвящена статья, является частью исследования богословской проблематики Константинопольских Соборов 1166 и 1170 гг. Церковная деятельность византийского императора Мануила I Комнина была противоречивой и не исключала вмешательства латинских богословов. Цель настоящей статьи - показать святоотеческое понимание спорного места для правильной интерпретации решений Константинопольских Соборов 1166 и 1170 гг. и их оценки с православной позиции. Структура статьи имеет традиционную рубрикацию, соотносительную историческим периодам: доникейский, арианские споры IV в., христологические споры V-VII вв., поздневизантийская традиция. Для богословского анализа Ин. 14, 28 мы обращаемся к диахронно-синхронному методу, который заключается в изучении толкований стиха на разных исторических этапах. Метод опирается на анализ фрагментов, полученных при поиске в базе данных греческих текстов (TLG). Наиболее употребительными толкованиями стиха «Отец Мой более Меня» (Ин. 14, 28) являлись триадологическое и христологическое. Первое означало, что Отец больше Сына, как Виновник Его бытия. Второе объяснялось в контексте Домостроительства и включало две стороны, дополняющие друг друга: Спаситель имеет в виду Свою человеческую природу и в то же время подразумевает добровольное уничижение и умаление Своего божества (кеносис). The article examines the history of interpretation of the passage from the Gospel of John: «My Father is greater than Me» (John 14, 28). The topic of the article is part of a study of the theological problems of the Councils of Constantinople in 1166 and 1170. The Church activities of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus were contradictory and did not exclude the intervention of latin theologians. The purpose of this article is to show the patristic understanding of the controversial place for the correct interpretation of the decisions of the Councils of Constantinople in 1166 and 1170. and their assessments from an Orthodox perspective. The structure of the article has a traditional rubrication, correlating to historical periods: ante-Nicene, Arian disputes of the 4th century, Christological disputes of the 5-7 centuries, late Byzantine tradition. For theological analysis, Jn. 14, 28 we turn to the diachronous-synchronous method, which consists in studying the interpretations of the verse at different historical stages. The method is based on the analysis of fragments obtained by searching the database of Greek texts (The Thesaurus Linguae Graecae®). The most common interpretations of the verse «My Father is greater than Me» (John 14, 28) were triadological and Christological. The first meant that the Father is greater than the Son, as the Author of His existence. The second was explained in the context of the Economy and included two sides complementary to each other: The Savior means His human nature and at the same time implies the voluntary humiliation and belittling of His deity (kenosis).


2018 ◽  
pp. 005-083

Abstract.-The paper seeks to raise awareness of the sheer expansive force of capitalism, a social fact that has completely transformed Western societies in the last 600 years. Although the text draws on the simplest and most sound categories of Marx’s labour theory of value, its focus is to show the power and political relationships that take place within enterprises –a new servitude. Our analytical method, as well as its empirical validation, builds on Durkheim’s concept of ‘reaction of punishment’. The paper also explores the historical and structural relations between the advanced sociability of our middle classes and their government by representative assemblies elected by them. For this purpose, we draw on the history of English parliamentarianism, from its social origins in the Normand invasion (1066), to its historical eclosion in the North American democracy (1787). Our interpretation is sociological, seeking the meaning of those exceptional historical transformations, and finding it –paradoxically-in the contrast between the ideal types of Community and Association established by German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies. The text also analyses how individualism is originated in capitalist competition, and finishes by pointing out from where(within the social structure) such ideology is propagated as the only one that should shape our behaviour. Keywords:surplus value.-invisible hand.-English exceptionalism.-Ferdinand Tönnies.-empirical measurement.-Spencer-Brown Una aproximación sociológica a algunos temas clásicos de La Economía Política Inglesa Resumen.-El texto pretende hacernos conscientes de la tremenda fuerza expansiva del capitalismo, un hecho social que ha transformado por completo a las sociedades occidentales en los últimos 600 años. Utiliza las categorías más sencillas y consolidadas de la teoría del valor-trabajo de Marx, pero su objetivo es mostrar a las relaciones que tienen lugar en el interior de las empresas como relaciones de poder, como relaciones políticas, una nueva servidumbre. Para ello el método de análisis que aplicamos es muy próximo al concepto de ‘reacción penal’ de Durkheim - incluso en la propuesta que hacemos para su validación empírica. El estudio se pregunta además por las relaciones históricas y estructurales entre la sociabilidad avanzada de nuestras clases medias y su gobierno por asambleas representativas, que ellas mismas eligen. Para ello recurrimos a la historia del parlamentarismo inglés, desde sus lejanos orígenes sociales, que encontramos en la Invasión Normanda de la isla (1066), hasta su cabal eclosión histórica en la democracia norteamericana (1787). Pero nuestra interpretación es sociológica, busca el sentido de esas transformaciones históricas excepcionales, y lo halla (paradójicamente) en el contraste entre los tipos-ideales de Comunidad y Asociación establecidos en su día por el sociólogo alemán Ferdinand Tönnies.A lo largo del texto analizamos también cómose origina el individualismo en la competición capitalista, y finaliza señalando desde dónde (en el interior de la estructura social) se propaga dicha ideología, como la única considerada de recibo para orientar nuestro comportamiento. Palabras clave:plusvalía.-mano invisible.-excepcionalismo inglés.-F. Tönnies.-medición empírica.-Spencer-Brown


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Muhammad Rafiqul Hoque ◽  
Muhammad Mustaqim Mohd Zarif

Dispute resolution systems are broadly divided into two sides namely Judicial Dispute Resolution (JDRS) and Non-Judicial Dispute Resolution Systems (NJDRS). The first one is more formal, and the latter is informal which is known as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) all over the world. Though ADR is claimed to be a great innovation of the West, it is found to be practiced in the Islamic Judicial System from its very inception. ADR was practiced throughout the history of Islamic Judiciary as sulh. However, the use of the word sulh in the meaning of ADR needs to be explained in the present judicial context. Scholars sometimes discussed sulh as a system parallel to ADR and sometimes as a process, which creates confusion in its multiuse. Hence, this study aims at eliminating this confusion on the paradoxical use of the term sulh as a system for dispute resolution as well as a process of that system. At present, hardly any study has precisely differentiated between them. Thus, this qualitative study focuses on discussing it primarily from the perspectives of the Quran, documented sources as well as interviews. The major finding of this study is that sulh, comparing with present day ADR, does not need to be used paradoxically. The main contribution of the study is to propose a clarification of sulh in the line of ADR fruitfully. The findings of this study are not only useful in clarifying the exact meanings of the term as used in different contexts but also applicable to solve problems faced by arbitrators involved in various indigenous traditional dispute resolution systems such as shalish in Bangladesh and elsewhere.


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