Market Socialism: The Impossible Socialism

The idea of combining some form of social equality with markets goes back to the very origins of socialist tradition and also underlies most of the proposals currently being presented as “alternatives” to the capitalist social order. However, taking as its axis the organic relationship between commodity circulation and capital, as revealed by Marx, it is possible to offer a critique of market socialism (choosing David Schweickart's version of Economic Democracy as a generic textual reference) to demonstrate its inconsistency as a project for social emancipation alternative to the capitalist mode of production. And this for reasons of: i) economy: due to market inefficiency in allocation, and its tendency toward social polarization; ii) politics: because markets prevent citizen self-government and block the free development of human capacities; and iii) ecology: the market is incompatible with a social metabolism that is sustainable with nature. The conclusion is that a market-based production structure is incompatible with the conscious, rational, and democratic regulation of the economy.

Imagination as Crisis: Spinoza on the Naturalisation and Denaturalisation of Capitalist Relations

Many current Marxist debates point to a crisis of imagination as a challenge to emancipatory thoughts and actions. The naturalisation of the capitalist mode of production within the production of subjectivity is among the chief reasons behind this state of affairs. This article contributes to the debate by focusing on the notion of imagination, marked by a deep ambivalence capable of both naturalising and denaturalising social relations constitutive of the established order. Such an understanding of imagination is constructed from within the framework of historical materialism, and it draws on Spinoza and Marx, taking advantage of the similarities between the two with respect to the constitution of the subject. From this stems an investigation into the imagination as a material force that partakes both in subjection and liberation. This is further demonstrated in regard to juridical forms of subjectivation and the possibility of subverting these forms through imagination.

Phenomenology, Scientific Method and the Transformation Problem

We argue in this article that Marx’s scientific method coupled with his analysis of the phenomenological consciousness of agents trapped within the capitalist mode of production provides a sufficient solution to the transformation problem. That is, Marx needs no amending – mathematical, philosophical, or otherwise – and the tools he uses to demonstrate and resolve the problem – science and phenomenology – were already clearly spelled out in his texts. Critics of Marx either fail to understand his scientific method, or are themselves trapped within a non-scientific capitalist phenomenology. Similarly, Marxists that mathematically resolve the transformation problem fail to realise that Marx’s scientific analysis alone demonstrates that a mathematical solution to the transformation problem is a misapprehension of the relation between Marx’s abstract theory and concrete phenomena. Consequently, we also criticise the monetary theorists who try to dismiss the problem as pointless by claiming that Marx was not a pre-monetary theorist.

The socio-economic situation of the landowner peasants after the peasant reform in Georgia (the last quarter of the 19th - the early 20th century)

The article analyses the main provisions of the peasant reform in Georgia, which had a further impact on the socio-economic development of the landowner peasants of Tiflis and Kutaisi provinces in the last quarter of the 19th – the early 20th centuries. On the basis of archival sources and literature, the author considers the reasons for the difficult economic situation of the Georgian landowners in the period under study. An analysis makes it possible to conclude that the socio-economic relations that had been formed in Georgia determined the contradictions inherent in the capitalist mode of management. On the one hand, the peasant reform contributed to the more rapid development of the capitalist mode of production in the countryside, laying the foundation for economic development in agriculture, the introduction of commercial agriculture, the growth of agricultural productivity, and the maturation of commodity-capitalist relations. On the other hand, the main means of production were in the hands of the landlords, which led to an even greater extensive impoverishment of the landlord peasants. Thus, in Georgia, the remnants of serfdom survived even longer than in the European provinces of the Russian Empire. It is concluded that the reason for these remnants included the backwardness and relatively weak development of capitalist relations in the South Caucasus, in particular, in Georgia.

On the Concept of the Reserve Army of Labor in Ruy Mauro Marini

An analysis of the concept of the reserve army of labor in the work of Ruy Mauro Marini explains the processes that contributed to the Marxist theory of dependency and to the study of the capitalist mode of production. Uma analise da conceito de exército industrial de reserva na teoria proposta por Ruy Mauro Marini explica quais eram os processos a que ele atribuía especificidade ao mesmo no âmbito da denominada teoria marxista da dependência e do modo de produção capitalista.

AS MULHERES NEGRAS E A VIOLÊNCIA CONTRA AS MULHERES

O presente artigo visa refletir acerca da violência contra a mulher, pensando especificamente na necessidade do recorte racial na tratativa dessa temática. Entendendo a raça e a racialização da população brasileira como um ponto de partida para a compreensão da exploração e do estabelecimento das opressões contra o povo negro e consequentemente da estruturação da sociedade brasileira da forma como a conhecemos. Raça e violência são elementos que operam juntos na criação e manutenção das hierarquias sociais, essenciais ao modo de produção capitalista, criam hierarquias inclusive no gênero. Palavras-chave: Mulheres Negras. Violência Contra Mulher. Representação. Representatividade. Abstract This article aims to reflect on violence against women, specifically thinking about the need for a racial approach in dealing with this theme. Understanding the race and racialization of the Brazilian population as a starting point for understanding the exploitation and the establishment of oppression against the black people and consequently the structuring of Brazilian society as we know it. Race and violence are elements that operate together in the creation and maintenance of social hierarchies, essential to the capitalist mode of production, creating hierarchies even in gender. Keywords: Black Women. Violence Against Women. Representation. Representativeness.