From Fetishism to 'Shocked Disbelief ': Economics, Dialectics and Value Theory

In: Historical materialism: research in critical marxist theory, Volume 20, Issue 3, p. 9-23

Abstract

AbstractThe recent arrival ofFrom Economics Imperialism to Freakonomicsby Fine and Milonakis is especially propitious given the context of the Great Recession of 2008 – and the associated decline of public faith in the verities of mainstream economics. Fine and Milonakis provide a magisterial critical survey of contemporary economics and demonstrate the need for a 'new and truly interdisciplinary political economy' capable of 'incorporating the social and historical from the outset'. But their cause requires the explicit development of value analysis within the framework of dialectical social theory. This requires foregrounding the ways in which Marx's categories inCapitalare from the start historical precipitates that acknowledge their own inherent historicity.