Against the Market Political Economy, Market Socialism and the Marxist Critique

by MCNALLY, DAVID

• ISBN13: 9780860916062
• ISBN10: 0860916065
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1993-12-17
• Publisher: Verso

Summary

In this innovative book, David McNally develops a powerful critique of market socialism, by tracing it back to its roots in early political economy. He ranges from Adam Smith’s attempt to reconcile moral philosophy with market economics to Malthus’s reformulation of Smith’s political economy which made it possible to justify poverty as a moral necessity. Smith’s economic theory was also the source of an attempt to construct a critique of capitalism derived from his conception of free and equal exchange governed by natural price. This Smithian forerunner of today’s market socialism sought to reform the market without abolishing the social relations on which it was based. McNally explores this tradition sympathetically, but exposes its fatal flaws.

The book concludes with an incisive consideration of efforts by writers such as Alec Nove to construct a “feasible” model of market socialism. McNally shows these efforts are still plagued by the failure of early Smithian socialism to come to grips with the social foundations of the market, the commodification of labor-power which is the key to market regulation of the economy. The results, he argues, are neither socialist nor workable.

Author Biography

David McNally is Professor of Political Science at York University, Toronto. He is author of Political Economy and the Rise of Capitalism and Against the Market: Political Economy, Market Socialism and the Marxist Critique.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction	p. 1
Origins of Capitalism and the Market	p. 5
Creating the Market in Labour: from Feudalism to Capitalism	p. 7
From Petty Production to the Factory System	p. 24
Market Competition and Proletarianization	p. 30
The Working Class and the Industrial Revolution	p. 34
Justice and Markets: the Ambiguous Legacy of Adam Smith	p. 43
Virtue and Commerce: against Mandeville	p. 46
Sympathy, Communication and Exchange	p. 50
Dependence, Independence and Wage-Labour	p. 53
Exploitation, Equity and the Market	p. 55
Moral Economy and the Market	p. 58
The Economics and Politics of Social Classes	p. 59
The Malthusian Moment: Political Economy versus Popular Radicalism	p. 62
Popular Radicalism and the Poverty Debate	p. 63
Alternatives to Radicalism: 'Humanitarianism' and the Poverty Debate	p. 71
Against the Right of Subsistence: Malthus's First Essay on Population	p. 75
Poor Laws Under Attack: Later Editions of the Essay on Population	p. 78
The Malthusian Legacy, 1: Anglican Social Thought	p. 91
The Malthusian Legacy, 2: Classical Political Economy	p. 93
The Malthusian Legacy, 3: The Poor Law Debate	p. 97
Exploitation, Inequality and the Market: The Making of Popular Political Economy	p. 104
Popular Political Economy: the Forerunners	p. 106
Owenism and Political Economy	p. 112
Popular Political Economy: Labour, Exchange, Money, Co-operation	p. 117
From Theory to Practice: the Labour Exchange Experiment	p. 133
'Proudhon Did Enormous Mischief': Marx's Critique of the First Market Socialists	p. 139
Proudhon, Property and Political Economy	p. 139
Marx and Proudhon: from First Encounter to Poverty of Philosophy	p. 146
The Poverty of Philosophy: Petty Bourgeois Socialism under Attack	p. 150
A Battle Continued: Marx's 'Economy' and the Critique of Proudhon	p. 154
Capital: 'The Real Battle Begins'	p. 159
Beyond the Market	p. 170
Wage-Labour, Accumulation and Market Regulation	p. 175
The Political Economy of the Working Class	p. 184
Five Objections: Individuals, Needs, Abundance, Plan and Transition	p. 188
The Question of Calculation	p. 197
Socialized Markets or Market Reformism?	p. 213
Conclusion	p. 218
Notes	p. 225
Index	p. 255
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