Law of Worldwide Value, 2nd edition

Samir Amin

In his new extensively revised and expanded edition of this book, Samir Amin suggests new approaches to Marxian analysis of the crisis of the late capitalist system of generalized, financialized, and globalized oligopolies following on the financial collapse of 2008. Considering that Marx’s Capital, written before the emergence of imperialism as a decisive factor in capitalist accumulation, could provide no explanation for the persistent “underdevelopment” of the countries of the “global South,” Amin advances several important theoretical concepts extending traditional Marxian views of capitalist evolution. Amin sees the present crisis as a moment in the second long crisis of the capitalist system, dating from the early 1970’s (the first long crisis, he maintains, lasted from 1873 until 1945). He sees no exit from repeated crises under capitalism except the descent into barbarism. The challenge is not to escape from the crisis of capitalism—a hopeless project— but to escape from capitalism in crisis. And Amin reasserts his historical optimism as to the socialist project. He expects a “second wave” of socialist attempts that will stem from the self-liberating efforts of the nations and peoples of the South which, by eliminating the imperialist rent, will lead to an awakening of the Northern popular classes to join the awakening of the global South. This book has an important place among the theoretical resources for anyone involved in the study of contemporary Marxian economic and political theory.

Contents

Introduction to the English Edition

CHAPTER ONE: The Fundamental Status of the Law of Value
1. An Illustration with a Simple Model of Accumulation
2. Realization of the Surplus Product and the Active Function of Credit
3. Given the Hypothesis of Unchanging Real Wages, Is Accumulation Possible?
4. From Prices of Production to Market Prices
5. The Unavoidable Detour by Way of Value
6. Is an Empiricist Approach to Accumulation Possible?
7. Sraffa’s Schema
8. Economic Laws and the Class Struggle
9. Is the Law of Value Outdated?

ANNEX TO CHAPTER ONE:
An Algebraic Model of Expanded Reproduction

CHAPTER TWO: Interest, Money, and the State

CHAPTER THREE: Ground Rent

CHAPTER FOUR: Accumulation on a Global Scale and Imperialist Rent
1. The Global Hierarchy of the Prices of Labor Power
2. One Accumulation Model, or Two?
3. Social Struggles and International Conflicts in a Global Perspective
4. Unequal Access to the Natural Resources of the Planet
5. Theory and Practice of Extractive Rent
6. Ecology and Unsustainable Development
7. The North-South Conflict over Access to the Planet’s Resources 8. Has Imperialist Rent Been Called into Question?

Concluding Political Remarks
Notes
Index

About the Author

Samir Amin is an economist currently based in Dakar, Senegal, where he is the director of Forum du Tiers Monde (Third World Forum). Amin is also the chair of the World Forum for Alternatives. He is one of the best-known thinkers of his generation, both in development theory as well as in the relativistic–cultural critique of the social sciences. He is widely published, with titles including Spectres of Capitalism: A Critique of Current Intellectual Fashions, Beyond US Hegemony: Assessing the Prospects for a Multipolar World, A Life Looking Forward: Memoirs of an Independent Marxist and Capitalism in the Age of Globalization: The Management of Contemporary Society.