Explaining Capitalism

The Method of Marx's Political Economy

Bibliographic Data

ID6344229
AuthorsWilliam James Booth (McGill University, corresponding author)
Year1989
Volume37
Issue4
Pages612-625
Publication date1989-12-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0032-3217 • E-ISSN: 1467-9248
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-9248.1989.tb00292.x
OpenAlexW2079384496
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited3

The central thesis of this article is that Marx's explanation of the significant phenomena of the capitalist economy draws upon a basic theoretical syntax of a determinist/latent functionalist type. This conclusion has three consequences. First, it extends the range of functionalist explanation in Marx beyond its traditional loci, namely the theory of history and the analysis of the role of the state and other institutions in stabilizing capitalism, into the very heart of Marx's project, his political economy. Secondly, it has a powerful, though indirect, impact on our understanding of what might loosely be called the normative component of Marx's writings in as much as it identifies a specific sort of unfreedom peculiar to capitalist society. Thirdly, it shows just how great a challenge is mounted against Marx's project by those who seek to recast its method of explanation along methodological individualist lines. For if the first two points are accurate, rational-choice Marxists are drawn into a critique of both the explanatory and normative core of Marxism

Capitalism · Determinism · Dialectic · Economics · Epistemology · Individualism · Market economy · Methodological individualism · Neoclassical economics · Normative · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Social science · Sociology · Economic Theory and Institutions · Economic Theory and Policy · Law · Philosophy · Political Economy and Marxism

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