(German for "New Reading of Marx") or NML is a revival and interpretation of
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
's
critique of political economy
Critique of political economy or critique of economy is a form of social critique that rejects the various social categories and structures that constitute the mainstream discourse concerning the forms and modalities of resource allocation and ...
, which originated during the mid-
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events
January
* Ja ...
s in both
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
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*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
and
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...
social democratic
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
interpretations of Marx. covers a loose group of authors mainly from the
German-speaking countries
The following is a list of the countries and territories where German is an official language (also known as the Germanosphere). It includes countries that have German as (one of) their nationwide official language(s), as well as dependent terr ...
who reject certain historizing and empiricist interpretations of Marx's analysis of economic forms, many of which are argued to spring from
Isaak Illich Rubin
Isaak Illich Rubin (russian: Исаа́к Ильи́ч Ру́бин; 12 June 1886, in Dvinsk, Russian Empire (now Latvia) – 27 November 1937, in Aktyubinsk, Kazakh SSR) was a Soviet Marxian economist. His main work '' Essays on Marx's Theory o ...
, as well as the critical theory of
Theodor Adorno
Theodor is a masculine given name. It is a German form of Theodore. It is also a variant of Teodor.
List of people with the given name Theodor
* Theodor Adorno, (1903–1969), German philosopher
* Theodor Aman, Romanian painter
* Theodor Blue ...
Hans-Georg Backhaus
Hans-Georg Backhaus (born 1929) is a German Marxian economist and philosopher. He is considered one of the most important theorists on the field of Marx's theory of value. He began a long-term cooperation with Helmut Reichelt already from his ...
in the seventies and eighties, and the writings of Michael Heinrich in the nineties, produced at the turn of the millennium a partly academic, partly off-academic debate concerning the question of value. These authors depart in a number of respects from the traditional reading of Marx related to the
workers' movement
The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other.
* The trade union movement ...
, the
bourgeois state
The capitalist state is the state, its functions and the form of organization it takes within capitalist socioeconomic systems.Jessop, Bob (January 1977). "Recent Theories of the Capitalist State". ''Soviet Studies''. 1: 4. pp. 353–373. This ...
and
state socialism
State socialism is a political and economic ideology within the socialist movement that advocates state ownership of the means of production. This is intended either as a temporary measure, or as a characteristic of socialism in the transition ...
.
The rejects
*premonetary theories of value, according to which already the single concrete work creates value, and the essence of value is a direct outcome of the invested time of labour. NML instead emphasizes the social character of work creating value.
*conceptions of the state as a manipulative instrument of a ruling class. Instead, the ''Staatsableitungsdebatte'' ( state derivation debate) has an understanding of the state as a structurally necessary, but relatively separated part of capitalism.
*
theories of history
A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may b ...
which lead to the anticipation of a revolution to be accomplished by the proletariat. In opposition to this idea, capital is considered as an "automatic subject", which exists in a sham as well in a real form.
Thus, the authors of the contrast themselves to the academically dominant neo-classic economy and maintain the relevance of the approach of Marx. In particular, they insist that the micro-economic approaches of the neoclassic theory of economy can't explain the constitution, maintenance and dynamics of the economic value-relations, and can only exhibit insufficient theoretical means when it comes to macro-economic constructs such as e.g. the
gross national income
The gross national income (GNI), previously known as gross national product (GNP), is the total domestic and foreign output claimed by residents of a country, consisting of gross domestic product (GDP), plus factor incomes earned by foreign ...
.
They claim that Marx, although unable to answer these questions, nevertheless provides a higher degree of reflection and awareness of the problems, which has to be recovered in a critical manner for the contemporary discussion.
Universität Frankfurt am Main
Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...
, 1968, p. 265; fourth revised edition, with a preface by
Iring Fetscher
Iring Fetscher (1922–2014) was a German political scientist and researcher on Hegel and Marxism.
Fetscher was born on 4 March 1922 at Marbach am Neckar, and was brought up in Dresden. After the Second World War he studied at Tübingen and ...
Critique of political economy
Critique of political economy or critique of economy is a form of social critique that rejects the various social categories and structures that constitute the mainstream discourse concerning the forms and modalities of resource allocation and ...
*
Monetary theory of value
A theory of value is any economic theory that attempts to explain the exchange value or price of goods and services. Key questions in economic theory include why goods and services are priced as they are, how the value of goods and services comes ...
*
Neo-Marxism
Neo-Marxism is a Marxism, Marxist school of thought encompassing 20th-century approaches that amend or extend Marxism and Marxist philosophy, Marxist theory, typically by incorporating elements from other intellectual traditions such as critical t ...
*
Western Marxism
Western Marxism is a current of Marxist theory that arose from Western and Central Europe in the aftermath of the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the ascent of Leninism. The term denotes a loose collection of theorists who advanced an i ...
Further reading
English
*Jacques Bidet: New Interpretations of ''Capital'', in : Jacques Bides, Stathis Kouvelakis: ''Critical Companion to Contemporary Marxism'', BRILL 2008, , (''Historical materialism book series'' 16), pp. 369–384
* Ingo Elbe ''Between Marx, Marxism and Marxisms. Ways of Reading Marx's Theory'' * Sotiropoulos, Dimitris P., Milios J. ''Political economy of contemporary capitalism and its crisis: demystifying finance''. Routledge, 2015.
* Heinrich, Michael, and Alexander Locascio. ''An Introduction to the Three Volumes of Karl Marx's Capital''. Monthly Review P, 2012.
German
*Ingo Elbe: ''Marx im Westen. Die neue Marx-Lektüre in der Bundesrepublik seit 1965'', Berlin 2008,
sample table of contents and introduction (33 pages pdf)
*Hendrik Wallat: ', review of ''Marx im Westen'' (10 pages pdf)
*Michael Heinrich: ''Wie das Marxsche Kapital lesen?'', Schmetterling Verlag, 1st edition 2008
*Michael Heinrich: "Die Wissenschaft vom Wert: Die Marxsche Kritik der politischen Ökonomie zwischen wissenschaftlicher Revolution und klassischer Tradition"
*Michael Heinrich:''Kritik der politischen Ökonomie - Eine Einführung'', Schmetterling Verlag, 3rd edition 2005
* Hanno Pahl: Das Geld in der modernen Wirtschaft. Marx und Luhmann im Vergleich, Frankfurt 2008,
* Jan Hoff, Alexis Petrioli, Ingo Stützle,
Frieder Otto Wolf Frieder is both a surname and a masculine given name, a variant of Friedrich. People with the name include:
Surname:
*Armin Frieder (1911–1946), Slovak Neolog rabbi
*Bill Frieder (1942), former basketball coach
*Katalin Frieder (1915–1991), Hu ...
(Hrsg.): ''Das Kapital neu lesen. Beiträge zur radikalen Philosophie'', Westfälisches Dampfboot, Münster 2006, ,
* sample with table of contents, introduction and epilog (34 pages pdf)
* Wolfgang Fritz Haug ''Die »Neue Kapital-Lektüre« der monetären Werttheorie'' review of ''Das Kapital neu Lesen'' (15 pages pdf)
* Lars Meyer: ''Absoluter Wert und allgemeiner Wille. Zur Selbstbegründung dialektischer Gesellschaftstheorie'', Bielefeld 2005, .
* Joachim Hirsch:''Der Staat der Bürgerlichen Gesellschaft: Zum Staatsverständnis von Karl Marx'', Frankfurt 2008,
* Christine Kirchhoff, Hanno Pahl, Christoph Engemann, Judith Heckel, Lars Meyer (Hg.): ''Gesellschaft als Verkehrung. Perspektiven einer neuen Marx-Lektüre. Festschrift für Helmut Reichelt'', Freiburg 2004, .
* Jan Hoff: ''Kritik der klassischen politischen Ökonomie. Zur Rezeption der werttheoretischen Ansätze ökonomischer Klassiker durch Karl Marx'', Cologne 2004, .
* Dieter Wolf Kritische Theorie und Kritik der politischen Ökonomie. Eine kritische Auseinandersetzung mit Schriften von Hans-Georg Backhaus und Helmut Reichelt. In: Dieter Wolf, Heinz Paragenings: ''Zur Konfusion des Wertbegriffs. Beiträge zur „Kapital“-Diskussion'', Argument Verlag, Hamburg 2004, (Berliner Verein zur Förderung der MEGA-Edition e.V., Wissenschaftliche Mitteilungen Heft 3)
* Dieter Wolf Zur Methode in Marx’ „Kapital“ unter besonderer Berücksichtigung ihres logisch-systematischen Charakters. Zum Methodenstreit zwischen Wolfgang Fritz Haug und Michael Heinrich. In: Ingo Elbe, Tobias Reichardt, Dieter Wolf: Gesellschaftliche Praxis und ihre wissenschaftliche Darstellung. Beiträge zur Kapital-Diskussion. Wissenschaftliche Mitteilungen. Heft 6. Argument Verlag, Hamburg, 2008. Hrsg.: Carl-Erich Vollgraf, Richard Sperl & Rolf Hecker.