Old wine, new bottles and the Internet

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Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Volume 8, Issue 1

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Old wine, new bottles and the Internet

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Author(s): Guglielmo Carchedi

Publication date (Print): Summer 2014

Journal: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

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Abstract

The Internet has given a new shape to modern capitalism. These new features have drawn the attention of numerous scholars and have become the focus of highly topical and controversial questions. However, as a rule, the literature has not taken as its starting point the development of a Marxist epistemology. The reason for this is the failure to derive a Marxist theory of knowledge from Marx's value theory. This is the task this article sets itself. The first section conceptualises mental versus objective labour processes and rejects the notion of the non-materiality of knowledge. The second section builds on this conceptualisation and deals with three interrelated questions, namely whether mental labour can produce value and surplus value and whether the distinctions on the one hand between productive and unproductive labour and on the other between production and consumption retain their validity in mental production. The third section explores the class nature of knowledge with particular reference to the Internet. Some final considerations follow in the last section.

Content

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): workorgalaboglob

Title: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 1745641X

ISSN (Electronic): 17456428

Publication date (Print): Summer 2014

Volume: 8

Issue: 1

Pages: 69-87

Article

Publisher ID: workorgalaboglob.8.1.0069

DOI: 10.13169/workorgalaboglob.8.1.0069

SO-VID: 0a608e62-4f76-422c-9976-53c6f7842f40

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History

ScienceOpen disciplines: Sociology,Labor law,Political science,Labor & Demographic economics,Political economics

References

Arvidsson, A. & E. Colleoni (2012) ‘Value in Informational Capitalism and on the Internet’, The Information Society , 28 (3):135–150.
Banks, John A. & Mark Deuze (2009) ‘Co-creative Labour’, International Journal of Cultural Studies , 12(5): 419–431.
Carchedi, G. (1977) On the Economic Identification of Social Classes , London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Carchedi, G. (1984) ‘The Logic of Prices As Values’, Economy and Society , 1984 13 (4):431–455.
Carchedi, G. (1989) ‘Classes and Class Analysis’, in E. O. Wright, The Debate on Classes , London: Verso.
Carchedi, G. (2001) For Another Europe. A Class Analysis of European Economic Integration , London: Verso.
Carchedi, G. (2005) ‘On the Production of Knowledge’, Research in Political Economy , 22:267–304.
Carchedi, G. (2012) Behind the Crisis , Chicago: Haymarket.
Dean, J. (2010) Blog Theory , Cambridge: Polity.
Dyer-Witheford, N. & G. de Peuter, (2009) Games of Empire , Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Denton, P.H. & S. Restivo, (2008) Battleground Science and Technology , Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
Economist (2014) ‘Coming to an office near you’, Economist , January 18, leader article, uncredited.
Henninger, M. (2007) ‘Doing the Math: Reflections on the Alleged Obsolescence of the Law of Value under Post-Fordism’, Ephemera , vol. 7(1):158–177.
Kostakis, V. (2010) ‘Identifying and Understanding the Problems of Wikipedia's Peer Governance. The Case of Inclusionists versus Deletionists, First Monday , 15 (3).
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Legault, M.-J. (2013) IT Firms' Working Time (De)regulation Model: a By-product of Risk Management Strategy and Project-based Work Management’, Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation , 7 (1):76–94.
Lovink, G. (2011) Ossessioni Collettive , Milan: Università Bocconi Editore.
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Marx, K. (1967) Capital , vol. III, New York: International Publishers.
Pfeiffer, S. (2013) ‘Web, Value and Labour’, Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation , 7 (1): 12–30.
Pitts, F. (2013) ‘A Science to it’: Flexible Time and Flexible Subjectivity in the Digital Workplace’, Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation , 7 (1):95–105.
Prahalad, C.K. & V. Ramaswamy (2000) ‘Co-opting Customer Competence’, Harvard Business Review , January.
Rey, P.J. (2012) ‘Alienation, Exploitation, and Social Media’, American Behavioral Scientist , 56 (4): 399–420.
Reveley, J. (2013) The Exploitative Web: Misuses of Marx in Critical Social Media Studies, Science & Society , 77 (4):512–535.
Riehle, D. (2007) ‘The Economic Motivation of Open Source Software: Stakeholder Perspectives’, Computer, IEEE Computer Society , 40 (4):25–32.
Ross, D (2013) ‘The Place of Free and Open Source Software in the Social Apparatus of Accumulation’, Science & Society , 77 (2):202–226.
Starosta, G. (2012) ‘Cognitive Commodities and the Value Form’, Science & Society , 76 (3):365–392.
Stalder, F. (2013) Digital Solidarity , Post-Media Lab and Mute Books, Lüneburg: Leuphana University, accessed July 3, 2014 from http://www.metamute.org/sites/www.metamute.org/files/u1/Digital-Solidarity-Felix-Stalder-9781906496920-web-fullbook.pdf.
Struik, D. (1948) ‘Marx and Mathematics’, Science & Society , 12 (1):181–196.
Terranova, T. (2000) ‘Free labor: Producing Culture for the Digital Economy, Social Text , 18 (2): 63;33–57.
West, J. & S. Gallagher (2006) ‘Challenges of Open Innovation: the Paradox of Firm Investment in Open-Source Software’, R&D Management , 36 (3).
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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Arvidsson, A. & E. Colleoni (2012) ‘Value in Informational Capitalism and on the Internet’, The Information Society , 28 (3):135–150.

[2] Banks, John A. & Mark Deuze (2009) ‘Co-creative Labour’, International Journal of Cultural Studies , 12(5): 419–431.

[3] Carchedi, G. (1977) On the Economic Identification of Social Classes , London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

[4] Carchedi, G. (1984) ‘The Logic of Prices As Values’, Economy and Society , 1984 13 (4):431–455.

[5] Carchedi, G. (1989) ‘Classes and Class Analysis’, in E. O. Wright, The Debate on Classes , London: Verso.

[6] Carchedi, G. (2001) For Another Europe. A Class Analysis of European Economic Integration , London: Verso.

[7] Carchedi, G. (2005) ‘On the Production of Knowledge’, Research in Political Economy , 22:267–304.

[8] Carchedi, G. (2012) Behind the Crisis , Chicago: Haymarket.

[9] Dean, J. (2010) Blog Theory , Cambridge: Polity.

[10] Dyer-Witheford, N. & G. de Peuter, (2009) Games of Empire , Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

[11] Denton, P.H. & S. Restivo, (2008) Battleground Science and Technology , Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.

[12] Economist (2014) ‘Coming to an office near you’, Economist , January 18, leader article, uncredited.

[13] Henninger, M. (2007) ‘Doing the Math: Reflections on the Alleged Obsolescence of the Law of Value under Post-Fordism’, Ephemera , vol. 7(1):158–177.

[14] Kostakis, V. (2010) ‘Identifying and Understanding the Problems of Wikipedia's Peer Governance. The Case of Inclusionists versus Deletionists, First Monday , 15 (3).

[15] Kostakis, V. (2012) ‘The Political Economy of Information Production in the Social Web: Chances for Reflection on our Institutional Design’ Contemporary Social Science , 7 (3):1–15. Accessed July 3, 2014, from http://p2plab.gr/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/CSS_Kostakis.pdf.

[16] Küklich, J. (2005). ‘Precarious Playbour: Modders and the Digital Games Industry’, The Fibreculture Journal , 5.

[17] Lakhani, K.R. & R.G. Wolf (2005) ‘Why Hackers Do What They Do: Understanding Motivation and Effort in Free/Open Source Software Projects’, in J. Feller et al., (eds) Perspectives on Free and Open Source Software , Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

[18] Legault, M.-J. (2013) IT Firms' Working Time (De)regulation Model: a By-product of Risk Management Strategy and Project-based Work Management’, Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation , 7 (1):76–94.

[19] Lovink, G. (2011) Ossessioni Collettive , Milan: Università Bocconi Editore.

[20] Marvit, M.Z. (2014) ‘How Crowdworkers Became the Ghosts in the Digital Machine’, The Nation , February 4.

[21] Marx, K. (1967) Capital , vol. III, New York: International Publishers.

[22] Pfeiffer, S. (2013) ‘Web, Value and Labour’, Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation , 7 (1): 12–30.

[23] Pitts, F. (2013) ‘A Science to it’: Flexible Time and Flexible Subjectivity in the Digital Workplace’, Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation , 7 (1):95–105.

[24] Prahalad, C.K. & V. Ramaswamy (2000) ‘Co-opting Customer Competence’, Harvard Business Review , January.

[25] Rey, P.J. (2012) ‘Alienation, Exploitation, and Social Media’, American Behavioral Scientist , 56 (4): 399–420.

[26] Reveley, J. (2013) The Exploitative Web: Misuses of Marx in Critical Social Media Studies, Science & Society , 77 (4):512–535.

[27] Riehle, D. (2007) ‘The Economic Motivation of Open Source Software: Stakeholder Perspectives’, Computer, IEEE Computer Society , 40 (4):25–32.

[28] Ross, D (2013) ‘The Place of Free and Open Source Software in the Social Apparatus of Accumulation’, Science & Society , 77 (2):202–226.

[29] Starosta, G. (2012) ‘Cognitive Commodities and the Value Form’, Science & Society , 76 (3):365–392.

[30] Stalder, F. (2013) Digital Solidarity , Post-Media Lab and Mute Books, Lüneburg: Leuphana University, accessed July 3, 2014 from http://www.metamute.org/sites/www.metamute.org/files/u1/Digital-Solidarity-Felix-Stalder-9781906496920-web-fullbook.pdf.

[31] Struik, D. (1948) ‘Marx and Mathematics’, Science & Society , 12 (1):181–196.

[32] Terranova, T. (2000) ‘Free labor: Producing Culture for the Digital Economy, Social Text , 18 (2): 63;33–57.

[33] West, J. & S. Gallagher (2006) ‘Challenges of Open Innovation: the Paradox of Firm Investment in Open-Source Software’, R&D Management , 36 (3).

[34] Wichita State University, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Accessed July 3, 2014 from http://www.math.wichita.edu/history/topics/num-sys.html#mmmmm.

[35] Wright, Erik Olin (ed.) (1989) The Debate on Classes , London: Verso.