Value Theory in an Incomplete Capitalist System

Abstract

The centrality of social labor to Marxist epistemology and the need to understand relations between capitalist production, strictly defined, and incompletely marketized forms of work require a relatively broad concept of value. Not simply a theory of price, the utility of the concept of value lies precisely in its ability to mediate between understanding the abstract truths of labor’s centrality to social life and the complex concreteness of the real world economy. The logical necessity and practical utility of the proposed interpretation is illustrated in relation to state and domestic labor. JEL classification: B51, B54, J01