Critique of competitive freedom and the bourgeois-democratic state
Subtitle: outline of a form-analytic extension of Marx's uncompleted system
By: Michael Eldred ; with an appendix by Michael Eldred ... [et al.].
Publisher: Kurasje
Published: 1984
Place of publication: København
Language: eng
Number of pages: 516
Subjects: Marx, Karl, -- 1818-1883.; Marxian economics.; Capital.
First sentence: Why Marx?  Why philosophy at all?  The same ground which has prevented philosophy from withering away has also kept the first scientific socialist alive.  Philosophy lives on, decrepit, in the learned institutions.  It occupies itself with the past and with epistemology, in which contents come forward, mishandled, as case studies.  Here and there it is able to maintain a flicker of vitality in those questions which gave it birth: "teachings about correct living" (Adorno 1951 p.7). For those who have not swum with the tide of the dissolution of philosophy in the empirical social sciences, philosophy has maintained a fascination, even in connection with the attempt to come to grips with our contemporary life (and not as mere escape from life).
Description: Table of Contents 1984 edition 

PREFACE 

Preliminaries  
I The Marxian System Fragment, its Reconstruction and Extension v 
II General Methodological Remarks xiv 
III Value-form Analytic Reconstruction of the Capital-Analysis xxiii 
IV The Analysis of Competitive Freedom xxxv 
V The Analysis of the Bourgeois-Democratic State xlii
PART 1 INTRODUCTION 

THE ANALYSIS OF THE REVENUE-FORM 1

§1 Elements of Labour and Loan Relations in the Capitalist Labour Process 1 
Aa Marx 1 
Ab 4 
§2 The Wage-Relation 4 
Aa 4 
Ab 5 
Ac 5 
Ad 5 
§3 The Leasing of Land 5 
Aa 5 
Ab Marx 5 
§4 Money-Capital and Means of Labour 7 
A Marx 8 
§5 The Entrepreneur's Temporary Possession of Revenue-Sources 9 
A Marx 9 
§6 Profit of Enterprise  11 
A 11 
§7 Incomes and the Troika Formula 11 
Aa 11 
Ab Marx 12 
§8 Mystifying Facticity of the Revenue-Form 16 
A Marx 16 
§9 The Four Classes  17 
Aa Marx 18 
Ab 19
PART II 

THE FORMS OF COMPETITION 22

§10 The Analysis of the Circulation Process of Capital (Summary) 22 
A 23 
§11 The Entrepreneur as Individual Subject.  The Realisation of  
the Entrepreneurial Will in the Firm. The Four Income-Sources 23 
A Marx 24 
§12 Entrepreneurial Freedom 26 
A 27 
§13 The Subjects of Competition 29 
A 30 
§14 The Income-Sources as Property. Competitive Freedom and Abstract Will 30 
Aa Hegel 32 
Ab 33 
Ac 34 
Ad 38 
§15 Income as Property 39 
A Marx 39 
§16 Property in Commodities. Transfer of Ownership 42 
A 42 
§17 Ownership of the Firm's Assets 43 
Aa Marx 45 
Ab 45 
§18 The Sale of Land as Change of Ownership 49 
A Hegel and Marx 50 
§19 Non-Alienability of the Labourer 54 
Aa 55 
Ab  Hegel and Marx 55 
§20 The Firm as Fictitious Capital. Goodwill 56 
§21 The Right of' Property as Freedom 58 
§22 Contract  59 
Aa 59 
Ab 60 
§23 Free Subjective Action and Compulsion of Competition 61 
A 61 
§24 Abstract Equality and Conflict of Property-Owners 61 
Aa 62 
Ab Hegel 66 
§25 The Property-Form as Social Framework of Competition 66 
A Hegel and Marx 67
PART III

THE COMPETITIVE STRUGGLE 72

a) Competition between Firms 72

§26 The Entrepreneur as Organiser of the Firm 72 
§27 Wages of Enterprise. Maximisation of Gross Valorization 72 
A Marx 74 
§28 Lowering Unit-Cost by Increasing Effectivity 75 
A 76 
§29 Decreasing Turnover Time. Advertising and Market Share 77 
A 79 
§30 Entrepreneurial Choice of Branch 80 
§31 Fixed Capital as Resistance to Change of Branch. 
Tendency towards Equalisation of the Profit-Rate 81 
A Marx 82 
§32 Entry to a Branch 89 
§33 Monopoly, Oligopoly and Collusion 90 
Aa 90 
Ab 91 
§34 Buying, Selling and Loan Prices 95 
A 95 
§35 Merger and Takeover.  The Collective Entrepreneur 96 
A 98
b) The Competition between Entrepreneurs and Money-Capitalists 98

§36 Accumulation and Concentration of Capital. The Share 
Company and the Shareholder. Dividends, Share, Loan Capital 98 
A Marx 100 
§37 The Share Company as Collective Will of the Shareholders 101 
Aa Marx 102 
Ab 109 
§38.Shareholders' Meeting, Directors, Directors' Fees 116 
§39 The Interest-Rate on Loan Capital 117 
A Marx 118 
§40 The Loan Period  119 
§41 Bankruptcy and the Risk Premium 120 
A Marx 121 
§42 The Company's Employment of Loan Capital 121 
§43 Interlocking Directorships and Finance Capital 122 
Aa 123 
Ab 123
c) The Struggle over Privatised Nature between the Companies and the Landowners 124

§44 Ground-Rent as 'Extraprofit' 124 
A Marx 125 
§45 Monopoly Rent and Absolute Rent 126 
Aa Marx 129 
Ab 130 
§46 Basic Rent and Differential Rents I and II 131 
A Marx 133 
§47 Fixed Capital Investments on the Land:  
Advantage to the Landowner 134 
A Marx 136 
§48 Fixed Capital Investments on the Land:  
Advantage to the Company 137 
A Marx 137 
§49 Resolution of the Strife over Fixed Capital Investments 138 
§50 Land Speculation 140 
A 140 
§51 Destruction of Nature 141 
Aa Marx 143 
Ab Marx 143 
§52 The Landowner's Freedom with a Piece of Nature 145
d) The Struggle between the Companies and the Labourers 145

§53 Company Hierarchy and Managers 145 
Aa 148 
Ab Marx 149 
Ac 151 
§54 Alienated Activity. Supervision and Power Structure 153 
A Marx 154 
§55 Control of the Labourers through Machinery and Management Science 156 
Aa Marx 156 
Ab 157 
§56 The Wage-Form  159 
A Marx 161 
§57 Wage Differentials 163 
A Marx 164 
§58 Conditions of Labour 164 
§59 The Trade Union  165 
Aa 167 
Ab 167 
§60 Workers' Participation. The Co-operative 168 
A Marx 171
e) The Person  172

§61 Over-exploitation of the Labourers. Negative Right to  
Existence 172 
Aa Hegel and Marx 174 
Ab 177 
§62 The Negative Right to Existence and Capital 178 
A 179 
§63 Equal Exploitation of the Labourers 180 
A Marx 181 
§64 The Person as Culmination of Competitive Freedom.  
(Self-)Consciousness of the Isolated Individual 181 
Aa Hegel 184 
Ab 185 
Ac 185
f) Contradictions in the Reproduction of the Free Competitive Economy 186

§65 The Free Competitive Economy. Material Reproduction without  
a Conscious Social Subject: Disproportionalities 186 
A Marx 189 
§66 Absolute Overaccumulation 190 
Aa Marx 191 
Ab 195 
§67 Relative Overaccumulation 197 
Aa Marx 198 
Ab 200 
§68 Destruction of Capital 202 
A 203 
§69 Increase In the Organic Composition of Capital 203 
Aa Marx 205 
Ab 207 
§70 Unemployment. The Economic Cycle 217 
Aa Marx 219 
Ab 220
PART IV

THE DOUBLING OF COMPETITIVE SOCIETY INTO CIVIL SOCIETY AND STATE 222

§71 Competitive Society 222 
§72 The Will to be Acknowledged as Person 222 
A Hegel 224 
§73 Wrong  225 
Aa Hegel 226 
Ab 227 
§74 The First Determination of the (Outer) State 228 
Aa 229 
Ab 231 
Ac 241 
Ad 244 
Ae 246 
§75 Law  252 
Aa Marx 253 
Ab Hegel 254 
Ac 255 
Ad 256 
§76 The Doubling of Competitive Society into Civil Society and State 258 
Aa 259 
Ab 260 
§77 State as Repressive Apparatus based on Rule of Law 263 
Aa 265 
Ab 266 
Ac 267 
§78 The Rule of Law,and the Process of Valorization 268 
A Hegel 268 
§79 The Successful and the Unsuccessful 270 
A 271 
§80 Income as Universal Means of Existence, The Consumer 271 
§81 The Positive Right to Existence 273 
A 274 
§82 The Welfare State 275 
Aa 276 
Ab Hegel 277 
Ac 279 
§83 Taxation and the Autonomous Material Existence of the State 279 
A 280 
§84 State Economic Policy.  The Positing of Universal Well-Being 281 
Aa 283 
Ab 284 
§85 State Monetary Policy 285 
Aa 287 
Ab 288 
§86 State Subsidies and State Enterprises 288 
A 289 
§87 State as Promoter of Capital Accumulation 290 
A 292 
§88 State as Promoter of Science and Education 292 
A 293 
§89 State Intervention in Industrial Strife 294 
§90 State Sovereignty, National Interest, Foreign Politics 296 
Aa 298 
Ab Hegel 298 
Ac 299 
§91 International Competition and Foreign Investment 301 
A 302 
§92 Imperialism: First World and Third World 304 
A 308 
§93 International Competition and Ecological Destruction 308 
A 309 
§94 Execution of the Universal Will of State: The Bureaucracy 310 
§95 Corruption of State Officials 311 
§96 Assured Income and Career Path of State Officials 311 
§97 Recapitulation: The State's Attempt to Reconcile Universality with Particularity 312 
§98 The Doubled Doubling: Private Universality 313 
§99.Subjugation of Civil Society and Private Life to the State 314 
§100 Pressure of Coalitions on the Outer State 315 
§101 The Gulf between State and Society 316 
§102 Bridging the Gulf: the Inner or Bourgeois-Democratic State 317 
Aa 317 
Ab Hegel 318 
Ac 318 
§103 State Will as Will of the People. The Citizen 319 
§104 Election of Members of Civil Society to the Universal 320 
A 321 
§105 Parliament: The Legislative Arm of the State 322 
A 324 
§106 Public Discussion and Parliamentary Proceedings 324 
A 324 
§107 Government and Ministers. Deliberation and Action 325 
A 326 
§108 Political Parties, the Opposition, Professional Politics 326 
A 328 
§109 The Compromise of Class Forces and the Government 329 
§110 Disinterest and Apathy: the Apolitical Citizen 330 
§111 Political Public Life. The Media 330 
§112 Freedom of the Press. Expression of Political Opinion 332 
§113 Competition between Political Opinions in Parliament 334 
A 335 
§114 Political Bribes and Scandals. Legitimacy Crisis 336 
§115 The Free West and the Unfree East 337 
A 339 
§116 Statesmen and the Citizen's Opinion in Foreign Politics 339 
Aa 340 
Ab 341 
§117 Protection of Civil Society from State Power 341 
A 342 
§118 Separation of Powers. Independence of Judges 343 
§119 The Constitution. The Upper and Lower House 344 
A 346 
§120 The Constitutional Court 346 
§121 Referenda. The Citizen's Affirmation of the Diremption  
of Universality from Particularity 347 
Aa 348 
Ab 349
APPENDIX 

A VALUE-FORM ANALYTIC RECONSTRUCTION OF 'CAPITAL'

Michael Eldred, Marnie Hanlon, Lucia Kleiber & Mike Roth 350

Table of Contents to Appendix 488 
NOTES  493 
NOTES TO APPENDIX 504 
ABBREVIATIONS  506 
BIBLIOGRAPHY  507 
NAME INDEX  513 
SYNOPSIS  516
6.1 Table of Contents Appendix 1984 edition 

COMMODITIES AND MONEY 351

§1 Industrial commodity products of Labour 351 
A 351 
§2 The Universal Exchange-Relation of Commodities; Bracketing  
of Money; Premonetary Commodities; Expanded Exchange Schema;  
Exchange-Values 351 
A 352 
§3 Abstract Associating of Concrete Dissociated Labours 353 
A 354 
§4 The Value Substance: Abstractly Associated Labour; Social Form 
of Labour; Universality and Particularity 355 
Aa 355 
Ab 355 
Ac 356 
§5 The Expanded Expression of Value; Relative Value-Form and  
Equivalent Form of.Value; Value as Potentiality 358 
Aa&b 359 
§6 Value as Actuality: Money; Doubling of the Premonetary  
Commodity into Price-Determinate Commodity and Money;  
Singularity; Ideal and Realised Price; Money Expression of  
Value; Commodity and Money Forms of Value 361 
A 362 
§7 Immediate Exchangeability and Means of Circulation;  
Absolute Value 362 
A 363 
§8 Magnitude of Value 367 
A 367 
§9 Determinations of Commodity-Money 369 
Aa 370 
Ab 375
 THE CAPITAL - WAGE-LABOUR RELATION 379

§10 The Commodity Producer; Production of Industrial Commodities 379 
§11 The Wage-Labourer and the Wage-Form of Value; The Capitalist;  
Loan Relation: Hiring of Labour-Power; Element of Production;  
Means of Purchase and of Payment; Labour Process; Capital- 
Relation; Capitalist and Working Class: Class Relation 379 
Aa 381 
Ab 381 
Ac 383 
Ad 383 
Ae 384 
§12  Articles of Individual Consumption 384 
Aa 384 
Ab 386 
Ac 386 
§13 Surplus-Value; Class Antagonism and the Contradiction  
between Labour and Capital 386 
Aa 387 
Ab 388 
  /489)
 CAPITALIST COMMODITY PRODUCTION 391

§14 The Surplus-Value Producing Process; Necessary-Value, -Product  
and Labour-Time; Surplus-Value,-Product and-Labour-Time., Rate  
of Surplus-Value and of Exploitation of Labour-Power 391 
A 392 
§15 Absolute and Relative Surplus-Value Production 393 
Aa 394 
Ab 395 
Ac 395 
§16 Sources of Increases in Productivity 396 
Aa 396 
Ab 396 
§17 Co-operation: Organisational Labouring Structure; Division of  
Labour., Organisational Science: the Subjective Factor in the  
Production Process 397 
Aa 398 
Ab 399 
Ac 399 
§18 Means of Production: Raw Materials and the Means of Labour;  
Machinery; Old-Value; Productive Consumption: Use-Value;  
New-Value 400 
Aa 401 
Ab 402 
Ac 403 
Ad 404 
§19 Relative and Absolute Surplus-Value Production Combined;  
Natural Science and Technology: the Objective Factor in the  
Production Process 404 
Aa 405 
Ab 405 
§20 Absolute and Relative Residual Surplus-Value Production 406 
A 406 
§21 Land and Rent; Landholder; Profit; Landholding Class 407 
Aa 407 
Ab 408 
Ac 410 
§22 Improvements to the Land Not Requiring Renewal 410 
A 411 
§23 Valorization of Advanced Capital; Rate of Profit; Costs 412 
Aa 412 
Ab 414
 THE INTEREST-FORM OF VALUE 416

§24 Loaned Money and Interest 416 
Aa 416 
Ab 417 
§25 Gross and Net Valorization; Interest Yield and Profit of  
Enterprise; Rate of Net Valorization 418 
A 418 
  /490) 
§26 Circuits of Interest-Bearing and of Functioning Capital; Fetishism 420 
Aa 421 
Ab 421 
§27 Money-Capitalists and Entrepreneurs; Money-Capitalist and  
Entrepreneurial Classes 421 
Aa 422 
Ab 423 
Ac 423 
Ad 424 
§28 Real and Fictitious Capital; Capitalisation; Rent-Bearing Capital 424 
Aa 425 
Ab 425 
Ac 425
 THE REVENUE-FORM 427

§29 Elements of the Capitalist Production Process 427 
A 427 
§30 Revenues, Revenue-Sources and the Surface of Capitalist Economy 427 
A 428 
§31 Forms of Distribution of Value; Inversion: Revenues as  
Components of Value 430 
A 430 
§32 The Troika Formula 431 
A 432 
§33 The Four Classes 437 
Aa 437 
Ab 437 
§34 Everyday Consciousness as Fetishistic Reasoning 438 
Aa 439 
Ab 439
 THE CIRCULATION PROCESS OF CAPITAL 440

§35 Production and Circulation Time; Commodity-, Money- and  
Productive Capital; Stages of the Circuit of Capital 440 
Aa 440 
Ab 441 
§36 Division of Capital; Spheres of Capital; Turnover1 441 
§37 Number of Parts of Capital 442 
A 443 
§38 Fixed Capitial; Resting and Circulating Fixed Capital; Latent  
Capital; Depreciation Fund; Circulating Capital 443 
Aa 444 
Ab 444 
§39 Original Capital(1); Additional Capital(1); Continuous and  
Discrete Products 445 
A 446 
  /491) 
§40 Labour of Circulation; Unproductive labour; Circulation Labourers 446 
A 446 
§41 Means of Circulation; Fixed and Circulatilng Circulation  
Capital., Production Capital 449 
A 450 
§42 Circulation Costs; Mystification of the Valorization Process;  
Circuit of Costs; Turnover 450 
A 451 
§43 Original Capital2 ; Additional Capital2; Functioning Capital 451 
§44 Preservation of Old-Value and Price Changes in the Means 
of Production 452 
§45 Fixed Capital Turnover and Increases in Productivity 453 
Aa 455 
Ab 455 
§46 Original and Additional Annual Capital; Annual Functioning  
Capital; Annual Profit of Enterprise; Annual Net Profit-Rate 455 
A 456 
§47 Mystification of the Capital Relation through the Multitude  
of Costs 457 
§48 Increases in the Annual Net Profit Rate; Cost Reduction and  
Acceleration of Turnover 458 
§49 Ground-Form Capital; Industrial and Commercial Capital;  
Merchant (Commodity-Dealing) and Money-Dealing Capital 458 
A 459 
§50 Three Types of Functioning Capital; Expression of Value and  
Intermediate Selling Prices 460 
A 461 
§51 The Bank; Deposits and Depositors 462 
A 463 
§52 Bank Account; Bank Balance; Giro-Money; Cheque 464 
§53 Bank-Credit; Overdraft; The Credit System 464 
A 465 
§54 Commercial Credit; Bill of Exchange; Cash and Credit Price 467 
§55 Banknote/Overdraft; Discounting of Bills 467 
§56 The Banks as Creators of Giro-Money 468
 THE REPRODUCTION PROCESS OF CAPITAL 469

§57 Reproduction of the Aggregate Social Capital 469 
A 470 
§58 Departments of Commodity Production 472 
A 472 
§59 Distinctions Among Labourers and Lahdholders; Distribution of  
the Total Commodity Product via the Mediation of Money  
A 474 
  /492) 
§60 Reproduction of lndividual Capitals 476 
A 477 
§61 Value Relations between Sectors of the Total System of Reproduction 479 
Aa 480 
Ab 480 
Ac 481 
§62 Social Reproduction of Fixed Capital 481 
A 483 
§63 Accumulation and Expanded Reproduction 484 
A 486 
§64 Reproduction of the Value-Forms, of the Capital-Relation  
and of Class Relations 486 
Aa 487 
Ab 487
Notes: "Sydney-Konstanz Project"

Includes index.

Bibliography: p. 507-512.