Method

1st Principle of Dialectical Determination

condition of existence: determinant calls into existence determined instance as condition of own existence (e.g., antagonistic relations between labour and capital calls into existence state labour law to regulate this antagonism)

2nd Principle of Dialectical Determination

overdetermination: the determined instance modifies the determinant instance (the determinant is overdetermined by the determined) (e.g., gender modifies capital-labour relations by allowing greater exploitation of labour where women are employed)

1. relative autonomy: determined is relatively autonomous from determinant, but latter circumscribes its degree (old & new middle classes have similiar ideologies)
2. dominance can be assigned to either determinant or determined instances, as determined by the determinant (reproduction definition = p. 21)
3. correspondence (reproduction) (e.g. captialist prod. & distribution [income] relations) or contradiction (e.g. labor aristocracy gets income higher than value of its labor power) exists between determinant and determined instances note: for the determinant to reproduce, correspondence must exist between itself and the determined.

3rd Principle of Dialectical Determination

limits of variation in overdetermination: unless certain types of contradiction exists, the determinant instance determines the degree to which it is overdetermined by the determined instance (e.g. value of labor power of labor aristocracy determine (Note: where contradictions between the determinant and determined exist, the determined instance can completely transform the determinant, as in revolutions; so the determinant does not always completely set the limits to its own overdetermination).

Four Levels of Abstraction

1. Pure capitalist economic structure

(includes economic; excludes political, ideological) (defines capitalist & working classes only) (determinant) (p. 18)

2. Capitalist socio-economic system

(combines economic with political & ideological in superstructure & class struggle) (identifies bourgeoisie, proletariat, old and new middle classes) (pp. 21-2)

3. Concrete society

(combines several historical socio-economic systems in their historical development, such as:

Private Capitalism:

1. formal subordination of labour to capital
2. real subordination of labour to capital

Monopoly Capitalism

[see Lenin quote, p. 22]

4. Conjunctural Level

(concrete society at a historically specific point in time) [summarizes all contradictions at a specific time; do political analyses at this level]( p. 23)

Charts and Diagrams

1. Pure Capitalist Economic Structure
2. Kinds of Production Relations Among Three Elements
3. Leninist Origins of Carchedi's Class Relations
4. Capitalist Mode of Production
   1. Ownership Relations (owner/non-owner)
   2. Functional Relations (non-labourer/labourer)
      • Function of Capital
      • Function of Worker
      • Three Stages of Capitalism
   3. Expropriation Relations (Producer/Non-Producer)
   4. Distribution Relations (Income)
5. Dialectical Determination Among Four Class Relations
   1. Capitalist vs Working Class
   2. Old vs New Middle Class
6. Three Types of State Activity
7. Classes in the State:
   1. ownership relation
   2. functional relation
   3. expropriation relation
   4. distribution relation
8. Differences Between State & Non--State Classes
   1. the state has no old middle class
   2. the state bourgeoisie does not legally own the means of production
   3. with the exception of household production and the informal economy, no class relations exist outside the state in which there is production neither of nor for surplus value
   4. the income of class agents in non-capitalist state activities comes from taxes, and only indirectly from surplus value (no such comparable income exists in private sector)
   5. the political is dominant in the state in ways not true in the private sector where the economic is dominant

Questions

© Copyright. All rights reserved. Carl Cuneo, Dept. of Sociology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.