Marxian Political Economy for an Age of Postmodern Excess

Abstract

ion can be brought out. It is at this level that the the one-sidedness of capital itself comes out in terms of an analysis of the marginalized, the repressed, the silenced, and the absent. According to the third principle, I understand that historical analysis as a level of marxian political economy is only one point of view among others. It views modem history from the point of view of capitalism’s impact on it; whereas modem history could also be viewed from the point of view of women’s oppression, or from any other point of view. Both capitalism and patriarchy play very important roles in modem history, and they overlap a great deal. If capital is among other things at least de facto male, then understanding the ways that men dominate women will contribute to understanding capital. On the other hand, if capital to some extent reinforces the oppression of women, then a theory that helps to understand the nature of capitalism must contribute to the understanding of the oppression of women. The point of view of marxian political economy as conceived here is unabashedly that of capitalism. It makes no pretense of giving any sort of exhaustive account of women’s oppression. Because of its focus, it limits its concern to how the oppression of women affects capitalism and how capitalism exercises its impact on the oppression of women.