The Constitution of Non-Monetary Surplus Values 1

Abstract

The critique of capitalist society then, is no longer solely directed at surplus value compulsion within the economy. In politics, non-monetary surplus value means that each policy-decision needs to generate simultaneously a surplus of political power for future use. It is by no means immediately obvious that communication media, in particular, should be the exclusive target for the ubiquitous surplus pressures, which are felt within various function systems. In a first approximation, communication media are nothing but a special language for different problem areas and for different professions, for lawyers, doctors, managers, technicians, scientists. The general term “medium” is shorthand for circular processes taking place between three components, the medial substrate, the medial form, and the medial competence of each social position. Excessive juridification of society results in new injustices because law seeks to extract its normative surplus from conflicts in various social systems.