The Idea of Marx in Financial Times: A Dialectical Reading of Crisis and Recovery

Abstract

We introduce the ‘Idea of Marx’ to put into question events and discourses that emerged during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and examine how these coalesced into a particular economic imaginary of ‘recovery’. The ‘engine’ which will allow us to move in the ‘idea of Marx’ goes by the name of the dialectic. In developing the notion of the dialectic we rely heavily on the work of Fredric Jameson and as such this paper can be seen as an attempt to put his theoretical ideas to work. We believe that a dialectical reading of financial press coverage has the potential to challenge the economic imaginary of ‘recovery’, thus keeping the way open for the coming of something (radically) different. In order to put the dialectic into motion we offer four initial wayward theses: 1. There has been no ‘Crisis of Capitalism’ 2. We must change the valence of the GFC from negative to positive 3. The relationship between finance capitalism and ‘free markets’ is deeply problematic 4. We must resist the regulation discourse