Marxist Political Economy Research Articles

On the Theoretical Features of the Political Economy of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and the New Issues

Marxist political economy possesses a unique theoretical quality, and provides deep insights into the laws of social development and the progress of human society. The political economy of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the product of combining the fundamentals of Marxist political economy with the practice of the economic construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics; it also plays an important role in guiding China as it records economic achievements that are attracting worldwide attention. Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, in which the political economy of socialism with Chinese characteristics is being called upon to deal with a series of new issues as well as to make new contributions to promoting the construction of socialist modernization and the cause of reform and opening-up.

Reconstructing the Interpretation Framework of Marxist Political Economy on Modern Market Economy

Marxist political economy is still an important theoretical basis for analyzing the development law of modern socialist market economy. The basic production methods and distribution methods of the modern socialist market economy, as well as the main characteristics of property in the modern socialist market economy, can basically be explained by the basic concepts and principles of Marxist political economy in accordance with logical laws and historical experience. Based on the Marxist labor value theory, it absorbs the scientific connotation of the Marxist supply and demand value theory, and can reasonably explain various value concepts and price phenomena in the modern market. This paper attempts to reconstruct the interpretation framework of Marxist labor political economy theory on modern market value through research, and analyzes the historical development conditions of Marxist labor attention value political economy theory and the mathematical model of classic labor value theory. Qualitative analysis method and systematic scientific method are used to study and analyze the development of my country's market economy. The results show that since 2012, the scale of state-owned and state-controlled industrial enterprises has increased year by year. However, due to the gradual improvement of China's economic system, while developing the state-owned economy, vigorously supporting and guiding the collective and non-public economy, etc., the proportion has steadily continued to decline.

Socialist Political Economy With Chinese Characteristics And Research On The Chinese And Foreign Economies

In 2021, responding to changes in the world political and economic situation and basing itself on Marxist political economy, the New Marxian Economics Synthesis School led by Professor Enfu Cheng carried forward its traditions and forged ahead into the future. The school conducted active, in-depth research on how to uphold the integrity of socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics and enrich it with new elements, putting forward a series of theoretical innovations in areas that include the ten essentials of socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics, its sources of innovation and logical starting point, the orientation of its practice, and so forth. Based on these theoretical innovations, many of the scholars who make up the school engaged in lively discussion on a range of focal issues of today’s Chinese economy, including common prosperity, the new “dual circulation” development pattern, artificial intelligence and the digital economy, the modernization of national governance and so on. In addition, they made searching criticisms of the financialization of the contemporary capitalist economy and of the new developments seen in liberalism and hegemonism since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. In sum, they recorded a long series of fruitful theoretical achievements.

Rethinking Economic Analysis: The Perspective of Political Economy

Organized around the theme “Rethinking Economic Analysis: The Perspective of Political Economy,” the 15th Forum of the World Association for Political Economy was hosted by the World Association for Political Economy and the Shanghai International Studies University on December 18 and 19, 2021. Nearly 300 scholars from more than 40 countries discussed in depth the topics of Marxist and capitalist economics; the crisis and criticism of capitalism; envisioning socialism; socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era; agricultural problems; ecological problems and new economic forms from the perspective of political economy; the plight of developing countries and how to solve it; political and economic considerations related to COVID-19; multipolarization, and geopolitical economy. The scholars attending the forum put forward many scientific theories and policy suggestions, which strengthened the position of Marxist political economy and provided an important ideological weapon helping working people all over the world to unite against the irrational capitalist system and the hegemonic acts of the new imperialism, while promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind and the creation of a new form of human civilization.

MANAGING ECONOMIC SECURITY OF AN INTERNATIONAL VENTURE: A PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

This article seeks to provide argument that effective performance in modern realia of business and management is impossible without understanding the socio-psychological processes that accompany entrepreneurial endeavours. Further development of market competition in the national economy, its inclusion in the system of global economic relationships, aggravation of internal barriers to successful implementation of economic reforms significantly raise the issue of exploring a psychological aspect of economic security of businesses, and in international ventures, in particular. An emphasis is put that the roots of genesis and evolution of economic psychology refer to radical changes, especially changes occurred in the economic paradigm and attitudes towards ownership for the means of production in the first place, as well as the emergence of new economic actors. Apart from that, pressing globalization trends, changes in political and economic patterns, as well as rapid technological advances in society have greatly affected socio-cultural values of the population. However, even the very speed and extent of global change faced by modern society depends on psychological characteristics inherent in different social groups. Different psychological patterns and perspectives that drive the development of business environment world-wide have created a new background for shaping and launching new economic security strategies for international business entities and ventures. The findings have verified that business economic security directly relates to management's understanding of the needs and the specifics of business structure and their alignment with the personal goals of the leader. Moreover, business operation of economic entities, both in the external and internal environment, encourages them to search for the new pathways and raise awareness of the need for effective interaction between the internal corporate culture and its organizational structure, ensuring and managing economic security and values of international markets. To attain the above objectives, a thorough research on the international business environment is of critical significance. It is argued that deep insights into psychological factors driving drastic change in the politicians’ perceptions of the need to make a shift from a planned socialist paradigm to a market economy, exploring the psychology of transformation of the theoretical concepts from Marxist political economy to Western market theories will facilitate better understanding of the nature of economic security of international ventures.

Work, employment and the material conditions of young people in developed economies: a Marxist political economy of youth perspective

ABSTRACT This article proposes a Marxist political economy (MPE) of youth to explain the material conditions of young people in developed economies. Central concepts of capitalist accumulation, labour-power and value are utilised to historicise and situate young people in relation to wage labour under capitalism. The article conceptualises how contradictory processes of capitalist accumulation impact young people through an analysis of the actions of private capital, labour and the state. The theoretical approach is supported with UK data which illustrates how young people have experienced challenges in education, labour market transitions, and work and employment conditions. The article reveals how a combination of structural economic change, state regulation and low-road employer business strategies which generate poor quality work have all contributed to the decline in the value of youth labour-power in the UK. The article also provides methodological insights for using the MPE approach in future youth studies research.

The Rise and Decline of Polish Revisionist Marxist Economics: The Fates of Włodzimierz Brus and the Faculty of Political Economy (University of Warsaw), 1953–1968

The paper deals with the history of Polish revisionist Marxist political economy, which flourished between 1956 and 1968, mostly in the academic institutions of Warsaw. The fate of Polish revisionism in Marxist economics is presented in parallel to the intellectual biography of Włodzimierz Brus (one of its leaders) and the fate of the Faculty of Political Economy ( Wydział Ekonomii Politycznej [WEP]), which he co-established at the University of Warsaw. The authors compare contemporary documents and existing analyses of the period with memories of Brus’s colleagues and students, collected decades after the events. The authors show that both the relative freedom of expression and academic research and the process of gradual closing of these possibilities were related to the changing balance of power within Party elites.

Production structure, income distribution and macroeconomic efficiency: an analysis framework and empirical study of the Marxist political economy

PurposeIn the current literature, there is little systematic research on the relationship among adjustment of the income distribution, change in economic structure and improvement of macroeconomic efficiency.Design/methodology/approachThis paper expands Marx's reproduction schema into the “Marx–Sraffa” three-department structure table comprising fixed capital, general means of production and means of consumption and employs China's input–output table from 1987 to 2015 to portray the relationship between income distribution and macroeconomic efficiency under investment-driven growth.FindingsThis paper calculates the wage–profit curve of China's economy and evaluates the space of macroeconomic efficiency improvement in China based on the deviation between actual and potential income distribution structure.Originality/valueThe results show that there is a downward trend of the profit rate, which meets Marx's theoretical prediction, and the decline in the profit rate is mainly attributed to an increase in the organic composition of capital arising from the rapid growth of fixed capital investment under extended growth. The analysis of macroeconomic efficiency shows that the space for improving macroeconomic efficiency is extremely limited under traditional growth pattern and that China must transform its economic development pattern and foster new economic growth drivers.

A study on the writing method of the history of socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics

PurposeExpanding the research on traditional history of economic ideology into the research on the history of economics composed of three elements – history of ideology, history of policies and events – is a new idea for researching the history of socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics. The start of the history of socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics is consistent with that of the Sinicization of Marxist political economy and can be dated from at least 1917.Design/methodology/approachThe key point of the research on the history of ideologies of the socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics is to treat the relationship between theory and people properly, i.e. we should not neglect the effect brought out by the economists on theory construction while we attach importance to the theoretical contribution of the leaders and leading group of the Communist Party of China (CPC).FindingsFor the research on the history of economic policies of socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics, on the one hand, we should clarify the relationship among ideologies, strategies and policies; on the other hand, we should not evade the summarization of lessons from history.Originality/valueBesides presenting the development route of socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics under competition, the research on the events in the history of socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics should also help develop the socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics.

Critical examination and source-tracing in China of economic thought of Francois Quesnay from the perspective of the construction of socialist political economics with Chinese characteristics

PurposeFrancois Quesnay, known as the “Confucius of Europe”, was profoundly influenced by traditional Chinese culture to form his thoughts, which contained strong Chinese characteristics. This paper aims to examine economic thought of Francois Quesnay from the perspective of the construction of socialist political economics with Chinese characteristics.Design/methodology/approachMoreover, his thoughts also profoundly influenced subsequent economists, such as Adam Smith and Karl Marx. It can be said that Francois Quesnay was at the intersection of Chinese, Western and Marxist thought systems, so it is quite important to examine his thoughts critically and conduct source-tracing in China.FindingsHence, in the process of constructing and developing socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics, there is an urgent need to focus on exploring the value of excellent traditional Chinese culture at the theoretical level and combining the development and dissemination of the history of thoughts and the historical position of Chinese reality to realize the innovation and development of socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics.Originality/valueMeanwhile, while absorbing nutrition from excellent traditional Chinese culture, it is necessary to establish scientific coordinates rather than use the discourse systems and paradigms of Western economics to interpret ancient Chinese economic thoughts. It is necessary to adhere to, inherit and develop Marxist political economy and absorb nutrition from Chinese excellent traditional culture to construct socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics.

Population and capital flows in metropolitan Beijing, China: Empirical evidence from the past 30 years

This study is an empirical demonstration of David Harvey's critical analysis of the urban process based on the Marxist political economy in the context of Beijing, the capital of China. Using data from the Beijing Municipal Statistical Bureau (1978-2019) and the geographic information software package ArcGIS, we show that migrant workers in Beijing moved to the inner city during the 1990s, and since 2000, the population, while expanding, has been moving outward towards suburban areas. Furthermore, we find that during most of the studied period, the movement of the population, especially of migrant workers, was mainly driven by capital flows, while since 2015, such movement has increasingly been determined by population control policies enforced by local authorities. Finally, targeted measures are suggested for the government to safeguard the rights of migrants against the impact of capital under China's political system.

Revisiting the ‘Darwin–Marx correspondence’: Multiple discovery and the rhetoric of priority

Between the 1930s and the mid 1970s, it was commonly believed that in 1880 Karl Marx had proposed to dedicate to Charles Darwin a volume or translation of Capital but that Darwin had refused. The detail was often interpreted by scholars as having larger significance for the question of the relationship between Darwinian evolutionary biology and Marxist political economy. In 1973–4, two scholars working independently—Lewis Feuer, professor of sociology at Toronto, and Margaret Fay, a graduate student at Berkeley—determined simultaneously that the traditional story of the proposed dedication was untrue, being based on a long-standing misinterpretation of the relevant correspondence. Between the two, and among several other scholars who became their respective allies, there developed a contest of authority and priority over the discovery. From 1975 to 1982, the controversy generated a considerable volume of spilled ink in both scholarly and popular publications. Drawing on previously unexamined archival resources, this article revisits the ‘case’ of the so-called ‘Darwin–Marx correspondence’ as an instance of the phenomenon of ‘multiple discovery’. A familiar occurrence in the natural sciences, multiple discovery is rarer in the humanities and social sciences. The present case of a priority dispute in the history of ideas followed patterns familiar from such disputes in the natural sciences, while also diverging from them in ways that shed light on the significance of disciplinary norms and research infrastructures.

‘The power to burnish and renew’: porno-accumulation, fascism, and surplus populations in Don DeLillo’s Running Dog

ABSTRACT Don DeLillo’s conspiracy novels Players, Running Dog, and The Names respond to, and imaginatively frame, what Giovanni Arrighi calls the ‘signal crisis’ of US hegemony. Despite mapping the spatio-temporal unfolding of US capital as it financialises accumulation, commodifies visual attention, and imposes neo-colonial economic reforms on ‘underdeveloped’ nations, Marxist critics have dismissed DeLillo’s pastiche thrillers as politically disappointing texts ‘constrained’ by an inability to supply alternative models of reality. In contrast, this article argues that DeLillo’s so-called formal defeats register a ‘discord’ between history and its conceptualisation, an enigma related to their discovery of ‘edge zones of modernity’. Drawing on ideas of historical lateness, the article re-situates DeLillo’s poetics through the optics of uneven and combined development, reflecting on the significance of surplus populations – both for DeLillo’s off-kilter conspiracies but also contemporary Marxist political economy. The article offers a close reading of Running Dog, a porno-political caper in which non-synchronicity manifests itself through the appearance of an object, perhaps the object: an adult film starring Hitler. Running Dog juxtaposes commodity frontiers based on violent appropriation with frontiers of immiseration where labour-power has been exiled from social reproduction altogether. In doing so, DeLillo refunctions romance into a genre of secular stagnation.

Proletariat Digital dalam Citizen Journalism: Kasus Kompasiana

The trend of citizen journalism in Indonesia has increased since the emergence of amateur videos of the Aceh tsunami in 2004. This is considered as a momentum of new democracy in media because it allows public to independently produce and disseminate information without being intervened by agendasetting of mainstream media. The power of publication was seen to shift from mainstream media to personal ones. However, this trend of citizen journalism changed as it begun to be co-opted by mainstream media in the form of a user-generated content platform in 2008. This paper examines changes in citizen journalism which is managed by mainstream media by focusing on Kompasiana of Kompas Gramedia Group as its unit of analysis. Using Van Djik’s Critical Discourse Analysis and Marxist political economy of media as theoretical approach, it shows that the involvement of mainstream media in citizen journalism is not only seen as a collaboration, but also construction of digital labor. This can be explained by looking at three aspects of Kompasiana commodification practices: regulations, wages, and working hours.

Service Work, Sex Work, and the “Prostitute Imaginary”

This article considers the figure of the sex worker across Marxist political economy. Taking up what Melissa Gira Grant terms the “prostitute imaginary,” the authors suggest that from classical political economy to contemporary Marxist-feminist thought, the sex worker has been rhetorically deployed to trouble the boundaries between productive, unproductive, and reproductive work. More recently, the prostitute imaginary has shaped accounts of contemporary service work: in particular, the figure of the sex worker has been used to metaphorize the intimate affects demanded by service work. Rather than use service work to think about the exploitation and coercion that shapes all wage labor under capital, however, such accounts tend to treat service work and sex work as uniquely abject. As a result, they do not attend to the systemic and structural features common to both. The authors take up one of those features in particular: the use of tip-based or piece-rate methods of wage payment. They explore the history of this insecure and informalized wage form not only to track the systematization of hyperexploitation in the service sector, but also to unearth a history of resistance to that exploitation, arguing that service workers and sex workers offer a new and urgent model of revolutionary class consciousness.

Evolution of The Functions of Money in The Context of The Approaches of Various Schools of Economic Thought

The purpose of this paper is the identification of the functions of money and characteristic of their evolution through change of the used types of money. Research methods are a brief overview and comparative analysis of economic-theoretical approaches to the definition of the functions of money. A comparative analysis of the classifications of the functions of money, made by physiocracy, classical political economy, Marxist political economy, Austrian school of economic theory, German historical school of economics, neoclassical economic theory, Keynesianism, monetarism, institutionalism, modern monetary theory, is carried out. It is shown that various economic schools have different approaches to the definition of the functions of money. Some scientific schools separate money functions for basic and secondary, but other schools consider that all the functions are equally significant. It is concluded that modern changes in the types of money used lead to the fact that different functions of money (in particular, the functions of medium of exchange, measure of value, reserve of value, means of payment) are most effectively implemented by different types of money. Scientific novelty consists in the reconstruction and comparison of lists of functions of money identified by the most important schools of economic theory. The conclusions of the research can be used in scientific and pedagogical activities in the study of the essence and functions of money.

THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL FOUNDATIONS OF NIGERIA’S FOREIGN POLICY DURING THE SECOND REPUBLIC: LESSONS AND ALTERNATIVES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

This study examines the socio-economic and political foundations of Nigeria’s foreign policy during the Second Republic and their lessons in charting a new path in the 21st Century. It explores how neo-colonialism, within the context of an international capitalist economy, intensified class antagonism, socio-economic and political contradictions, which impinged negatively on the foreign policy initiatives and postures of Nigeria between 1979 and 1983. Drawing insights from the Marxist political economy approach, this fresh study departs from the common orientation of economic determinism by focusing on the complex interplay between the political, economic and social subsystems through the historical materialist approach to which little attention has hitherto been paid. The study made use of primary data through the conduct of interviews and also relied on secondary sources. The study found that the distorted and peripheral role of dependent neo-colonial Nigeria in the world capitalist economy, its sole reliance on oil and the neglect of agriculture generated socio-political and economic crises that constrained it from pursuing viable foreign policy goals during the period under study. The paper concluded that the pursuit of bold and impactful foreign policy goals by Nigeria depends on its ability to reactivate the non-oil sector of its economy, particularly the agricultural and manufacturing sectors.

A Marxist Political Economy Retort to the ‘After the Washington Consensus'

ABSTRACT The dominance of the ‘After the Washington Consensus’ for international development is based on mainstream-neoclassical economics that has been imposed by Washington upon debt-stranded developing and developed countries. Against this tide, the purpose of this paper is to develop an alternative scheme and recommendations for international development, pulling from the Marxist political economy practice. Considering, Marxist political economy as a living tradition, the paper contributes to offering a Marxist political economy perspective to international development in the form of a retort to the ‘After the Washington Consensus’. ‘After the Washington Consensus’ represents an evolution from the Washington Consensus, due to the need for capital to adapt to new forms of exploitation. Students and scholars of international development would benefit from this worthwhile exercise that distinguishes in a succinctly and methodically manner between mainstream-neoclassical and Marxist political economy perspectives on international development. The paper concludes that in contradistinction, a Marxist political economy approach to international development that serves the interests of the working class does not have any commonalities with the ‘After the Washington Consensus’ that serves the interests of international capital.

Marxist Political Economy and Questions of Preserving the Environment and of the Rational Use of Nature

Marxist Political Economy and Questions of Preserving the Environment and of the Rational Use of Nature

Economics and Political economy textbooks: 28 years of interaction

The article analyzes the methodology of modern economic theory. The advantages and disadvantages Of the McConnell and brew economies are analyzed. It is compared with the textbook “Political economy” of the period of the USSR and Soviet Russia. A literature review has shown that many authors are critical of Main stream and are looking for alternative theories and methodologies. The article analyzes the institutional reasons for teaching Economics. Given the growing global crisis of industrial civilization and, in particular, the systemic crisis of its economic and political leader-the United States, the question is raised about the need to create a new type of textbook on economic theory. The article describes the philosophical roots of Economics and Marxist political economy. According to the authors of the article, these two areas of science and education in the twentieth century became examples of a “secular form of religion”, since their ideological orientation prevailed over the scientific content. “Russian Economics” is a textbook for undergraduates that has broader system relationships with other Sciences (sociology, political science, Cybernetics, zoopsychology, etc.) and applies, along with well-known models of Economics, also qualitative methods and models of classical political economy within the framework of a systematic approach. The article describes the methodological principles of a new type of textbook that reflect the basic provisions of traditional European culture and can serve to form the concept of the “third way economy”, as an objectively emerging model of a mixed economy.