The ‘General Intellect’ in the Grundrisse and Beyond
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Abstract
In recent publications Paolo Virno and Carlo Vercellone have called attention to Marx’s category of the general intellect in the Grundrisse, and to the unprecedented role its diffusion plays in contemporary capitalism. According to Virno, the flourishing of the general intellect, which Marx thought could only take place within communism, characterises post-Fordist capitalism. Vercellone adds that Marx’s account of the real subsumption of living labour under capital is obsolete in contemporary cognitive capitalism. Both authors regard Marx’s value theory as historically obsolete. I argue that these views rest on a confusion of value and wealth, a neglect of Marx’s account of the role of ‘free gifts’ to capital, an underestimation of the role of the general intellect in the period prior to the rise of post-Fordism/cognitive capitalism, and an underestimation of the restrictions on the diffusion of the general intellect in contemporary capitalism.
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Brenner Robert & Glick Mark ‘The Regulation Approach: Theory and History’ New Left Review 1991 I 188 45 119
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Camfield David ‘The Multitude and the Kangaroo: A Critique of Hardt and Negri’s Theory of Immaterial Labour’ Historical Materialism 2007 15 2 21 52
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Dyer-Witheford Nick Cyber-Marx: Cycles and Circuits of Struggle in High Technology Capitalism 1999 Urbana University of Illinois Press
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Huws Ursula Defragmenting: Towards a Critical Understanding of the New Global Division of Labour 2007 London Merlin
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Huws Ursula Break or Weld? Trade Union Responses to Global Value Chain Restructuring 2008 London Merlin
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Marx Karl Fowkes Ben Capital: A Critique of Political Economy 1976 [1867] Volume I Harmondsworth Penguin Books
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Marx Karl Economic Manuscripts of 1857–58 [Grundrisse] Marx Engels Collected Works 1986 [1953] Volume 28 New York International Publishers
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Marx Karl Economic Manuscripts of 1857–58 [Grundrisse, conclusion] Marx Engels Collected Works 1987 [1953] Volume 29 New York International Publishers
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Toscano Alberto ‘From Pin Factories to Gold Farmers: Editorial Introduction to a Research Stream on Cognitive Capitalism, Immaterial Labour, and the General Intellect’ Historical Materialism 2007 15 1 3 11
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Vercellone Carlo ‘From Formal Subsumption to General Intellect: Elements for a Marxist Reading of the Thesis of Cognitive Capitalism’ Historical Materialism 2007 15 1 13 36
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Virno Paolo ‘General Intellect’ Historical Materialism 2007 15 3 3 8
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Wright Steve ‘Reality Check: Are We Living in an Immaterial World?’ Mute (Underneath the Knowledge Commons) 2005 2 1 34 45
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Zittrain Jonathan The Future of the Intellect – and How to Stop It 2008 New Haven Yale University Press
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1.
Marx 1987, p. 92; block words originally in English.
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2.
Dyer-Witheford 1999, Chapters 4 and 9; Turchetto 2008; Toscano 2007. In the Marx Engels Collected Works the editors assign a different title to this section: ‘[Fixed Capital and the Development of the Productive Forces of Society]’.
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4.
Marx 1987, p. 87.
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6.
Marx 1987, p. 83.
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12.
Vercellone 2007, p. 28.
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13.
Vercellone 2007, p. 26.
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14.
Vercellone 2007, p. 25.
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15.
Virno 2007, p. 6.
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16.
Vercellone 2007, p. 21.
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17.
Vercellone 2007, p. 15.
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18.
Vercellone 2007, p. 20.
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19.
Vercellone 2007, p. 24.
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20.
Vercellone 2007, p. 18. ‘Mass education and the development of a diffuse intellectuality make the educational system a central site for the crisis of the Fordist wage relation’ (Vercellone 2007, p. 27).
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21.
Vercellone 2007, p. 33.
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22.
Vercellone 2007, p. 27.
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24.
Virno 2007, p. 8.
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25.
Virno 2007, p. 5.
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26.
Virno 2007, p. 4.
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27.
Vercellone 2007, p. 14.
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28.
Vercellone 2007, p. 16.
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29.
Vercellone 2007, p. 24.
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30.
Virno 2007, p. 3.
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31.
Vercellone 2007, p. 30.
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32.
Virno 2007, p. 4.
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33.
Vercellone 2007, p. 31.
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34.
Vercellone 2007, p. 31; Virno 2007, p. 5.
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36.
Vercellone 2007, p. 31.
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38.
Vercellone 2007, p. 35.
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39.
Virno 2007, p. 8.
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40.
Vercellone 2007, p. 30.
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41.
Virno 2007, p. 4.
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42.
Marx 1986, pp. 522, 527, 531; see also Camfield 2007, p. 46.
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44.
Marx 1986, p. 94.
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46.
Marx 1987, p. 90.
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49.
Marx 1986, p. 420. Or, in one of the Grundrisse’s most striking formulations: ‘[Each individual] carries his social power, as also his connection with society, in his pocket’ (Marx 1986, p. 94).
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51.
Marx 1986, p. 84.
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52.
Marx 1986, p. 233.
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53.
Marx 1986, p. 383.
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55.
Virno 2007, p. 6.
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56.
Marx 1976, p. 502.
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57.
Marx 1976, p. 505; emphasis added.
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58.
Marx 1986, p. 465.
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60.
Vercellone 2007, p. 17.
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61.
Vercellone 2007, p. 19.
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62.
Zittrain 2008, p. 85.
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63.
Zittrain 2008, p. 89.
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64.
Virno 2007, p. 8.
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65.
Virno 2007, p. 4.
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71.
Huws 2003; Huws (ed.) 2007; Huws (ed.) 2008.
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73.
Head 2003, pp. 72–3.
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74.
Marx 1987, p. 83.
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75.
Virno 2007, p. 4.
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77.
Marx 1986, pp. 390–1.
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The ‘General Intellect’ in the Grundrisse and Beyond
In: Historical MaterialismSearch for other papers by Tony Smith in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
In recent publications Paolo Virno and Carlo Vercellone have called attention to Marx’s category of the general intellect in the Grundrisse, and to the unprecedented role its diffusion plays in contemporary capitalism. According to Virno, the flourishing of the general intellect, which Marx thought could only take place within communism, characterises post-Fordist capitalism. Vercellone adds that Marx’s account of the real subsumption of living labour under capital is obsolete in contemporary cognitive capitalism. Both authors regard Marx’s value theory as historically obsolete. I argue that these views rest on a confusion of value and wealth, a neglect of Marx’s account of the role of ‘free gifts’ to capital, an underestimation of the role of the general intellect in the period prior to the rise of post-Fordism/cognitive capitalism, and an underestimation of the restrictions on the diffusion of the general intellect in contemporary capitalism.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 1232 | 218 | 16 |
| Full Text Views | 482 | 26 | 2 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 232 | 46 | 6 |