MEMBEDAH TEORI KRITIS MAZHAB FRANKFURT : SEJARAH, ASUMSI, DAN KONTRIBUSINYA TERHADAP PERKEMBANGAN TEORI ILMU SOSIAL

This article aims to examine the critical theory of the Fraknfurt school, especially those related to its history, concepts, assumptions, and contributions. Historically-geneologically, critical theory was born from the womb of Marxist theory. Although born from the womb of Marxist theory, critical theory is not too satisfied with the analysis of the Marxians who are considered too mechanistic economic determinism in seeing the social reality of Western capitalist society. According to critical theory, the Marxian analysis in viewing and analyzing the inequality of the reality of capitalist society in Europe is too reductionist, that is, it is the economic factor (structure) that determines socio-economic inequality or class conflict in a capitalist society. The critical theory developed by the people who call themselves Neo-Maxians, exists to further develop the classical Marxian analysis, which rests not only on economic factors, but also on other socio-economic factors. The Frankfurt school of critical social theory thought services pioneered by Horkheimer, however, has provided a relatively new (though not very new) theoretical perspective in seeing, understanding and analyzing social reality. This critical social theory perspective has contributed significantly to the development of social theory. One of them is that critical theory has contributed to the development of critical and emancipatory awareness of human practice in seeing social realities that are full of inequality and injustice.Keyword : Critical Theory, Frankfurt School, History, Development of Social Theory

The Spiralling Economy: Connecting Marxian Theory with Ecological Economics

The capitalist mode of production and consumption is caught in a double bind: its expansion destabilises natural systems and fails to curb social inequities, while slowdown destabilises the inner workings of the economic system itself. To better understand what is happening in this phase of instability, this article proposes a System Dynamics representation that combines elements of Georgescu-Roegen's Ecological Economics with Marxian theory. Specifically, it draws from a diagram recently developed by David Harvey to communicate Marx's political economy in its totality; Harvey's diagram is then adapted to incorporate the flow-fund model developed by Georgescu-Roegen. The contribution made by this adaptation is twofold: first, it allows us to emphasise key connections and discrepancies between the two traditions; second, it extends System Dynamics into (eco-)Marxian analysis, which serves to visualise the fundamental causes and consequences of a spiralling, ever-expanding capitalist economy.

Working the fields: The organization of labour in community supported agriculture

Community supported agriculture schemes are a prominent example of localized alternatives to the global food system. They are presented as alternative nodes of food production, where the consumer experiences a much closer relationship to the produce they are consuming and to the labour involved in producing it. They lift the commodity veil by inviting the consumer into the world of production – of labour. However, there has been little analysis of labour undertaken in the setting of community supported agriculture, particularly the labour of community supported agriculture consumers, or members. Marxian analysis of the food system at the macro level has underpinned powerful critiques of its shortcomings and highlighted inequalities of land and labour, but has rarely been employed to understand the possibilities of alternative food networks at a more micro level. In this article, I draw on Marx’s concept of alienation to explore the experience and organization of labour within a community supported agriculture scheme in the United Kingdom. In doing so, I present a case study of how labour in a community supported agriculture scheme counteracts experiences of alienation created by capitalism and consider how this might inform (re)organization of labour in the food system, more generally.

Canadian Banking Stability through the Global Financial Crisis of 2007–8

One of the leading explanations for Canadian banking stability through the global financial crisis of 2007–08 is the Concentration-Stability Hypothesis (CSH), according to which the oligopoly of Canadian finance stabilised the credit system by cushioning it with above-average profits. These provided a buffer against fragility and incentives against excessive risk-taking. In this article, I critically examine CSH and show that classical Marxian analysis more effectively illuminates Canadian banking stability. I demonstrate that robust corporate profitability and capital accumulation before the crisis strengthened the balance sheets of the banks and supported them through those turbulent years. Thus, financial stability is linked explicitly to broader economic stability, and the latter is linked to the profitability of business enterprise.

Seria Marx orientalista?

O objetivo do trabalho é analisar como o Oriente figura nos escritos de Marx. Partimos das contribuições de Edward Said que identifica Marx como um autor orientalista, para averiguar em que medida o palestino acerta em seu diagnóstico. Said parte dos escritos de Marx de 1853 a respeito do colonialismo britânico na Índia e chega à conclusão que o alemão, assim como toda a intelligentsia europeia do século XIX, enxerga o Oriente como um local estático, bárbaro e violento, em oposição à Europa, onde se localizaria a civilização. Neste sentido, embora matizado pelas condenações de cunho moral das atrocidades cometidas pelos colonizadores britânicos, Marx observa as perspectivas futuras da colonização por um viés em última instância positivo. Influenciado por uma filosofia da história hegeliana, Marx entende que, se a revolução comunista é o estágio final da história, tanto melhor que os países periféricos sejam tragados para o progresso e para a história universal pelas metrópoles. Haveria, de fato, um sentido na história e o colonialismo colocaria nela povos até então “fixos”, estanques. Said, porém, se limita aos artigos sobre a Índia de 1853. Gostaríamos, neste trabalho, de explorar textos de Marx sobre a China do mesmo período, além dos escritos da segunda metade da década de 1850 sobre os dois países e comparar a análise marxiana a respeito da situação indiana e chinesa nestes dois momentos distintos. A partir daí, procuraremos responder se a hipótese saidiana de inclusão de Marx como autor orientalista se sustenta ou não. Abstract: The purpose of the paper is to analyze how the East figures in Marx's writings. We start with the contributions of Edward Said who identifies Marx as an Orientalist author, to ascertain to what extent the Palestinian is correct in his diagnosis. Said departs from Marx's writings of 1853 on British colonialism in India, and he comes to the conclusion that the German, like the whole European intelligentsia of the nineteenth century, sees the Orient as a static, barbaric and violent place, as opposed to Europe, where the civilization would be located. In this sense, although tempered by the moral condemnations of the atrocities committed by the British settlers, Marx observes the future prospects of colonization by an ultimately positive bias. Influenced by a Hegelian philosophy of history, Marx understands that if communist revolution is the final stage of history, so much better that peripheral countries are swallowed up by progress and put into the universal history by metropolises. Indeed, there would be a meaning in history, and colonialism would place in it peoples that were previously "fixed", watertight. Said, however, is limited to the articles on India of 1853. We would like to explore Marx's texts about China from the same period, in addition to the writings of the second half of the 1850s on the two countries, and compare Marxian analysis about the Indian and Chinese situation in these two different moments. From there, we will try to answer if the saidian hypothesis of inclusion of Marx as orientalist author supports or not. Key words: Marx; Orientalism; Colonialism. Recebido em: dezembro/2018. Aprovado em: maio/2019.

Analysis of labor policies in Brazil: How can Marx contribute?

This article uses the Marxian analysis of the nineteenth century English factory legislation, to demonstrate how a concrete approach to labor policy in Brazil can be inspired by the guidelines included in the Volume I of Das Kapital. The article covers the period from the regulation established by President Vargas, to the wild deregulation proposed by President Temer, exposing the links between capital accumulation and the Brazilian labor policies.

Revisiting the Marxist Skilled-Labour Debate

This article offers an overview of Marx’s textual legacy on the subject of the multiplied value-positing powers of skilled labour, and undertakes a critical reconstruction of the history of the subsequent controversies over the so-called ‘skilled-labour problem’. Critical examination of the different Marxist responses to the objections put forward by critics shows that they have failed to develop a solution that is consistent with the foundations of Marx’s value-theory. Thus, the article finally offers an alternative solution grounded in the Marxian analysis of the determinations of value as laid out in Capital.