Rights statement: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Capitalism Nature Socialism on 12/01/2017, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/10455752.2016.1273962
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Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Value is simple; valuation is complex
AU - Bigger, Patrick
AU - Robertson, Morgan
N1 - This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Capitalism Nature Socialism on 12/01/2017, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/10455752.2016.1273962
PY - 2017/2/1
Y1 - 2017/2/1
N2 - Value can appear so complicated that it is not only a terribly intimidating topic, but actually fruitless to pursue. That is, the concept of value is either a dead end or best left to the experts. We disagree. At the most general level, having value can be understood as having the capacity to be measured and compared against another thing (or a standard). This is consistent with Marxian concepts (which are elaborated with special reference to the capitalist value form), but it is also simple and general enough to provide a transportable frame for discussing the role of value and measurement in any context imaginable, whether it be a discussion of spiritualism, collective action, economic data, or physical science. Marx directs our attention to the political constitution of systems of measure on the very first page of Capital, and there is now a great deal of work in geography and in science and technology studies on the social constitution of systems of valuation. We believe a crucial topic deserves an accessible approach that reveals unities rather than barriers, and thus supplement them with the moral and critical political-economic critique made possible by Marxian value theory.
AB - Value can appear so complicated that it is not only a terribly intimidating topic, but actually fruitless to pursue. That is, the concept of value is either a dead end or best left to the experts. We disagree. At the most general level, having value can be understood as having the capacity to be measured and compared against another thing (or a standard). This is consistent with Marxian concepts (which are elaborated with special reference to the capitalist value form), but it is also simple and general enough to provide a transportable frame for discussing the role of value and measurement in any context imaginable, whether it be a discussion of spiritualism, collective action, economic data, or physical science. Marx directs our attention to the political constitution of systems of measure on the very first page of Capital, and there is now a great deal of work in geography and in science and technology studies on the social constitution of systems of valuation. We believe a crucial topic deserves an accessible approach that reveals unities rather than barriers, and thus supplement them with the moral and critical political-economic critique made possible by Marxian value theory.
KW - Value
KW - politics
KW - performativity
KW - regimes of value
U2 - 10.1080/10455752.2016.1273962
DO - 10.1080/10455752.2016.1273962
M3 - Journal article
VL - 28
SP - 68
EP - 77
JO - Capitalism Nature Socialism
JF - Capitalism Nature Socialism
SN - 1045-5752
IS - 1
ER -