Re: [OPE] Michael Webber

thanks, dave for your comments. yes, i agree about commodity
production being different from capitalism.

Paula: to say that capitalism is a system of commodity production is
different from saying that a system of commodity production is
capitalist. think of this: an economy of independent commodity
producers - small scale farmers, small producers and small traders
would be commodity producing; but it would not be capitalism.

but, likewise, dave. to say that capitalism is expansionary is not to
say that expansionary is capitalist. so expansionist tendencies are
not the test.

i think this. capitalist forms of production are increasingly evident
in china. by this i mean forms of production within which capital is
invested principally to make a profit and labour power is hired in a
market. i observe that such forms of production are also to be found
in complex projects that involve various arms and levels of the state,
as well as non-capitalist producers of various kinds. these are forms
of capitalist production that are not found - or, at least, are
difficult to find - in the 'west'. i also observe many state-owned
corporations behaving in this capitalist way. so is china becoming
increasingly capitalist? yes, since i observe a larger proportion of
the economy being organised by this form of production - capital is
invested principally to make a profit and labour power is hired in a
market.

michael

On 11 June 2010 07:44, Dave Zachariah <davez@kth.se> wrote:
> On 2010-06-10 23:26, Paula wrote:
>> Since capitalism is the system of commodity production, and China today
>> produces more commodities than just about any other country in the world,
>> it's amazing we're even asking this question.
>>
>
> If you think that capitalism is merely a system of commodity production
> you will miss the most fundamental question about the dynamics of modes
> of production that Marx pointed out both in Capital vol.1. and vol.3.
>
> Commodity production preceded the existence of the capitalist mode of
> production.
>
> //Dave Z
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-- 
Michael Webber
Professorial Fellow
Department of Resource Management and Geography
The University of Melbourne
Mail address: 221 Bouverie Street, Carlton, VIC 3010
Phone: 0402 421 283
Email: mjwebber@unimelb.edu.au
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