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Cited by 27Political Economy and MarxismEconomic Theory and PolicyMarxism and Critical Theory

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 37 of the 37 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Consumption demand in Marx and in the current crisis

Desai, Radhika·2010·Research in Political Economy
DOI 10.1108/s0161-7230(2010)0000026005
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Abstract

This chapter challenges the denial of “underconsumption” – the role of consumption demand in capitalist reproduction and its paucity in crises – in contemporary Marxism. At stake are better understandings not only of crisis theory but also, inter alia, of imperialism, “reformism,” and Marx's intellectual legacy. The chapter shows how the centrality of consumption demand is underlined in the three volumes of Capital and the Grundrisse, and goes on to discuss the origins, weaknesses, and persistence of this denial. The chapter also shows that Marx did not regard underconsumption as a moralistic argument about unfulfilled need. The denial originates not in Marx but in productionism, the idea that capitalism is a system of “production for production's sake.”Originating in the overkill of Tugan Baranowski's refutation of the Russian populists’ view that capitalist development was impossible in Russia due to lack of a home market, productionism is based on his attempt to force Marxism into the marginalist and the general equilibrium framework. Despite its antipathy with Marxism, most contemporary Marxist economics are based on it. Inevitably its adherence to Say's Law – the denial of the possibility of gluts in the market – infects the tendency to assume that capitalism's contradictions do not lie in circulation. Productionism's denial of the importance of consumption demand also rests on nonsequiturs, nondialectical thinking, and an underestimation of the contradictions in capitalism Marx identified, other than the tendency of the rate of profit to fall. The chapter ends by showing the centrality of demand in the recent historical evolution of capitalism as reconstructed by Robert Brenner, followed by a discussion of whether underconsumption is “reformist.”

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Crossref · 10.1108/s0161-7230(2010)0000026005

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37 of 37 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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Research works printed but not linked: 7

  1. Anderson P., 1987, New Left Review, 161, 20
  2. Arrighi G., 2003, New Left Review, 20, 5
  3. Desai R., 2009, Canadian Dimension
  4. Itoh M., 1978, Science and Society, 2, 129
  5. Keynes J.M., 1933, The Yale Review, 22, 755
  6. 10.1016/s0161-7230(00)18003-4 · DOI
  7. Weeks J., 1977, Science and Society, 281

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Metadata

Authors
Desai, R.
Affiliations
University of Manitoba (CA)
Corresponding author
Desai, Radhika
ORCID
Desai, Radhika
Venue
Research in Political Economy
Publisher
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Published
2010-01
Pages
101-143
ISSN
0161-7230 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1108/s0161-7230(2010)0000026005
OpenAlex
W2491276306
Cited by
26
References
37
Citations by year
2025: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 3
FWCI
12.74
Type
book chapter
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Research in political economy (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Political Economy and Marxism
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › General Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economic Theory and Policy
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Marxism and Critical Theory
Keywords
underconsumption, consumer demand, Karl Marx, crisis of capitalism, productionism, Tugan-Baranovsky, Say's law, overproduction, Grundrisse, capital, imperialism, reformism, Robert Brenner, rate of profit, contemporary Marxism

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