Using a particular understanding of the labor theory of value, this paper surveys the criticisms made of the Marxian distinction between productive and unproductive labor, and rejects them as misconceived. The distinction is then used to draw some consequences for how "the rate of exploitation"...

This Companion takes stock of the trajectory, achievements, shortcomings and prospects of Marxist political economy. It reflects the contributors’ shared commitment to bringing the methods, theories and concepts of Marx himself to bear across a wide range of topics and perspectives, and...

This Companion takes stock of the trajectory, achievements, shortcomings and prospects of Marxist political economy. It reflects the contributors’ shared commitment to bringing the methods, theories and concepts of Marx himself to bear across a wide range of topics and perspectives, and...

This paper examines the methodology of Shaikh and Tonak (Measuring the Wealth of Nations, 1994) underlying their calculation of estimates of productive labour in the US economy from 1964 to 2001. The focus is not on the results but on the methods that generate them. The paper finds that the...

Contemporary economic theory is considered in terms of the science-ideology distinction. Marx's critique of Hegel is then used to derive a demarcation criterion that sharply separates scientific knowledge from ideology. This critique interprets Hegelian methodology as fundamentally ideological...

This paper outlines some recent approaches to the construction of an accounting structure which relates observable prices to Marxian labour values. The first is that proposed (independently of each other) by DumÈnil and Foley (DF); the second in some sense is a generalization which focuses on...

It is commonly proposed by those who accept the distinction between productive and unproductive labor that a rising proportion of unproductive labor constitutes a burden to the operation of a capitalist economy, because unproductive labor is paid out of surplus-value, leaving less available for...

"John Weeks (1941-2020) was one of the most prominent Marxist economists of his generation. His writings inspired many activists and socialist economists around the world. This book brings together a selection of his writings engaging with and developing the Marxist tradition. These essays...