Holloway - Crack Capitalism.pdf - Libcom

,Inc! in any case labelling runs counter to thought:9 labelling is
II crude expression of the process of identification and classi­
Ii 'ation that, as we have seen, is generated by abstract labour.
I\ut more substantially, the argument presented here is as much
i\ 11 argument against the anarchist tradition as it is against
(he Marxist tradition. The critique of both the anarchist and
I he Marxist tradition is indeed etched in the structure of the
argument. We start from the refusals-and-creations, from that
which does not fit in to the capitalist system: that is where
Marxism, with its emphasis on the analysis of domination, has
heen weak and anarchism has been strong. But then reflection on
I'he struggles and their problems brings us to the social cohesion
and its contradictions: we are brought to the analysis of the dual
character of labour. This is where we leave anarchism behind and
enter into debates more relevant to the Marxist tradition. Yet
our starting-point remains crucial and makes us swim against
the main stream of Marxist thought. So where, then, does the
argument fit, into which tradition? If it is faithful to its subject,
it misfits.
A second element in the new ferment of theory has been
a renewed awareness of the issue of the dual character of
labour within Marxist discussions in recent years. Particularly
important in present debates is Moishe Postone's book, Time,
Labour and Social Domination (1996), in which he advances
'a reinterpretation of Marx's critical theory' that is based on a
critique of the trans-historical and unitary concept of labour that
is characteristic of the Marxist tradition. It is clear, then, that
the central concern of Postone's book is closely related to the
central issues of the argument presented here. Precisely because
it is an important and rigorous book, it is necessary to explain
the differences in our arguments.
Here again, the crucial import of the starting-point asserts
itself. The main difference between Postone's approach and the
argument presented here can be seen in terms of the startingpoint.10
Postone's begins by presenting his conceptualisation of
'capitalism in terms of a historically specific form of social interdependence
with an impersonal and seemingly objective character.
This form of interdependence is effected by historically unique
forms of social relations that are constituted by determinate
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