Heterogeneous Labour, Labour Theory of Value and Identities:  Towards a Theory of Segmentation  and Revolutionary Subjectivity

It has been 150 years since the publication of Karl Marx’s formidable work, Das Capital (Volume 1). This first volume provides a critical analysis of capitalist production and defines Marx’s crucial break with the classical political economy of Adam Smith and Ricardo. Rather than perceiving the value of commodities as a mere property inherent in things, Marx emphasised that value was a social production relation. As rightly pointed out by Lenin: ‘(B)ourgeois economists saw a relation between things (the exchange of one commodity for another), Marx revealed a relation between people. The exchange of commodities expresses the connection between individual producers through the market.’ Today, the text continues to be mined by intellectuals in the vanguard of struggles for socialism. In several respects Capital continues to provide useful insights into the workings of contemporary capitalism and its shaping of the working class. Additionally, the 150 years of Capital coincided with 100 years since a successful socialist revolution erupted in the Russian empire; leading to the opening up of new possibilities for humanity at large. Taken together, the occasion calls for crucial introspection of the contemporary conjuncture and untapped possibilities.