Alfredo Saad-Filho

Transforming the Transformation Problem: Why the “New Interpretation” is a Wrong Turning

The new interpretation (NI) offers a particular understanding of important problems in value theory, especially the value of money and labor power and the structure and dynamics of capitalist accumulation. The NI is to be welcomed for raising these issues but not for the way in which it has dealt with them. Above all, the NI falsely assumes that value is directly and immediately represented by money. The authors propose alternatives that emphasize the processes (mediations) through which value is expressed as price. They draw on an alternative methodology and understanding of money, the value of labor power, and production and circulation of capital in the context of accumulation.

Neo-Developmentalism and the Challenges of Economic Policy-Making Under Dilma Rousseff

This article reviews the emergence of neo-developmentalist economic policies in Brazil, in the early 2000s, as a heterodox alternative to neoliberalism. These policies were implemented in the second Lula administration (2006–10), and continued under Dilma Rousseff. However, neo-developmentalism has not simply replaced neoliberalism; rather, these prima facie incompatible policy frameworks have been combined, and the ensuing policies have achieved significant successes despite the intrinsic fragilities and limitations of this hybrid structure. The article examines the achievements and limitations of these policies, and the (limited) scope for their continuation in Dilma’s Rousseff’s administration.

Lula and the Continuity of Neoliberalism in Brazil: Strategic Choice, Economic Imperative or Political Schizophrenia?

concrete, Althusser school, analysis/synthesis, analytical Marxism, antagonism, anti-ideology, antiphilosophy, application, beginning, camera obscura, capital logic, class struggles, composition plans, concept, consciousness, contradiction, crisis, critical theory, critique, debate on positivism, Della Volpe school, development, dialectical image, dialectical materialism, dialectical theatre, dialectics of nature, doubling, empiricism/theory, ensemble of social relations, genesis, guiding thread, Hegel-critique, Hegelianism, historical-logical, image, interaction, intervening thought, language, limits of dialectics, logical-historical, Marxism, mediation, metaphysics, method, movement, negation of negation, ontology, philosophy, positivism, research/presentation, revolutionary Realpolitik, stupidity, sublation, system, theory/praxis, thought-form, Umschlag, Western Marxism, Weltanschauung Abbild, abstrakt/konkret, Althusser-Schule, Analyse/ Synthese, analytischer Marxismus, Anfang, Antagonismus, Antiideologie, Antiphilosophie, Anwendung, Aufbaupläne, Aufhebung, Begriff, Bewegung , Bewuss t se in , Camera obscura , Darstellung/Forschung, Della-Volpe-Schule, Denkform, Dialektischer Materialismus, dialektisches 264 • Dialectics HIMA 13,1_272_f13_240-265 3/17/05 12:13 PM Page 264

Brazil beyond Lula: Forging Ahead or Pausing for Breath?

A review of the achievements of the Lula administration and an examination of the contrasting political and social programs that disputed the Brazilian presidential elections in October 2010 reveal that there has been significant progress toward the consolidation of a social democratic welfare state in Brazil and that further progress is possible but far from guaranteed under the new administration.

Thirteen Things You Need to Know About Neoliberalism

This article examines the theories and practices of neoliberalism across 13 aspects of (‘things you need to know about’) neoliberalism. They include the argument that neoliberalism is not reducible to a cogent ideology or a change in economic or social policies, nor is it primarily about a shift in the relationship between the state and the market or between workers and capital in general, or finance in particular. Instead, neoliberalism is a stage in the development of capitalism underpinned by financialization. Neoliberalism by its nature is highly diversified in its features, impact and outcomes, reflecting specific combinations of scholarship, ideology, policy and practice. In turn, these are attached to distinctive material cultures giving rise to the (variegated) neoliberalization of everyday life and, at a further remove, to specific modalities of economic growth, volatility and crisis. Finally, this paper argues that there are alternatives, both within and beyond neoliberalism itself.

Life beyond the Washington Consensus: An Introduction to Pro-poor Macroeconomic Policies

Abstract This article reviews the ‘pro-poor’ macroeconomic policy alternative to the Washington consensus. The pro-poor approach draws heavily on heterodox economic theory, and offers a compelling view of an alternative economic strategy oriented primarily to the satisfaction of the basic needs of the majority of the population, the equitable distribution of income, wealth and power, and the preservation of macroeconomic stability. These aims point to a specific set of fiscal, monetary, trade and exchange rate policies. The paper argues that such policies should be supported by social programmes designed to achieve the desired pro-poor outcomes as rapidly as possible.

Curses, Diseases and Other Resource Confusions

Abstract Natural resource rents, development assistance and unrequited foreign exchange inflows such as remittances relax the balance of payments constraint on economic growth. The failure of some governments to translate these resources into successful development has been attributed to an affliction called ‘Dutch disease’, or, more ominously, to a ‘curse’ associated with the availability of natural resources. This paper examines the disease/curse analysis and rejects it in favour of a political economy explanation of the problems associated with resource use. We argue that conventional analysis of resource-rich countries is misleading because its various manifestations are based on inappropriate assumptions and flawed logic. In practice the ‘curse’ and the ‘disease’ are outcomes of policy decisions, rather than manifestations of deep structural weaknesses, and they are more likely to be suffered in countries whose governments pursue neoliberal economic policies.

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory? Lula, the ‘Losers' Alliance’, and the prospects for change in Brazil1

This article explains the context of Lulas election for the Brazilian presidency, and the scope for progressive economic and social change in the country. We argue that although the ruling coalition is on the political left, the new administration is not, and it will face grave difficulties to achieve traditional left objectives, including universal citizenship and greater equality of income and wealth.

Democracy against Neoliberalism: Paradoxes, Limitations, Transcendence

Procedural (formal, liberal, capitalist or bourgeois) democracy is the political form of neoliberalism, and it dominates political thought and state practice today. This modality of management of class relations is currently in crisis, expressed through the evacuation of politics, the erosion of civil liberties and the emergence of authoritarian governance. This article offers a Marxist critique of neoliberal democracy, concluding that neoliberalism is incompatible with the expansion of democracy into key areas of social life. This is expressed by six paradoxes of democracy. Conversely, the expansion of democracy can provide an effective lever for the abolition of neoliberalism. This approach is promising for three reasons: first, the expansion of democracy is valuable in itself. Second, the contradictions between economic and political democracy illuminate the limitations of contemporary capitalism. Third, struggles about the nature and content of democracy can throw into question the limitations of capitalism as a mode of production.

The Elgar Companion to Marxist Economics

as it is, the world economy still has a spatial dimension through which other elementary categories such as value, money, labour and capital are projected. This is why the spatial dimension needs to be held back until these value categories have been developed in the abstract – before they can be attached to a system of nationstates, for example. Accordingly, to extend value theory by developing its ‘world’ dimension is equivalent to the dual process of locating value in its more complex and concrete historical forms. MARXIST THEORIES OF THE WORLD ECONOMY: UNDERDEVELOPING MARX’S INSIGHT Although Marx had a clear conception of the meaning and the place of the world economy in the fabric of his value theory, he did not develop a theory of the global in his work. The fi rst signifi cant step in this direction was taken by the generation of Marxists working in the Second International, including R. Luxemburg, R. Hilferding, N. Bukharin and V.I. Lenin, who developed the ‘classical’ Marxist theories of imperialism. These theories were mainly, if not exclusively, concerned with the leading capitalist economies at that time, that is, with socalled interimperialist rivalry. However, the postSecond World War world looked very diff erent. The political independence of the colonies highlighted aspects of the world economy that had not been signifi cant previously, and the USA emerged as the sole hegemonic power in the West, albeit in rivalry with the USSR, while the former European empires collapsed more or less rapidly. Yet, in the wake of the recovery of those warstricken economies, the economic relations amongst the leading world economies reemerged in new forms. From the late 1960s, new theories of the world economy arose, including dependency theory, worldsystems theory, theories of US economic and political hegemony, and other theories concerning transnational corporations as the new agents of international economic relations. These approaches to the world economy refl ect, and aspire to incorporate, specifi c aspects of contemporary capitalism. However, given the signifi cant transformations of the world economy, few amongst these theories were adequately embedded in Marx’s value categories. Moreover, some of Marx’s works were not even widely available to serve as points of departure, especially the Grundrisse. Despite these limitations, there were signifi cant attempts to construct a ‘general’ Marxist theory of the world economy grounded on value categories. These include M2834 – FINE TEXT.indd 386 22/12/2011 07:30