Critical Theory as a Critique of Labour

A version of this paper was presented at the Marx and Philosophy Conference. Marx and the Problem of Labour. University College, London June 2017. I want to thank Werner Bonefeld, Ana Dinerstein, Chris O’Kane and Joss Winn for their support with writing this paper The paper sets out in chronological order the development of Marx’s labour theory of value as a form of critical theory. This critique of labour as critical theory involves Theodor Adorno and his students; Michael Heinrich’s ‘new reading of Marx’; a Critique of Value (Wertkritik), including Robert Kurz and Roswitha Scholz; Simon Clarke’s capital relation theory, Moishe Postone’s reinterpretation of Marx; Open Marxism featuring Werner Bonefeld and John Holloway and Endnotes’ Communisation. At the core of this chronological exposition is a consideration of the nature of time itself and the way in which Marx’s labour theory of value expands our understanding of historical time. The paper argues that this understanding of historical time and how it can be recalibrated/resisted is essential if we are to create a communist future