The Ends of Capital: Terminal Crisis and the Substance of Value

Historical Materialism 30 (2):29-55 (2022)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Crisis is endemic to capitalism. But can it be proved that capitalism will bring about its own terminal crisis? This article frames this question in light of ongoing debates in theories of crisis and value by polemically comparing two related but divergent perspectives. The first, that of Robert Kurz and several Wertkritik authors, argues that cyclical crises of capital necessarily lead to a terminal crisis – and that this terminal crisis is already underway. The second, that of Michael Heinrich, argues that there is no way to demonstrate that capital will not continue reinventing new sites and forms for creating surplus value. Through this comparison, this article achieves two aims: first, it establishes the general point that how we understand value determines how we understand crisis; and, second, it shows limitations of the ‘terminal crisis’ hypothesis, and concludes that Kurz’s terminal crisis theory risks making crisis a transhistorical concept.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,593

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Money and Financial Capital.Christian Marazzi - 2015 - Theory, Culture and Society 32 (7-8):39-50.
The Midlife Crisis.Kieran Setiya - 2014 - Philosophers' Imprint 14.
A Grande Crise do Capital.Rodrigo Dantas - 2009 - Cadernos de Ética E Filosofia Política 14 (1):47-72.

Analytics

Added to PP
2022-04-15

Downloads
118 (#140,574)

6 months
18 (#105,271)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations