MARXIAN THEORY: THE OTHER WAY

sekhar · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 89 Location: Calcutta

Applicability of Marxian Theory in Modern Environmental issues:

Marx himself tells us, how he was led to study the economic structure of capitalist society. Parallel to the new classical theory, Marxian theory conveys its own messages. One of the most significant messages concerns the class process itself. By economics we understand the Marxian theory to mean all those processes in any society which involve the production of goods and services and their distribution among producers and consumers. The term ’non economic’ then refers to all other kinds of processes which together with the economic processes form the totality ‘society’. There are three different kinds of non economic processes: the national, the cultural, the political.

The entry point may be the natural non economic processes to analyze the behaviour of industrial capitalists as well as transformation of society. In this regard the first section of my proposal related to the lack of proper subsumed class payment and environmental economic crises. Second section explains about the sustainable growth. And finally in the last section I have kept some issues from the perspective of a ‘just society’. If we include the need of environment what will be the changes in the distribution, receipt of surplus labour, the accounting problem and the corresponding changes of the capitalist firms.

SECTION I:Lack of proper subsumed class payment and environmental economic crises.

According to Marx class can be divided into fundamental class process (FCP) and subsumed class process (SCP). FCP is defined as processes related to performance and appropriation of surplus labour. SCP can be defined as the processes related to the distribution and receipt of that surplus labour.

Industrial capitalist production process involves into the use of land, productive labour, water, forest resources, mineral resources and of various kinds. For any given capitalist firm to last for a long time the natural processes must some how be reproduced .otherwise the farm might cease to exist. So they need a payment to reproduce themselves. If these resources or natural factors would have received their payment, their will be a little problem at present or for the coming future regarding faster economic growth as there is a consensus that many environmental goods, which were once regarded as free goods have now become scarce resources. But proper receipt of surplus labour requires proper performance and proper appropriation of surplus labour. Appropriation of surplus labour by few individuals, and the growth of capitalism, entrepreneurship development, market oriented economy, population growth turned the free goods as scarce one.

The field of natural resource economy, which is currently gathered much of interest, its origin is widely recognized as Harold Hotteling’s1931 paper, The (Economics of Exhaustible Resources). This article was neglected for so long. At that time there was a strong popular concern for the adequacy of the world’s natural resource base. But after the energy and environmental crises of 1970, researchers paid a serious attention. Now there has been a gradual shift I many developed and also in developing countries from command and control type of policy to the environmental policy protection. Many governments are resetting environmental standards and concentrating on the issue that how far the pace of economic growth can be allowed for general well being.

The exploitative nature of surplus labour creating gap between rural and urban areas specially in LDCs, income inequality results the rural people to depend more on natural and urban resource base. Deforestation and loss of biodiversity are the proper examples. Urbanization through migration and increasing slums in the urban areas are the result of concentration, appropriation of surplus labour in the hands of few individuals which has deep impact on urban resource base and gradual deterioration of the service received by the urban people.

So the exploitative nature of surplus labour and natural resources should be checked earlier of the receipt of subsumed class payment by the larger section and by the ‘nature’ and for the sustainable growth.

SECTION II: Sustaining Growth

According to Robert.M.Solow, sustainability means distributional equity. It is about who gets what. It is about the sharing of well being between present people and future people. But the sustainability is in deep problem by the overuse of natural resources. This view of sustainability is knocking at the door of Marx that expresses about the social theft of surplus labour which is unjust and correcting the injustice by the appropriation of surplus labour in a large scale.

The question may arise, do people get their just rewards under market capitalism? Is there is invisible hand in the market place that ensures most deserving people will obtain their just rewards? No. infact competitive markets do not guarantee that income and consumption will necessarily go to the neediest. Laissez-faire competition might lead to massive inequality, to malnourished children and the perpetuation of inequality of incomes and wealth for generation after generation. The rich may get richer and the poor get poorer. The sustainability becomes invalid under market capitalism. So the appropriation of surplus labour should be in a larger scale to take care of natural resources, income inequality and economic growth.

From a over determinist perspective the economic aspects of society influence the non-economic and the reverse holds true as well. Every aspect of society including the economic, is over determined by all others. This means each aspect of society is approached as a combined effect of all the other aspects of that society. It follows that each aspect owes its existence to the others. Each is the result of the interactions among all other aspects of society. So the economic process is also over determined by natural, cultural and political processes.

The focus should be the natural processes to explain capitalism. At the present era it is not possible to use the natural resources in an unlimited fashion for production and economic development. I must try to catch the nature, behaviour of industrialist capitalist in this changing circumstances of resource crises. How they are taking part in the international trade as many governments are setting environmental standards against free flow of goods? What will be the impact of the activities of TNCs on the weather condition, global warming as the use of gadgets are increasing day to day? What about the necessary and surplus labour hours, and exploitation? What the governments are thinking today facing the problems of resource crises, economic development, human well being calculating the cost benefit analysis?

As the economic process is an over determining process the ethical values of men in general, honesty, goodmanship can’t be ignored at all. It is one thing that policy prescriber's try to make the earth to live well, it is another thing to make everyone honest, conscious, ‘educated’. If the later part is done the governments has little to do.

sekhar · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 89 Location: Calcutta

The story is bit long Sad

I had written that in my PG level just to incorporate the loss of natural resources and how we can compensate the loss.

In ENGLAND rather in the London city, there is a system that...

you should pay to consume water and
you should pay for the wastage of that water so that proper refinery process could be done and the consumes water would back to the previous level.

This write up had been revealed by Prof. Indrajit Gupta of Birmingham University.

In that sense, the following article has a message to cope with the environmental hazards and corresponding economic retardation.