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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Dear All,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>here’s the first in
five instalments where I try to speculate on how the idea o fan emerging ‘ethical
economy’ can cast light on the current financial crisis. You can find
more details and links to the whole text here <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><a
href="http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/the-return-of-the-ethical-economy-in-five-installments-to-start-with/2009/09/03">http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/the-return-of-the-ethical-economy-in-five-installments-to-start-with/2009/09/03</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>best<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>adam<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div style='mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
padding:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm'>
<p class=MsoNormal style='border:none;padding:0cm'><font size=2 color=navy
face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:
bold'>After capitalism: ethics? Five ideas on value and the crisis.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-style:italic'>' As soon as labour in the direct
form has<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-style:italic'>ceased to be the great well-spring
of wealth,<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-style:italic'>labour time ceases and must cease to
be its<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-style:italic'>measure and hence exchange value
[must cease <o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-style:italic'>to be the measure of] use value.</span></font></i><span
lang=EN-GB>'<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Karl Marx, <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Grundrisse</span></i></span><a
style='mso-endnote-id:edn1' href="#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span
class=Rimandonotadichiusura2><i><sup><span style='font-style:italic'><span
class=Rimandonotadichiusura2><b><sup><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";font-weight:bold'>[i]</span></font></sup></b></span></span></sup></i></span></a></font><span
lang=EN-GB><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>We are, it would seem, in the midst of a historical
crisis of the capitalist system. As the dynamo effects of the sub-prime collapse
ripple through the economy, from financial markets to consumer spending and industrial
production, it has become common to point at how our present capitalist system
lacks long-term sustainability. If this used to be the privilege of a
handful of left-leaning economists like André Gunder Frank (2005) or
Robert Brenner (2004), economists, politicians and business leaders who used to
be more than happy with the existing order of things have now joined the ranks.
Even Richard Florida, whose theories of the 'creative class' stood at the heart
of the gentrification-driven real estate boom that preceded the present crisis
now proclaims that '[t]<i><span style='font-style:italic'>he housing
bubble was the ultimate expression, and perhaps the last gasp, of an economic
system some 80 years in the making, and now well past its "sell-by date</span></i>"
(<st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Florida</st1:place></st1:State>,
2009:9). <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>However, in order to understand why the 'system is
past its "sell-by date"' and, by implication, what can be done about
this, it is not enough to go beyond populist cries of managerial greed and
corrupt banks. We need to move even deeper into the heart of the matter, beyond
even most current explanations that focus on the perversities of advanced
financial instruments and the need for tighter regulation of financial markets;
we need to '<i><span style='font-style:italic'>descend into the depths of
production</span></i>' to quote (an increasingly popular) Marx (1939[1973]:105)
once more, and engage with the fundamental concept of any economic analysis:
value.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'> This article will attempt a couple of moves in
that direction. It will argue that we are witnessing a fundamental
re-configuration of the very core logic of value with which our economy works:
We are moving from a capitalist economy where value is directly related to
investments in productive time, to an ever more influential ‘ethical
economy’ where value is related to the quality of social relations. I
will develop this argument by presenting five (interconnected) ideas: One, that
our crisis is a crisis of transition from one system, industrial capitalism, to
another economy that has yet to find its political, juridical and ideological
form, its 'superstructure' to keep using Marxist terms. Two, that this crisis
of transition is driven by the emergence, within the institutional framework of
capitalism itself of a new mode of production that works according to a logic
of value that is different from that of industrial capitalism. Consequently a
lot of the wealth actually produced by the economy cannot be adequately valued
and, by implication, managed within existing structures of accounting, control
and measurement. Seen this way, the crisis we are now living through is
essentially a value crisis, where, as the opening quote claims, exchange value
no longer adequately reflects use value, or, to put it in less cryptic terms,
there is a general sensation that a lot of the real values that circulate in
our economy cannot be adequately represented. Three, that the emerging 'new
economy' has a distinct value-logic of its own. It is an economy where value is
related not to productive time as in the capitalist economy, but to the ability
to build ethically binding relations: it is, in this sense and 'ethical
economy'. Four, that the emergence of such an ethical economy is the outcome of
a dialectic that has been immanent to the very development of the capitalist
economy, and in particular to its post-War globalization- phase. Five, that
since, as recent economic sociology would argue, 'value' is essentially a
shared convention as to the representation of economic processes (cf. Barry
& Slater, 2005, Chiapello, 2008</span><a style='mso-endnote-id:edn2'
href="#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class=MsoEndnoteReference><sup><span
class=MsoEndnoteReference><sup><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>[ii]</span></font></sup></span></sup></span></a></font><span
lang=EN-GB>), the solution to the present 'value crisis' is contingent on the
establishment of a new shared convention. Given the nature of the ethical
economy, such a convention must be centred on a transparent and systematic
measure of the social impact of companies and organizations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>I am aware that a bold statements like these are risky
in an academic setting, particularly when expressed in the condensed format
imposed by the medium of the journal article. (This article is in fact an
attempt to summarize the ideas behind an ongoing book project.</span><a
style='mso-endnote-id:edn3' href="#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><span
class=Rimandonotadichiusura2><sup><span class=Rimandonotadichiusura2><sup><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>[iii]</span></font></sup></span></sup></span></a></font><span
lang=EN-GB>) As a sort of pre-emptive defence against the (legitimate)
criticism that this article will no doubt produce, I want to remind
the reader that its purpose suggest ideas that can guide our interpretation of
current events. Although such theoretical work needs to proceed in close
dialogue with the available facts, it stands no chance of even approaching the
empirical rigour needed for a thorough substantiation of the hypotheses
proposed. All this article aims to do is to present a number of ideas that can
serve as heuristic devices, that may be, hopefully, developed, corroborated,
criticized or refuted by others. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</div>
<div style='mso-element:endnote-list'><br clear=all>
<hr align=left size=1 width="33%">
<div style='mso-element:endnote' id=edn1>
<p class=MsoEndnoteText><a style='mso-endnote-id:edn1' href="#_ednref1"
name="_edn1" title=""><span class=EndnoteCharacters><sup><font size=2
face="Liberation Serif"><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt'><span
class=EndnoteCharacters><sup><font size=2 face="Liberation Serif"><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Liberation Serif"'>[i]</span></font></sup></span></span></font></sup></span></a><span
lang=EN-GB> </span><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Penguin
edition, translated by Martin Nicolaus: Marx, 1973(1939): 705.</span></font></p>
</div>
<div style='mso-element:endnote' id=edn2>
<p class=MsoEndnoteText><a style='mso-endnote-id:edn2' href="#_ednref2"
name="_edn2" title=""><span class=MsoEndnoteReference><sup><font size=2
face="Liberation Serif"><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt'><span
class=MsoEndnoteReference><sup><font size=2 face="Liberation Serif"><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Liberation Serif"'>[ii]</span></font></sup></span></span></font></sup></span></a><span
lang=EN-GB> </span><font face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'> </span></font><font
size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Admittedly, 'value' is one of the most difficult
and entangled concepts in the social sciences. </span></font><font size=2
face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
"Times New Roman"'>Value can be simplistically defined a 'social importance',
the weight that a society gives to an object or an issue. Under ideal
conditions, conditions of complete rationality, transparency and information,
value should be reflected in market price (or at least in long-term market
equilibrium: another utopia). However value is different from price: it is more
like the normative guideline for price (rather like Aristotle’s' notion
of 'just price'). To establish what counts as ´valuable´is in
fact a fundamental political act, which sets the stage for subsequent
struggles. Arguably the greatest revolutionary achievement of the French
revolution of 1789 was to establish that labour had a value (and that it wasn't
just an abundant natural resource). This set the stage for the struggles that
accompanied (and led) the industrialization process of the 19th century.
Similarly twentieth century industrial capitalism operated with a
value-convention that resulted from the Fordist compromise between
capital and labor. This way struggles over social redistribution could be
normatively oriented around the productivity of factory labor. The neo-liberal
reaction of the past twenty years has been organized around a systematic denial
of any distinction between value and price. The result has been a 'market society'
where the only acceptable mechanism for social distribution is the market and
its fluctuations. All of these are value conventions that have been achieved by
political struggles and subsequently institutionalized in everything from
labour law through accounting systems to public morality. They become part of
what Max Weber (1934) called the societal 'iron cage' the set of socially
institutionalized norms, values and motivations that guide social action,
independently of individual will. The (political) challenge today is to
construct a new such value convention (and an iron cage to follow).</span></font><font
face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div style='mso-element:endnote' id=edn3>
<p class=MsoEndnoteText><a style='mso-endnote-id:edn3' href="#_ednref3"
name="_edn3" title=""><span class=EndnoteCharacters><sup><font size=2
face="Liberation Serif"><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt'><span
class=EndnoteCharacters><sup><font size=2 face="Liberation Serif"><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Liberation Serif"'>[iii]</span></font></sup></span></span></font></sup></span></a><span
lang=EN-GB> </span><font face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Arvidsson, A. & Peitersen, N. <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>The Ethical Economy</span></i>, work in progress,
available at www.ethicaleconomy.com<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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