Methodological holism in Marx’s Capital Volume 1: The conceptualisation and measurement of individual units

Subrahmanyam, Sushmita Rama (2025) Methodological holism in Marx’s Capital Volume 1: The conceptualisation and measurement of individual units. Review of Development and Change, 30 (1_supp). pp. S66-S79. ISSN 0972-2661

Text - Published Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (745kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

This article aims to understand the methodological position that Marx takes in Capital Volume 1 and the implications of that on the individual units in his analysis. With the understanding that Marx adopts a fundamentally holist methodological standpoint, the article outlines how the individuals within classes and the system of capitalist production are measured and contextualised. This question is answered by examining Marx’s Capital Volume 1 as the primary text. Where relevant, I engage with Marx’s intellectual background and tradition. The individual units discussed in this study are the commodity, the worker and the capitalist. This article examines how the concept of the representative individual emerges through averaging and how this process unfolds in Marx’s Capital , shaped by his methodological approach. The article illustrates the method of averaging in Marx, through his intellectual engagement with Quetelet as it also focuses on Hegel’s influence on Marx’s method and elaborates on the parallels and divergences between them. With the given engagement with Capital and Marx’s intellectual interactions, we arrive at a specific understanding of holism that can be attributed to Marx in Capital Volume 1.

Item Type:	Article
Authors:	Subrahmanyam, Sushmita Rama
Document Language:	Language English
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Methodological holism, Marx, Quetelet, Hegel, average
Subjects:	Social sciences > Economics > Socialism & related systems Social sciences > Economics > Production
Divisions:	Azim Premji University - Bengaluru
Full Text Status:	Restricted
URI:	http://publications.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/id/eprint/7839
Publisher URL:	https://doi.org/10.1177/09722661251332516

Actions (login required)

View Item