Capitalism and social relation: a re-discussion

Abstract

This article aims to investigate, in dialogue with Marx, the social relations underlying capitalism. If we consider that, from the Marxian point of view, social classes are configured according to a certain historical model of property, a fundamental strategy for this investigation will be to re-discuss the concept of property, based on the French anthropologist Maurice Godelier. This re-discussion, as will be seen, allows us to rethink the social divisions that have been established throughout history, including capitalism, allowing us to characterize (not as an exogenous factor) gender and racial divisions, for example. Another fundamental point will be to re-discuss the Marxian concept of value (thought of as productive-mercantile value), trying to reveal how it already signals the specific model of social relationship underlying capitalism and how it points to a profound transformation in human relations and in relations with nature. Finally, the article seeks to think about the challenges that capitalism imposes on the very destiny of humanity.