Book Review: A Mighty Capital under Threat: The Environmental History of London

This book offers a thorough and compelling analysis of the significance of the notion of fetishism for Marxist Political Economy. In contrast to Dobb’s (1979: 11) argument that the theories of fetishism and alienation belong to the Marxist theory of ideology, McNeill argues that they are sine qua non parts of the qualitative aspect of Marx’s Labour Theory of Value (LTV). This is a correct claim that the author proves convincingly, even though McNeill tends to downplay the quantitative aspect by stating that this was of no concern to Marx. Marxist Political Economy engages with both dimensions. The broader framework within which the author conducts his analysis is the accurate thesis that the Marxist perspective remains relevant in the 21st century. The current crises and turmoil of the capitalist economy, the blatant failure of mainstream economics and the subsequent revival of interest in Marxian Political Economy attest to this. The first part of the book examines the development of the notion of fetishism in Marx’s works, from an initial journalistic metaphor to a fully developed scientific concept. This analysis is extended in Part II where McNeill rigorously establishes the generic category of commodity fetishism and then its relationship to other forms of fetishism (money, capital and interest-bearing capital). He bolsters his exposition with a meticulous and accurate juxtaposition of Marx’s dialectical approach with that of Ricardo and Samuel Bailey (a critic of Ricardo and precursor of the Marginalist theory) regarding the nature of value. He accurately pinpoints Marx’s fundamental difference with both, namely his consideration of value as a social rather than a natural phenomenon. McNeill also juxtaposes Marx’s materialist dialectics with Hegel’s idealist dialectics. These two parts constitute the backbone of the book and offer original contributions to Marxist Political Economy. Part III goes into slippery grounds, as McNeill argues that value would be better understood through linguistics and reflects on the advantages and disadvantages of structuralist Marxism by considering the works of Althusser (whom he characterizes as a not serious structuralist), Levi-Strauss (a non-Marxist structuralist) and Godelier (a promising synthesizer of both of them). McNeill argues that Structuralism, despite its limitations, presents advantages for a social understanding of value and for conceiving of commodity as a sign. Competition & Change