Theory of Value - A Glossary

Within the framework of the research project Theory of Value and the Production of Culture, we are developing an open-access learning and research digital tool aimed at studying Marx’s theory of value. The tool will be useful to scholars, students, translators and the broader public. Its purpose is twofold: it will offer a systematization of relevant literature and the conceptual apparatus tied to this theory, as well as a heuristic instrument useful for introducing interested readers into the theory of value. The glossary consists of:

  1. visual schematics of Capital, Volume 1
  2. cultural glossary
  3. annotated bibliography of literary- and cultural-theoretical texts
  4. general bibliography related to the theory of value

1. Schematics of Capital, Vol. 1

The schematics of Capital offers a visual representation of Marx’s exposition, i.e. the unfolding of fundamental categories in the first volume of Capital. The schematics will therefore make it possible to simultaneously trace the logical progression of analytical categories in a linear manner and to observe those categories in their mutual relationships.

2. Cultural glossary

This part will consist of short essays discussing a range of key concepts in the humanities and social sciences and refracting those concepts through the perspective of theory of value. The main purpose of this part is to demonstrate that the analytical perspective of the theory of value has a significant epistemological potential: it allows us to enrich the well-known and unquestioned with new and sometimes unexpected insights.

3. Annotated bibliography

Here we will compile and provide brief commentary on key texts by authors working in literary and cultural theory from the perspective of theory of value. This tendency has become especially prominent in Anglophone literary and cultural theory during the last 15-20 years so that particular corpus will be the annotated bibliography’s focus.

4. General bibliography

"Theory of value" is a concept that covers the work done by a whole range of authors who read Marx with a focus on the category of value as the fundamental category of Capital and the "real abstraction" that significantly determines the experience of life under capitalism. The general bibliography represents an attempt to gather in one place the literature that belongs to this tradition of reading Marx.

Glossary development plan

Trial version
Fall 2027
Final version
Fall 2029