The Network’s Blindspot: Exclusion, Exploitation and Marx’s Process-Relational Ontology
The ‘network metaphor’ impoverishes our understanding of power. Its binary logic of inclusion/exclusion leaves it blind to relations of exploitation. However, instead of ideological critique – the standard Marxist approach - this paper reconstructs Marx’s theory of exploitation from a common “proces...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Paderborn University: Media Systems and Media Organisation Research Group
2012-05-01
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| Series: | tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/408 |
| _version_ | 1797701022509957120 |
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| author | Robert Prey |
| author_facet | Robert Prey |
| author_sort | Robert Prey |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The ‘network metaphor’ impoverishes our understanding of power. Its binary logic of inclusion/exclusion leaves it blind to relations of exploitation. However, instead of ideological critique – the standard Marxist approach - this paper reconstructs Marx’s theory of exploitation from a common “process-relational ontology” that is shared by both network theorists and Marx. From this shared ontology it becomes possible to demonstrate how Marx’s materialization of process through ‘production’ and his understanding of relations as ‘internal’ and ‘contradictory’ lead him not into an inclusion/exclusion cul-de-sac but rather to a critique of exploitation writ large. This paper concludes by briefly demonstrating how the theory of exploitation that emerges from Marx’s process-relational ontology is ideally suited to understanding and critiquing the intensification and extensification of exploitation under informational capitalism. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:29:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f3604b484c824bdf9e339c9b541780dc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1726-670X 1726-670X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:29:20Z |
| publishDate | 2012-05-01 |
| publisher | Paderborn University: Media Systems and Media Organisation Research Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique |
| spelling | doaj.art-f3604b484c824bdf9e339c9b541780dc2023-09-03T10:11:22ZengPaderborn University: Media Systems and Media Organisation Research GrouptripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique1726-670X1726-670X2012-05-0110225327310.31269/triplec.v10i2.408408The Network’s Blindspot: Exclusion, Exploitation and Marx’s Process-Relational OntologyRobert Prey0Simon Fraser University, School of CommunicationThe ‘network metaphor’ impoverishes our understanding of power. Its binary logic of inclusion/exclusion leaves it blind to relations of exploitation. However, instead of ideological critique – the standard Marxist approach - this paper reconstructs Marx’s theory of exploitation from a common “process-relational ontology” that is shared by both network theorists and Marx. From this shared ontology it becomes possible to demonstrate how Marx’s materialization of process through ‘production’ and his understanding of relations as ‘internal’ and ‘contradictory’ lead him not into an inclusion/exclusion cul-de-sac but rather to a critique of exploitation writ large. This paper concludes by briefly demonstrating how the theory of exploitation that emerges from Marx’s process-relational ontology is ideally suited to understanding and critiquing the intensification and extensification of exploitation under informational capitalism.https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/408NetworksMarxCastellsProcess-Relational OntologyExploitationExclusionInternal RelationsProduction |
| spellingShingle | Robert Prey The Network’s Blindspot: Exclusion, Exploitation and Marx’s Process-Relational Ontology tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique Networks Marx Castells Process-Relational Ontology Exploitation Exclusion Internal Relations Production |
| title | The Network’s Blindspot: Exclusion, Exploitation and Marx’s Process-Relational Ontology |
| title_full | The Network’s Blindspot: Exclusion, Exploitation and Marx’s Process-Relational Ontology |
| title_fullStr | The Network’s Blindspot: Exclusion, Exploitation and Marx’s Process-Relational Ontology |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Network’s Blindspot: Exclusion, Exploitation and Marx’s Process-Relational Ontology |
| title_short | The Network’s Blindspot: Exclusion, Exploitation and Marx’s Process-Relational Ontology |
| title_sort | network s blindspot exclusion exploitation and marx s process relational ontology |
| topic | Networks Marx Castells Process-Relational Ontology Exploitation Exclusion Internal Relations Production |
| url | https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/408 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT robertprey thenetworksblindspotexclusionexploitationandmarxsprocessrelationalontology AT robertprey networksblindspotexclusionexploitationandmarxsprocessrelationalontology |