Subsumption

This chapter provides a critical overview of main theoretical issues and debates surrounding the Marxist concept of subsumption. It initially sets the context for Marx’s adoption of the term by outlining the significance of subsumption in German philosophy, in particular for Kant and Hegel. It goes on to explore Marx’s use of the term and engagement with the broader problematic of subsumption in two distinct contexts: 1) his early critique of philosophy and the development of a historically critical, ‘materialist’ perspective (where subsumption under concepts is developed into subsumption under social, political and economic relations); 2) his critique of political economy, where, specified as ‘the subsumption of labour under capital’, the concept takes on a far more technical and specific sense as a function of capitalist domination in the production process (in the distinction between ‘formal’, ‘real’ and ‘hybrid’ subsumption). The varied interpretations and debates around subsumption in the Marxist tradition are then explored. Firstly, considering the use of subsumption as a category of historical periodisation and the thesis of a ‘total’ subsumption in the work of Adorno and Negri. Secondly, assessing theorisations of subsumption within labour process theory, Marxological debates and Latin American Marxism.