Marx’s Analysis of Social Forms and Economic Sociology

Abstract

This article deals with the New Reading of Marx, an interpretation focused on the analysis of social and value forms and associated social relations. Marx's analysis of social forms makes it possible to distinguish determinate abstractions (commodity and capital in the capitalist mode of production) from general ones (product, money), denaturalizing the economic vision of production, opening up a way for possible understanding of different modes of production and their social character. The article argues that the analysis of social forms opens up a path for re-approaching the field of enquiry that conventionally belongs to economics, whose abandonment marks sociology for most of its history, with the sociological analysis, thus rendering visible social dimensions of the object of investigation, whilst questioning and disputing the monopoly of economic theories and categories. The connection between Marx's analysis of social forms and the work of other classical sociologists is demonstrated, opening up the discussion of its relevance for economic sociology. Reviewing the new economic sociology, the article shows how its Weberian roots drastically narrow the space for integration of Marx's work. It is argued that the reading of Marx presented here can however be situated in a more broadly understood contemporary economic sociology that includes a wider range of approaches retaining the multi-paradigmatic character of sociology. In conclusion, the article discusses the relationship between domestic sociology and Marxism, arguing that sociological literature can be enriched by re-evaluating Marxism through the prism of the New Reading of Marx.