Value

This republication of a long out-of-print collection of essays, first published in 1979, focuses on the elusive concept of “value.” The field of study surrounding the theory of value remains comparatively sparse in Anglophone circles, and the essays here aim to answer the question, “Why is Marx’s theory of value important?”“Elson’s longstanding commitment to movements and initiatives for change outside as well as within academia has strengthened the applied as well as the theoretical aspects of her work.”
—Sylvia Chant, Fifty Key Thinkers on Development

“Elson has collected together a set of interesting essays (and added an extraordinarily penetrating piece of her own) that explore the revolutionary aspects to Marx’s theory in terms of the unity of rigorous science and politics. I have great sympathy with these arguments and view my own work as an explanatory essay along the lines that Elson has begun to define.”
—David Harvey, The Limits to CapitalDiane Elson is an Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex. She writes on Marxist theory, development and human rights. Recently she has made vital contributions to the discourse on economic and social rights and gender inequality.