Capitalism: A Conversation in Critical Theory
by Nancy Fraser and Rahel Jaeggi
(Polity, £17.99)

OVERLY abstract and with few historical illustrations of its generalisations, Nancy Fraser and Rahel Jaeggi nevertheless raise points of interest as they debate the definition of capitalism.

[[{"fid":"3371","view_mode":"inlineright","fields":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-inlineright","data-delta":"1"},"link_text":null}]]Taking a page or so in turn, they accept the basic Marxist assumptions of private ownership of the means of production, a free labour market and capital accumulation premised on the expansion of capital, with the system geared towards making profit instead of satisfying needs.

They see maintenance of the flow of wage labour into the factory for profit-making in production of commodities as dependent on, and subsidised by, unwaged labour in the household — such unpaid labour is necessary for “productive” labour.