Re: AUT: State capitalism?

["Nate Holdren" <nateholdren@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all-
Harald said:
>Personally I am convinced, and I think Monty might agree with
>me on this, that the key terms for the understanding of the
>character of the late USSR, China etc, whatever the label,  is
>primitive accumulation and the production of the proletariat.

which sounds right to me.

I have two questions in response -
I know work has been done about the role of legal systems in constituting
the capital relations (Linebaugh's _London Hanged_ which I still haven't
tracked down but of which I've heard a lot, Federici's work on witch-hunts
could be understood under this heading as well).
Is anyone aware of research done on the 'justice' systems of the various
so-called socialist states, particularly in relation to constituting capital
relations?

Second, has anyone read _The Invention of Capitalism_ by Michael Perelman?
(subtitled something like 'classical political economy and the secret
history of primitive accumulation') If so, what do you think of it?
I found it really interesting, particularly the last chapter which notes
parallels between Lenin and Adam Smith.
I don't know enough about either figure to fully digest the argument, but it
seems potentially relevant to understanding the USSR etc in the context of
primitive accumulation.

Nate

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