1. Introduction: Marxian Value Theory in New Times

Introducing the New Reading of Marx and postoperaismo, this chapter considers the critique of capitalism at a time when Marx’s theory of value is called into question and the promise of a postcapitalist utopia captures the public and political imagination. It situates the New Reading of Marx within existing work on the labour theory of value, and postoperaismo within its increasing reception on the contemporary left. Setting out the contours of the critical method employed in the book, the contents of the chapters that follow are introduced, charting the progression of the book’s argument, using the New Reading of Marx, that postoperaismo gives an impoverished theoretical and empirical foundation for the understanding of contemporary capitalism. Critical thinking is proposed as an alternative to wishful thinking.