Kojin Karatani. The Structure of World History: From Modes of Production to Modes of Exchange. Translated by Michael K. Bourdaghs. Durham: Duke University Press, 2014. xxi + 352 pp. $26.95 (paper), ISBN 978-0-8223-5676-9; $94.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-8223-5665-3.
Reviewed by Gemma Masson (University of Birmingham)
Published on H-Empire (April, 2015)
Commissioned by Charles V. Reed (Elizabeth City State University)
It is a truth almost universally acknowledged that it is impossible to avoid Marxism in modern historical scholarship. The issue with this is that defining a Marxist theory is not always as simple as it may first appear. Like most philosophers, Karl Marx has been dissected and deconstructed down into his component parts, any one of which can be picked up and cited in a work that will then be defined as "Marxist," regardless of how many of Marx's tenants are supported therein. What the majority of these works do have in common is the focus on the role of the economic in building the social and, moreover, the focus on the production stage of the economic process.
Kojin Karatani brings Marxist theory into global history by utilizing modes of exchange (e.g., trade), a staple of globalization, as the basis for his analysis. His goal is to examine the history of social formation using modes of exchange as his basis. It is a highly inclusive thesis combining economic exchanges with modes of rule and social contracts between rulers and the ruled throughout human society. This takes the concept of exchange from the purely material to also include the ideological, such as what is owed to a ruler in obedience.
Traditional Marxist theory charts the development of socioeconomic structures to what is recognized as the capitalist economy in the present day. Karatani uses this framework to present four defined and distinct models of exchange, which he then situates within their historical contexts. It is argued that Mode of exchange A originates in sociologist Marcel Mauss's thesis of archaic societies and is the reciprocity of gift, which must be distinguished from the pooling of resources within a household or community and is a means of building larger communities and relations with other groups.
Mode of exchange B also takes place between communities and is manifest when one group plunders and conquers another, or more accurately colonizes conquered land. This is presented by Karatani as a system of continuous plunder, extracted from the conquered land in taxes and tributes, in exchange for comfort and security (such as public works and military protection) for further plunder by other groups. Thus this mode is the basis of the state.
Mode of exchange C is presented as commodity exchange by mutual consent. This is how modern capitalist society is defined. It is also important to note that this may be by mutual consent but both parties are not equal in the transaction. Money is exchanged for goods and the person with money shall attempt to accumulate more by engaging in further commodity exchange, hence modern capitalist society.
Finally, mode of exchange D is Karatani's own vision of what comes after capitalist society, the Marxist utopia toward which all human history is believed to be moving. This he characterizes not as a new system, but rather as an amalgamation of the best parts of what has gone before. He argues that "this represents not only the rejection of the state that was generated through mode of exchange B but also a transcending of the class divisions produced in mode of exchange C; we might think of mode of exchange D as representing the return of mode of exchange A in a higher dimension. It is a mode of exchange that is simultaneously free and mutual. Unlike the other three modes, mode of exchange D does not exist in actuality. It is the imaginary return of the moment of reciprocity that has been repressed under modes of exchange B and C" (p. 7). He further maintains that this mode can be most obviously recognized in universal religions, but really it can be seen in any pan-global ideological movement.
While these modes of exchange have developed roughly chronologically, Karatani acknowledges that it is never as simple as A to B to C. He utilizes the very Braudelian technique of dispensing with linear time to a degree and acknowledging that there have been moments in history where one or more of these modes of exchange have been in play at the same time. This arguably gives rise to the hybrid system which is mode D.
Another key development Karatani presents is the notion of the Capital-Nation-State as an intertwined entity with each part dependent on the strength of the other two. The Capital-Nation-State as a system is not solely possible only within one state but is a global system built on mode of exchange C. This model is presented in relation to political theorist Francis Fukuyama's end of history thesis, which Karatani then seeks to transcend with mode of exchange D, arguing that further development is possible after the birth of the Capital-Nation-State.
With regard to the style of this piece as a methodological text, it must be remembered that the author is a social theorist and philosopher and the work itself is classified as social theory as opposed to history. However that does not detract from its value for historians, especially those working on global and imperial topics charting the development of societies and systems on a global scale right down to the local community interactions found in any society. The work is also rich with references to historical periods, societies, and events that help to clarify and define the theories under discussion and bring them into a real-world context for the reader. The discourse is additionally strengthened with broad readings in philosophy, including but not limited to Adam Smith, Jacques Derrida, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. To conclude, this work has a wide range of applications and will bring value to the discourse of several academic disciplines including a range of historical fields.
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Citation:
Gemma Masson. Review of Karatani, Kojin, The Structure of World History: From Modes of Production to Modes of Exchange.
H-Empire, H-Net Reviews.
April, 2015.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=42510
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