Kojin Karatani on the Spiritual Powers Associated with the Modes of Exchange
Discussion
"In one of the questions, you asked me to explain the modes of exchange theory. Please refer to the following link for that. http://www.kojinkaratani.com/en/pdf/An_Introduction_to_Modes_ of_Exchange.pdf
After writing this introductory piece, I examined the modes of exchange theory further, which resulted as Powers and Modes of Exchange (2022, Iwanami, Tokyo) (The English translation is scheduled to be published early 2025). You asked me why I wrote about "powers". The obvious answer is that while the powers of modes of production (production power) are straightforward, the powers of modes of exchange are not so simple. These powers are "spiritual" in nature, as opposed to production power which is material. In this piece, rather than answering each of your questions, I will explain about the "powers" that arise from modes of exchange, in the hope that my explanations will be beneficial to think of class issue. Class, the state, and other problems of our society stem from these perverse powers, which modes of exchange generate. Here, I also address environmental issues, which you mentioned in your question. When Weber and Freud criticized Marxism, while acknowledging the determining power of economic base, they emphasized different powers which exist in the superstructure. Weber sought it in religion (Protestantism), and Freud sought it in the “unconscious”. In other words, they thought that those powers came from a place other than the economic base, that is, from ideational powers which religion and other superstructures carry. However, I believe that such "powers" stem from the economic base, by which I mean modes of exchange, not modes of production. Weber and Freud failed to recognize that Marx, in Capital, focused on the "spiritual power" arising from the exchange of commodities. Marx said, “--the table continues to be that common, every-day thing, wood. But, so soon as it steps forth as a commodity, it is changed into something transcendent. (Capital). And he called this power of money a fetish. This was only seen as a joke, but there lied an important point that historical materialism lacked. When Marx came to think of this, he had in his mind one predecessor; Hobbes, who wrote Leviathan. Hobbes found the power of the state not in physical force, such as armed force, nor human will but in its "spiritual" power. That comes out of an "exchange" of protection and obedience between the ruler and the ruled. Hobbes called this power the Leviathan, a gigantic sea monster. In Capital, Marx called the power arising from mode of exchange C a fetish, just as Hobbes called the spiritual power arising from mode of exchange B a Leviathan. However, nobody paid attention to this. It was dismissed as a mere joke. Meanwhile, after Marx's death, there was a person who has discovered other type of spiritual power; Marcel Mauss focused on the gift exchange in primitive societies. He believed that in this reciprocal exchange a spell (the spirit of Hau) is at work. This power accompanies mode of exchange A. However, this too was dismissed as a joke or metaphor. Morse was admired by the Structuralists such as Lévi-Strauss, but at the same time condemned for bringing up such a suspicious power. I find that these spiritual powers are more prevalent in the world today than ever before. After the nineteenth century, the powers of the capital-nation-state have been dominating the world. It should be noted that each of them (capital, nation, and state) is based on a spiritual power, and we are more than ever under the control of those powers."
(https://www.crisiscritique.org/storage/app/media/2023-05-18/interview-with-kojin-karatani.pdf)
Source
* Article / interview: On Modes of Exchange, Interview with Kojin Karatani Agon Hamza & Frank Ruda. Crisis & Critique, Volume 10 Issue 1.
URL = https://www.crisiscritique.org/storage/app/media/2023-05-18/interview-with-kojin-karatani.pdf