True Value

= to be contrasted with the concept of Fetish Value

Discussion

"One could inquire as to why we employ the term ‘true value’ instead of ‘real value.’ Would the latter term not more closely align with the Marxian concept of ‘real wealth’? Marx’s term ‘real value’ may suggest a pragmatic approach to normativity, implying the practical value or usefulness of something in the real world. This aligns well with Marx’s view that the ‘value of’ something is determined by its usefulness or practicality in achieving a particular goal. Although ‘real wealth’ is not simply an accumulation of use-values for Marx, it still lacks the normative element since it refers to the ‘existing’ productive capacity of society. Therefore, coining ‘real value’ based on the notion of ‘real wealth’ contradicts our intention of not reducing the theory to a mere concern for ‘use-value’ and existing social capacities as a foundation for normativity.

Moreover, while the catchphrase ‘real value’ of labor can refer to the socially necessary labor time required to reproduce labor power, it is not sufficient to capture the full scope of value in labor. The term ‘true value’ is used to expand the discussion beyond the logic of capital and to consider labor in its original commoning nature as a human creative power (see Chapter 5 in this book and also Hosseini, 2022b). It implies a critical perspective on the limitations of the capitalist framework and seeks to uncover the underlying reality that is often obscured by ideology and power structures. Therefore, the use of the term ‘true value’ emphasizes the importance of analyzing labor beyond the narrow framework of capital–labor relations and recognizing its broader social and historical context.

...

To fully understand the value of labor, we must also consider its ‘true value,’ which extends beyond the narrow confines of capitalist production. Labor is not only shortchanged in terms of its ‘real value,’ but also in terms of its ‘true value’ lost due to its alienation from its commoning nature as a creative power. Therefore, to fully grasp the status of labor in contemporary society, we should expand our analysis beyond the confines of ‘capitalist production’ and consider how labor is alienated from its commoning nature as human creative power under capital’s extra-production relations."

Four Fundamental Categories of Commons That Create True Value

From the book: Capital Redefined.

S.A. Hamed and Barry K. Gils:

"Following an Aristotelian fourfold model of causality (i.e., the efficient, material, formal, and final causes), we consider four irreducible categories as the ‘fundamental commons’ that (only when) together cause true value:

(1) Creativity as the ‘efficient’ commoning cause of true value, comprising (more than) humans’ creative capacities to conscientiously achieve and sustain selffulfilling levels of collective living in balanced coexistence with the (rest of the) life-domain;

(2) Liveability as the ‘material’ commoning cause, consisting of the material and immaterial substances, components and inputs necessary for producing true value. These sources evolve naturally through self-sustaining, restorative, and regenerative practices under shared stewardship and collective decision-making across socio-ecological networks of communal life;

(3) Conviviality as the ‘formal’ commoning cause entailing deep interdependence among (more than) human populations, pluriversality of their modes of living and caring, and their communal solidarity inclusive of non-humans, or in other words, the convivial modes of ‘living well together’ (well-living, buen vivir) through (and despite) frictions, tension, disputes, and diversities; and finally;

(4) Alterity as the ‘final’ commoning cause of true value, such as organized prefigurative practices and subjectivities (imaginative, symbolic, proactivist) essential for transcending the dominant hierarchical structures and for actualizing rightful ideals, moralities, dreams, more-than-human liberation, purposeful ‘well-living,’ and a ‘free life.’ "

(https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/290382/1/9781003805588.pdf)