Accounting for History in Marx's Capital: The Missing Link

by Robert Bryer Warwick Business School

Overview

Accounting for History uses the accounting interpretation of Marx’s theories of history and value to explain and defend his prediction of the inevitability of socialism as the end of history. In addition to the technological and institutional development of advanced capitalism, Bryer argues that the key necessary conditions, are that workers see through capitalist ideology, understanding that Marx’s theory of value explains why the phenomenal forms appearing in capitalist accounts are distortions of the underlying social reality, and that demystified accounting is integral to his concept of socialism on Day One. To get to Day One, the book concludes, Marx left Marxists the tasks of critical accounting.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781498551632
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	06/25/2019
Series:	Heterodox Studies in the Critique of Political Economy
Pages:	438
Product dimensions:	6.24(w) x 9.37(h) x 1.49(d)

About the Author

Rob Bryer is professor emeritus of accounting at Warwick Business School, Warwick University.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 The Missing Link

Chapter 2 Marx’s Theory of History

Chapter 3 An Accounting Critique of Marxist Interpretations

Chapter 4 Ancient Slavery

Chapter 5 Slavery in the Late Roman Empire

Chapter 6 Transition to Feudalism in Western Europe

Chapter 7 Capitalist Ideology and Accounting

Chapter 8 The Socialist Mode of Production

Chapter 9 The Tasks of Critical Accounting

Editorial Reviews

Accounting for Value is a fascinating, optimistic book, of significant contemporary importance. Its argument that Marx is the “original critical accountant” and theorist of world accounting history, is genuinely ground-breaking. The importance of accounting to Marx’s oeuvre, set out in the book, enables a more complex appreciation of Marx’s theories, as well as demonstrating their empirical validity. Its explanation that accounting-technologies control the production of surplus-value, makes accounting, the ‘invisible-hand’ in Marx’s theory of capitalism. Accounting could be, the “missing-link” in many people’s understanding of Marx’s theory of history and its end in socialism. A dynamic, detailed, must-read book.

Christine Cooper

Rob Bryer’s writings on the history of accounting are always compelling and thought provoking. In his latest book he presents a convincing accounting interpretation of Marx’s theory of history that draws on illustrations from ancient civilizations to the pre-capitalist world. His findings will intrigue students of Marx’s philosophy, diverse communities of historians, and critical accountants.

Steve Walker

"With capitalism once again at a crossroads, its defenders rely, more than ever, on methods for obfuscating the real underlying economic relationships. In Accounting for History, Rob Bryer exposes how accounting obscures these relationships, and the true nature of value. Building on Accounting for Value, he traces the evolution of accounting as historical materialism. From the ancient slave societies of Babylonia and Rome, though feudal estates, the ideology of capitalism, to the inevitability of socialism, Bryer reinterprets the history of accounting, adds insights to the Marxian view of history, and rehabilitates Marx’s core ideas."

Steven Toms

I greatly enjoyed this book which covers the development of Marx’s theory over his lifetime; how the theory has been interpreted by subsequent authors and can be reconciled to historical knowledge unavailable to Marx during his life, or to events following his death; testing the viability of his theory against the extant accounting evidence; historical analysis ranging from the ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians to the 1984-85 miners’ strike in Britain; and arguing in favor of a more coherent and proactive challenge to social injustice by critical accounting scholars mobilizing Marx’s theory of value. A fantastic read that will stimulate much debate.

David Oldroyd