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 Cover of the first edition | |
| Author | Jean Baudrillard |
|---|---|
| Original title | Le Miroir de la production |
| Language | French |
| Subject | Marxism |
Publication date | 1973 |
| Publication place | France |
| Media type | |
| Part ofa series on |
| Critique of political economy |
|---|
Works |
The Mirror of Production (French:Le Miroir de la production) is a 1973 book by French sociologist and philosopherJean Baudrillard. It is a systematiccritique of Marxism. Baudrillard's thesis is thatKarl Marx's theory ofhistorical materialism is too rooted in assumptions and values ofpolitical economy which Marx attempted tocritique to provide a sufficient framework for radical action. According to Baudrillard, the fault of Marxism is in prioritizing the very concepts that undergirdcapital, for example, necessity, value, and labor. He furthermore argues that the Marxist view fails to take into account the role ofsigns andsymbols in theproduction process, as well as the increasing importance ofconsumer culture. The book is asemiotic critique of the political economy of the sign.
Baudrillard states that Marx's critique of political economy was based on forms of production and labour. Marx did not transcend political economy but merely saw its reverse or its "mirror" side. Marxism merely strengthens political economy's basic propositions, in particular, the idea that self-creation is performed throughproductive, non-alienated labour. In Baudrillard's words:"[Marxism] convinces men that they are alienated by the sale of theirlabor power, thus censoring the much more radical hypothesis that they might be alienated as labor power."[1] Baudrillard proposes to liberate workers from their "labour value" and think in terms other than production.
Baudrillard argues that the mirror of production ultimately leads to the end of production itself. He contends that the constant reproduction of the means of production leads to a situation where production becomes redundant and that this redundancy is reflected in the increasing importance of consumption and the virtualization of the economy.
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