ABSTRACT
Previous chapters stressed that capitalist society is historically unique in that its reproduction requires the circulation of the products of labor in the form of commodities. The circulation of commodities, along with the parallel circulation of money, is the mechanism by which formally isolated producers are integrated into a system of social reproduction. Competition, a concept to which I have repeatedly alluded, is the interaction of these formally independent producers. Competition is of central importance to the understanding of capitalist society. The development of Marx’s concept of capital prepared the ground for an analysis of competition, and it remains to develop the analysis.
