ABSTRACT
The classical distinction, in Marxist writings, between base and superstructure is deeply questionable today. The fact that economic development now depends on harnessing cultural production through information and communication technologies has blurred the boundary between materiality and social interaction, thereby favouring their permeability. Given the unprecedented risks entailed in the contemporary expansion of the capitalist system, the search for an “alternative economy” has resulted in strong initiatives, of which the new social movements are but one expression. But perhaps we should first take stock of how some of the social changes they propose reflect the theoretical assumptions of the orthodox economics they oppose.
