Introduction

This introductory chapter begins by noting the growing political interest in the topic of value and its connection with labour among policymakers and public figures. Charting post-crisis contestations of the terms of value between populist ‘objective’ approach and mainstream ‘subjective’ approaches, the chapter proposes Karl Marx’s critique of political economy (CoPE) as representing a potential third way. It then turns to the study of management and organisation as a site where this approach could help address the absence of value in contemporary Critical Management Studies. Introducing the reading of Marx’s Capital that underpins the chapters that follow, it closes by setting out the structure to follow, which charts new directions in the application of the CoPE in, beyond and behind what Marx called the ‘hidden abode’ of production.