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All Outputs (16)

Marx and the Concept of a Social Formation (2024)
Journal Article
Burns, T. (2024). Marx and the Concept of a Social Formation. Historical Materialism, 13(2), 1-30. https://doi.org/10.1163/1569206x-bja10032

This paper discusses the significance of the concept of a social formation for historical materialism. It argues that the concept is wrongly thought to be associated uniquely with the writings of Louis Althusser and with structuralist Marxism. It can... Read More about Marx and the Concept of a Social Formation.

Marx’s Capital and the concept of super-exploitation (2023)
Journal Article
Burns, T. (in press). Marx’s Capital and the concept of super-exploitation. Capital and Class, https://doi.org/10.1177/03098168231199913

This article explores the theory of exploitation which Marx sets out in Capital. It argues that Marx assumes there that there are five modes of extraction of surplus value. These are associated with the following principles: 1. extended duration of t... Read More about Marx’s Capital and the concept of super-exploitation.

Alasdair MacIntyre on the division of goods and “the corrupting power of institutions” (2022)
Journal Article
Burns, T. (2022). Alasdair MacIntyre on the division of goods and “the corrupting power of institutions”. Frontiers in Sociology, 7, Article 986184. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2022.986184

This paper examines the distinction between “internal goods” and “external goods” and its significance for the political thought of Alasdair MacIntyre, focusing especially on its relevance for our understanding of MacIntyre's views regarding the rela... Read More about Alasdair MacIntyre on the division of goods and “the corrupting power of institutions”.

Amartya Sen and the Capabilities Versus Happiness Debate: An Aristotelian Perspective (2022)
Book Chapter
Burns, T. (2022). Amartya Sen and the Capabilities Versus Happiness Debate: An Aristotelian Perspective. In F. Irtelli, & F. Gabrielli (Eds.), Happiness and Wellness: Biopsychosocial and Anthropological Perspectives. InTech. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108512

This chapter discusses Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach to human development from the standpoint of the concept of happiness. It locates Sen’s work against the background of the recent capabilities versus happiness debate. Sen’s version of the cap... Read More about Amartya Sen and the Capabilities Versus Happiness Debate: An Aristotelian Perspective.

Marxism and the Concept of a Social Formation: An Immanent Critique of the Views of Jairus Banaji (2022)
Journal Article
Burns, T. (2022). Marxism and the Concept of a Social Formation: An Immanent Critique of the Views of Jairus Banaji. Science and Society, 86(1), 38-65. https://doi.org/10.1521/SISO.2022.86.1.38

Jairus Banaji associates the concept of a social formation (involving modal combination, or the articulation of modes of production) with "vulgar Marxism." This includes both the Marxism of the Second International and the structuralist Marxism of Lo... Read More about Marxism and the Concept of a Social Formation: An Immanent Critique of the Views of Jairus Banaji.

The concept of a social formation in the writings of E. P. Thompson and Ellen Meiksins Wood (2021)
Journal Article
Burns, T. (2022). The concept of a social formation in the writings of E. P. Thompson and Ellen Meiksins Wood. Capital and Class, 46(2), 257-277. https://doi.org/10.1177/03098168211029000

In this article, I consider what E. P. Thompson and Ellen Meiksins Wood have to say about the concept of a social formation and its significance for Marxism. I consider these thinkers together for two reasons. In the first place, the views of Meiksin... Read More about The concept of a social formation in the writings of E. P. Thompson and Ellen Meiksins Wood.

St. Augustine and Administration: The Politics of Social Institutions in The City of God (2020)
Journal Article
Burns, T. (2021). St. Augustine and Administration: The Politics of Social Institutions in The City of God. European Legacy, 26(1), 22-38. https://doi.org/10.1080/10848770.2020.1793959

This article considers what St. Augustine has to say about administration (administrare) in The City of God, as well as in The Rule of St. Augustine and in Of the Work of Monks. Rather than focusing on Augustine’s political thought as traditionally u... Read More about St. Augustine and Administration: The Politics of Social Institutions in The City of God.

Alasdair MacIntyre, utopianism and the politics of social institutions (2019)
Journal Article
Burns, T. (2019). Alasdair MacIntyre, utopianism and the politics of social institutions. International Critical Thought, 9(3), 447-462. https://doi.org/10.1080/21598282.2019.1647550

In what follows I shall consider what Alasdair MacIntyre has to say about utopianism, from the standpoint of someone who has an interest in the kind of politics that takes place within social institutions. The discussion has two parts. In the first p... Read More about Alasdair MacIntyre, utopianism and the politics of social institutions.

Marx, the labour theory of value and the transformation problem (2016)
Journal Article
Burns, T. (2017). Marx, the labour theory of value and the transformation problem. Capital and Class, 41(3), 493-510. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309816816678581

© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016. This article reconsiders what Marx says about what has come to be known as the transformation problem in Chapter IX of Capital Volume III, in the light of Marx’s claim, made in Capital Volume I, that the value of a commo... Read More about Marx, the labour theory of value and the transformation problem.

‘Happy slaves’?: the adaptation problem and identity politics in the writings of Amartya Sen (2016)
Journal Article
Burns, T. (2016). ‘Happy slaves’?: the adaptation problem and identity politics in the writings of Amartya Sen. International Journal of Social Economics, 43(12), 1178-1193. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-09-2015-0232

This paper examines the relationship between Amartya Sen’s notion of adaptation and his views on identity politics by focusing on the issue of slavery and, more specifically, on the example of the happy or contented slave. The methodological approach... Read More about ‘Happy slaves’?: the adaptation problem and identity politics in the writings of Amartya Sen.

Hegel and global politics: communitarianism or cosmopolitanism? (2014)
Journal Article
Burns, T. (2014). Hegel and global politics: communitarianism or cosmopolitanism?. Journal of International Political Theory, 10(3), https://doi.org/10.1177/1755088214539409

This article discusses Hegel’s views on global politics by relating them to the ‘communitarianism versus cosmopolitanism’ debate. I distinguish between three different theoretical positions and three different readings of Hegel, which I associate wit... Read More about Hegel and global politics: communitarianism or cosmopolitanism?.