From critique of economics to the primacy of social struggles in contemporary planning debates: A critique of selected technology-centered receptions of the Socialist Calculation Debate

Abstract

Whereas the economic socialist calculation debate contemporarily draws renewed interest under the impression of technological innovations, the current debate widely neglects feminist and class-centered critique of economics. Especially Morozov’s conception of digital socialism which he derives from a discussion of said debate is criticized in this article. His discussion of non-market institutions are characterized as market institutions in the neoclassical sense via a critical reflection of general equilibrium theory. Conventional assumptions about the independent rational actor enter Morozov’s institutions implicitly. Also, his focus on price and information neglects the (re-)productive dimension of the economy. Therefore, it tends to reproduce problems of general market equilibria. This technology-centered conception of socialist planning is contrasted with a conception centered around the collective practice of the institution of the assemblage in the Feminist Strike movement. Potential influences between emancipatory practice and theory of planning are discussed eventually.