Subjectivity, Class, and Marx's “Forms of the Commune”

Forms of subjectivity are implied by the concepts of “direct producer” and “appropriator of surplus labor” in Marxian class theory. The section of Marx's Grundrisse that discusses “forms that precede capitalist production” elaborates a typology of “forms of the commune.” Original, Asiatic, and Germanic forms of the commune share a fundamental communal class process. These forms of the commune differ in how variations of the “primitive” commune (based upon kinship/clan rules) or of the “individual” (who performs and appropriates surplus labor only as a kin/clan/commune member) appear as direct producers and/or appropriators. Communal appropriation occurs even when the appropriators, such as Germanic heads of households or Asiatic “despots,” extract surplus as “representations” of the “unity” of the clan/commune. This article argues that in Marx's later writings, all manner of concepts of individuality and collectivity/communality are produced by Marx to determine and differentiate class processes.