Overview

This book adapts Marx's concept of 'use-value' for the 21st century, offering a fresh perspective on our understanding of value, wealth, and the role of public services in today's economy and society. Challenging the dominance of market-based thinking, it demonstrates that essential services such as healthcare, education, and care work generate real, quantifiable value beyond the realm of profit. Exploring the intersection of economics, public policy, and political science, the book examines the contributions of households, the third sector, and public-private partnerships to social reproduction and state legitimacy. Furthermore, the book critiques neoliberal efforts to commodify public goods and exposes the limitations of managerialism and co-production as policy responses. By expanding Marxist theory to encompass non-market production, the book provides a new framework for understanding crises, class conflict, and the evolution of the capitalist state. This book will be of interest to students, scholars, and practitioners seeking to understand the political economy of public services and the future of collective provision.

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9783032125668

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Author Information

Tony Kinder currently is a visiting Professor at Tampere University, Finland. Following a period as an engineering trade union official (1972-98), Kinder occupied leading positions in Lothian Regional and West Lothian local Councils (1982-1998).  He then worked at the University of Edinburgh Business School, Scotland, (1998-2016) as Director of Programmes and later as MBA Director.  His research is on learning in service innovation processes around which he has published over 70 papers in academic journals. His current research focuses on the governance of ecosystems, public value, mutuality, and the ethical use of advanced technology in integrated local public services in Finland and Scotland.  In 2024 he and Jari Stenvall published a book on Problem-solving and Learning for Public Services and in 2025 he published a book Marx and public services - Theory, Policy, and Practice

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