From: "Robert and Margo Dresbach" <dresmaro-at-jps.net>

Tony Smith's book is important, I believe (provided it is based on a solid understanding of the underpinnings of Marx's analytical approach) because the intent is to:

"i) to clarify the categories used in contributions to empirical social science, so that these categories could be used in a reflective fashion (something that is not typically the case);

ii) to propose a theory of fetishism, in which the appearances generated by concrete process in capitalism are shown to mask capitalism's inner nature;

iii) to assert strong claims of necessity, such as 'capital of necessity involves exploitation' and 'values of necessity underlie prices'; and finally

iv) to ground revolutionary politics: revolutionary politics always keeps in mind the necessity of the transformation of fundamental structures; this presupposes that fundamental structures can be distinguished from those that are not fundament, and dialectical logic enable Marx to make this distinction."

The Logic of Marx's Capital
Tony Smith
State University of New York Press Page x

Robert L. Dresbach