Marx and Socially Necessary Labor Time. On the Content and Form of the Quantitative Determination of Value.

The article focuses on the Marxist debate surrounding the concept of socially necessary labor time (SNLT) as the quantitative determinant of value in capitalist society, revisiting this issue through a systematic-dialectical reading of Marx's original manuscripts for *Capital*. It identifies three main interpretations: a "circulationist" view linking SNLT to effective market demand; a "production-centered" view grounding SNLT solely in production conditions; and an "intermediate" position combining both. The authors argue that none fully aligns with Marx's texts or the fundamental unity of value's content and form. They propose that SNLT fundamentally expresses a norm of labor productivity established by diverse production conditions under competing individual capitals, while price forms mediate its expression and realization in circulation. Furthermore, the article clarifies that Marx's use of "market value" varies, sometimes referring to the direct monetary expression of social value determined exclusively in production, and at other times to a broader regulating price influenced by exceptional market conditions, thus distinguishing it from social value and cautioning against conflating the two. This nuanced interpretation aims to reconcile textual ambiguities and longstanding controversies by emphasizing the primacy of production in constituting value, with circulation playing a mediating but not constitutive role.