Abstract
The objective of this text is to discuss, within the Marxist paradigm, what is considered the central aspect of the debate on the “Knowledge Economy”, and that antecedes all others, which is the nature and meaning of the knowledge-commodity. More specifically, the purpose is to highlight the rentism of the “new economy”, based on the critical analysis of the thesis of unmeasurable value (Eleutério Prado), and the thesis about the valueless knowledge-commodity (Rodrigo Teixeira and Tomas Rotta). We defend the need to advance to less abstract levels of analysis, particularly in the sense of relating the rent-seeking to contemporary reconfigurations of imperialism and dependency.
Keywords:
Knowledge-commodity; Knowledge-rent; Political economy of knowledge