A Refutation of “Rent” in Technofeudalism and Knowledge-Commodity Theories: Toward a Theory of Surplus Profits

This article offers a critique of the technofeudal hypothesis and theories of digital capitalism, identifying areas in which these two rival theories share common concepts. Countering the argument that the technology industry’s revenues constitute rents rather than profits, the article presents a theoretical discussion of Marx’s theory of ground rent to argue against Mandel and others’ extension of this category to “technological rents” as a proxy for a theory of surplus profits. The article establishes a preliminary framework for understanding the sources of surplus profits in the technology industry, finding that Big Tech’s revenues span the categories of both industrial and commercial profit, linked to the development of American capitalism in the postwar era. The article highlights the instances of value creation that take place in the tech labor process, relating this to the tech workers’ organizing movement.

JEL Classification: B5, L630, N720