The Dussel’s concept of the Other: Marx’s Ideas interpretation

The theme of the Other occupies a central place in Dussel’s work and is the basis for many of his other philosophical ideas. In addressing the problem of the exclusion of individual groups and entire peoples from world history, Dussel attempts to describe the situation of the Other and builds his concept on the notion of “living labour” taken from Marx’s Capital. Just as the Other is external in relation to the Western European totality, the worker occupies an external position in relation to capital. Based on this idea, Dussel interprets the concept of “dependency” as the movement of surplus value from a less developed national capital to a more developed one. In this way, he characterizes the position of the Other in terms of economic and political exclusion. Dussel believes that the late Marx is an idealist. In his interpretation, The Capital is not only a work of political economics, but also a work with an ethical character. As a result, Dussel shows that “Third World countries” produce global capital while remaining outside it, and that the Other is not just an abstract theoretical category, but a concrete oppressed individual.