Politics & Policy , Volume 34, No. 3 (2006): 556-575. Published by Blackwell Publishing Inc. © The Policy Studies Organization. All rights reserved. Simulation and Symbolic Exchange: Jean Baudrillard’s Augmentation of Marx’s Theory of Value Andrew M. Koch Appalachian State University Rick Elmore DePaul University Jean Baudrillard’s concept of “symbolic exchange” represents an important concept in understanding why Marx’s prediction regarding the collapse of capitalism has not been realized. Baudrillard adds to the Marxian concepts of use value and exchange value, suggesting that, in today’s consumer-oriented society, commodities take on a symbolic value that constitutes their “status” and, therefore, power. In the Western industrial societies that are “networked” into information cultures, the generation of symbolic value results from a constantly changing symbolic environment in which new demands for access to symbolic status are generated. Baudrillard sees the United States as the farthest along on the path to a simulated environment of symbolic exchange. Manufacturing for symbolic exchange is directed toward the production of the fetish: an object that is positioned purely for its symbolic value. By directing production increasingly in the direction of the fetish, as an object to be used in symbolic exchange, capitalism is able to sustain itself even after the material needs of the population are satisfied. Questions surrounding production, distribution, and consumption have been central to discussions of politics since the time of Plato. These issues were given new relevance in the modern period by the analysis and critique of Karl Marx in his discussion of the relationship between economic organizations and the distribution of power in society. However, despite Marx’s prediction of capitalism’s coming collapse, capitalism continues to expand, even into the twenty-first century. Marx’s claims regarding capitalism’s demise have not been manifest. Critical political theory approaches theoretical discourse as an open rather than a closed process. Because of this approach, it can offer an explanation of the continued existence of the capitalist Blackwell Publishing Ltd.Oxford, UK and Malden, USAPOPLPolitics & Policy1555-56232006 by the Policy Studies Organization. All rights reserved.September 2006343556575Original ArticlesSimulation and Symbolic ExchangeKoch/Elmore