ABSTRACT. In the transition toward cognitive capitalism, the transformations in the social organization of production are strictly connected to those in income distribution. This evolution is deeply characterized by the re-emerging of the rent under different forms. The aim of this article is to provide a Marxist interpretation of these mutations and their social and economic implications. The analysis is organized in two parts. First, the Marxian definition of wage, rent and profit is revisited. Doing so, we revert to the insights given by Marx himself in the Third Book of Capital, where he shows how profit could become rent. This approach can be usefully linked to the hypothesis of general intellect in order to better understand the rising of the new form of capitalism. Secondly, starting from this theoretical framework, we analyze the transformation of capital-labor relation during the transition towards cognitive capitalism and the importance of the rent and the more as well as more blurred boundaries between rent and profit. pp. 194–207

Keywords: income distribution, wage, rent, profit, general intellect, cognitive capitalism