Wow this is going great. The hard part is over, and now we have hit a stride. We have learned Karl Marx's theory of money, and of trade. We have learned what capital is and how it differs from money.

If you've made it this far, you've done the hardest part. Several people noticed it is getting easy and fun now. All the same, don't let up til we reach our destination.

Please be chatty in the comments. Let us know you're here.

The overall plan is to read Volumes 1, 2, and 3 in one year. (Volume IV, often published under the title Theories of Surplus Value, will not be included in this particular reading club, but comrades are encouraged to do other solo and collaborative reading.) This bookclub will repeat yearly. The three volumes in a year works out to about 6½ pages a day for a year, 46⅔ pages a week.

I'll post the readings at the start of each week and @mention anybody interested. Let me know if you want to be added or removed.

Just joining us? It'll take you about seven hours to catch up to where the group is.

Archives: Week 1 – Week 2 – Week 3

Week 4, Jan 22-28, we are reading Volume 1, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, and Chapter 8

Discuss the week's reading in the comments.

Use any translation/edition you like. Marxists.org has the Moore and Aveling translation in various file formats including epub and PDF: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/

Ben Fowkes translation, PDF: http://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=9C4A100BD61BB2DB9BE26773E4DBC5D

AernaLingus says: I noticed that the linked copy of the Fowkes translation doesn't have bookmarks, so I took the liberty of adding them myself. You can either download my version with the bookmarks added, or if you're a bit paranoid (can't blame ya) and don't mind some light command line work you can use the same simple script that I did with my formatted plaintext bookmarks to take the PDF from libgen and add the bookmarks yourself.

Resources

(These are not expected reading, these are here to help you if you so choose)

  • Harvey's guide to reading it: https://www.davidharvey.org/media/Intro_A_Companion_to_Marxs_Capital.pdf

  • A University of Warwick guide to reading it: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/currentstudents/postgraduate/masters/modules/worldlitworldsystems/hotr.marxs_capital.untilp72.pdf

  • Engels' Synopsis of Capital or PDF

  • Reading Capital with Comrades: A Liberation School podcast series - https://www.liberationschool.org/reading-capital-with-comrades-podcast/

  • Vampire [any]M
    ·
    5 months ago

    A service is nothing other than the useful effect of a use-value, be it that of a commodity, or that of the labour. [17]. In Zur Kritik der politischen Okonomie, p. 14 [English edition, p. 37], I make the following remark on this point: 'It is easy to understand what "service" the category "service" must render to economists like J. B. Say and F. Bastiat.'

    Guys, is Granddad being sarcastic again? What is he saying here?

    I think in the body-text he is saying that things conceptualised as "services", as distinct from commodities, are actually commodities in action, and labour is a commodity. So a doctor provides the patient with the use-value of his (expert) labour. But I don't really understand the footnote text at all; he's hinting I don't know at what.

    • ComradeRat [he/him, they/them]
      ·
      5 months ago

      I believe he is hinting that the economists diguise the fact that their labour isnt actually useful (and is in fact socially detrimental) with the category of service. Reading fn16 alongside fn17 makes this especially clear (Marx is calling the economists servants of the devil / the devil again)