Good work so far, crew. We are about a quarter of the way through Volume 1 and about 10% of the way through the whole thing. Having said that, we're also about 10% of the way through 2024, so don't get too comfortable, keep pedalling.

Having set up the idea of surplus-labour as the source of profit, Marx looked at how this plays out in practice, how it affects people's lives.

I think we have a minimum of 8 people reading; it could even be 12 or 13.

Let's use this shared activity as an excuse to also build camaraderie by thinking out loud in the comments.

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 10½ hours to catch up to where the group is.

Archives: Week 1 – Week 2 – Week 3 – Week 4 – Week 5

Week 6, Feb 5-11, we are reading Volume 1, Chapter 10 Sections 4, 5, 6, and 7.

In other words, read from the heading '4. Day Work and Night Work. The Shift System' to the end of the chapter

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.

Audiobook of Ben Fowkes translation, American accent, male, links are to alternative invidious instances: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9

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
    ·
    10 months ago

    In order to reward the manufacturers for having, in the most barefaced way, ignored all the Acts as to children’s labour passed during the last twenty-two years, the pill was yet further gilded for them. Parliament decreed that after March 1st, 1834, no child under 11, after March 1st 1835, no child under 12, and after March 1st, 1836, no child under 13 was to work more than eight hours in a factory. This “liberalism,” so full of consideration for “capital”....

    I think this might be the first time Marx has dunked on 'liberalism' by name

    Hexbear loves to hate on liberalism (which I understand is mostly for fun), but I don't know how much that's a part of communist theory. (Mao isn't the same; Mao uses the word to mean 'half-assing revolution', not liberal principles)

    • quarrk [he/him]
      ·
      10 months ago

      Marx also only uses the term “capitalism” a handful of times. I think he just didn’t like referring to -isms.

      Despite not using the specific term liberalism I think he means the same thing any time he refers to bourgeois ideology or bourgeois political economy. Since Marx’s thought was radically opposed to bourgeois thought I think it’s fair to say that criticizing liberalism is important to communism, it’s not just a meme.

      For example, the paragraph on “Freedom, Equality, Property and Bentham” at the end of chapter 6 is making fun of liberal thought.

      • Vampire [any]M
        ·
        10 months ago

        I think it’s fair to say that criticizing liberalism is important to communism, it’s not just a meme.

        It depends what you mean by liberalism. If it means "freedom of speech, representative government, civil rights like privacy, gender equality, gay rights" then no. And that is what people mean by it a lot of the time.

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

        I think he just didn’t like referring to -isms.

        Yeah, I think it's a conscious rejection of buzzwords/labels. e.g. from letter to Ruge:

        if there is to be talk about philosophy, there should be less trifling with the label "atheism" (which reminds one of children, assuring everyone who is ready to listen to them that they are not afraid of the bogy man), and that instead the content of philosophy should be brought to the people.

        The emphasis on the content of the ism is one of the things I adore about Marx.