Celebrating the 150th anniversary of Das Kapital
Three evening classes: ‘Reading Capital’ Class discussions will be led by Dr Jonathan White 1. Tuesday 12 September, 7pm - Das Kapital as science: What was Marx trying to achieve and why does ‘Capital’ look the way it does? This class will discuss Capital as an exercise in Marxist science, looking at what Marx was trying to achieve and how his distinctive method shapes the way in which the book is constructed. No preliminary reading is necessary but participants might wish to look at the Preface to the first German Edition and the Afterword to the Second German edition, which discuss these issues briefly. They can be found online here: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/part0.htm 2. Tuesday 19 September, 7pm – Understanding Das Kapital as an analysis of capitalism: ‘Value and the commodity’ This class will discuss why Marx starts Capital by analysing the commodity and the fundamental importance of his concept of ‘Value’. Value, as we’ll see is the building block on which he builds the whole economic analysis of the capitalist mode of production. Again, no preliminary reading is necessary but Marx does provide a shorter more accessible account of his concept of value in Value, Price and Profit, which you can access online here: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/value-price-profit.pdf 3. Tuesday 26 September, 7pm - Das Kapital and human history This class will look at the ways in which Das Kapital is founded on Marx’s distinctive historical understanding and his account of human history. Capitalism for Marx wasn’t just a system that needed to be understood, it was also a phase of human history and Das Kapital was part of giving humans the tools with which to move this history onwards.
Each session costs only £3 To book a place, phone 02072531485 or email m.jump@marx-memorial-library.org.uk