King's College Reading Capital Movement

'Machinery and Modern Industry'

2011-05-09T08:38:00.000-07:00

1) Volume I Group: 'Machinery and Modern Industry'

The previous Volume I reading session introduced by Dan Swain on 'Relative Surplus-value, Co-operation, the Division of Labour & Manufacture' is available here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/455178841/KCLReadingCapital_28_Mar_2011.mp3

Our next session will be on Chapter 15: 'Machinery and Modern Industry'. The discussion will be introduced by Tony Phillips - All welcome!

Wednesday 11th May
6:30pm
Room C16, German Dept.
Strand Campus
King's College London

N.B. We will be reading Vol.I chapter 15 for this session.

"In manufacture, the revolution in the mode of production begins with the labour-power, in modern industry it begins with the instruments of labour. Our first inquiry then is, how the instruments of labour are converted from tools into machines, or what is the difference between a machine and the implements of a handicraft?"

"The machine, which is the starting-point of the industrial revolution, supersedes the workman, who handles a single tool, by a mechanism operating with a number of similar tools, and set in motion by a single motive power, whatever the form of that power may be. Here we have the machine, but only as an elementary factor of production by machinery."

"An organised system of machines, to which motion is communicated by the transmitting mechanism from a central automaton, is the most developed form of production by machinery. Here we have, in the place of the isolated machine, a mechanical monster whose body fills whole factories, and whose demon power, at first veiled under the slow and measured motions of his giant limbs, at length breaks out into the fast and furious whirl of his countless working organs."

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2) Upcoming events:

Marxism Festival PROGRAMME NOW AVAILABLE:

Marxism 2011 Festival, Central London, 30 June to 4 July

The full timetable for this year’s Marxism is now online.

Check it out at http://www.marxismfestival.org.uk/2011/timetable%20grid.pdf

With over 200 workshops, panels, film showings and rallies Marxism is by far the biggest event of its kind in Britain, and one of the biggest in the world. Forward this timetable to friends, contacts and colleagues to give them a sense of what a great event Marxism is.

For more updates and information follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/marxismfest and

Twitter: www.twitter.com/marxismfestival

Over 2,000 people have already booked for Marxism. Have you? Go to www.marxismfestival.org.uk to book now.

'The Working Day' & Upcoming Events

2011-03-11T08:31:00.000-08:00

1) Volume I Group: 'The Working Day'

The previous Volume I reading session introduced by Tony Phillips on 'Labour & Valorization - Constant Capital and Variable Capital' is available here: http://rapidshare.com/files/450488365/KCLReadingCapital_23_Feb_2011.mp3.

Our next session will be on "The Working Day": the chapter in which Marx analyses the class struggle over the length of the working day and the process that gave rise to the factory acts.

The discussion will be intoduced by Simon Behrman (author of Shostakovich: Socialism, Stalin and Symphonies) - All welcome!

Monday 14th March
6:30pm
Room S2.31
Strand Building
King's College London

N.B. We will be reading Vol.I chapter 10 for this session.

"The capitalist has his own views of this ultima Thule [the outermost limit], the necessary limit of the working-day. As capitalist, he is only capital personified. His soul is the soul of capital. But capital has one single life impulse, the tendency to create value and surplus-value, to make its constant factor, the means of production, absorb the greatest possible amount of surplus-labour."

"Capital is dead labour, that, vampire-like, only lives by sucking living labour, and lives the more, the more labour it sucks. The time during which the labourer works, is the time during which the capitalist consumes the labour-power he has purchased of him."

"We see then, that, apart from extremely elastic bounds, the nature of the exchange of commodities itself imposes no limit to the working-day, no limit to surplus-labour. The capitalist maintains his rights as a purchaser when he tries to make the working-day as long as possible, and to make, whenever possible, two working-days out of one. On the other hand, the peculiar nature of the commodity sold implies a limit to its consumption by the purchaser, and the labourer maintains his right as seller when he wishes to reduce the working-day to one of definite normal duration. There is here, therefore, an antinomy, right against right, both equally bearing the seal of the law of exchanges. Between equal rights force decides. Hence is it that in the history of capitalist production, the determination of what is a working-day, presents itself as the result of a struggle, a struggle between collective capital, i.e., the class of capitalists, and collective labour, i.e., the working-class."

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2) Volume II Group:

The Volume II group is moving on to read Part III on 'The Reproduction and Circulation of the Aggregate Social Capital'. We will not be holding fortnightly meetings for the time being, but hope to return with a special event later in the year.

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3) Upcoming events:

- REVOLUTION IN THE 21st CENTURY

A special event on the Arab revolts with Gigi Ibrahim, Wassim Wagdy, Alex Callinicos, Peyman Jafari, Judith Orr & Mohamed Tonsi
http://www.marxismfestival.org.uk/2011/rev21info.html

Sunday 13 March
11am – 4pm
The Camden Centre, Judd Street, London WC1H 9LZ
Nearest tubes: King’s Cross & Euston
£10 waged / £5 unwaged
Hosted by the Socialist Workers Party in association with Marxism 2011

Plenary sessions:
· Eyewitnesses to the revolutions
· Revolution in the 21st Century

Workshops:
· Imperialism and the Arab states
· Permanent revolution
· Prospects for Iran
· Palestine and the Arab revolts

Gigi Ibrahim – Egyptian activist. She was interviewed by Jeremy Paxman on the BBC’s Newsnight, leading to the memorably exchange: Paxman: “Do you have an ideology?” Gigi: “Of course. I'm a revolutionary socialist.” Watch the interview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ptu7rnk2IQ

Mohamed Tonsi – Eyewitness to both the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions.

Wassim Wagdy – Egyptian activist. Wassim’s speeches on the Egyptian revolution have been widely circulated online. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hBV0ApIh_4

Alex Callinicos – Professor of European Studies at Kings College London & editor of International Socialism www.isj.org.uk Alex is the author of several books, including Imperialism and Global Political Economy, Bonfire of Illusions: The Twin Crises of the Liberal World, An Anti-Capitalist Manifesto and Revolutionary Ideas of Karl Marx.

Judith Orr – Editor of Socialist Worker www.socialistworker.co.uk who wrote eyewitness reports on the revolution from Tahrir Square. Judith is also the author of Sexism and the System: A Rebel’s Guide to Women’s Liberation.

- Taking Control Conference:

SOAS, University of London 12th March 2011
Keynote: Professor Jodi Dean
Other speakers include: Professor Peter Hallward, Dr Alberto Toscano,
Dr Paul Blackledge
For more information see http://takingcontrol2011.wordpress.com

- Education Activist Network: TEACH-IN FOR THE RESISTANCE

Wednesday 16 March 4-8pm
KCL & LSE

After the increase in tuition fees and abolition of EMA, a mass demonstration on 26 March could reinvigorate the fight for education – as could a lecturers’ strike, and protests and student action on Budget Day. But our movement also faces new challenges.

Universities have accepted blood money from dictators and invested heavily in the arms trade - and a student occupation has forced the LSE to use the money it accepted from Saif Gaddafi into a scholarship fund for Libyan students http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/mar/01/lse-libya-scholarship-fund. Multiculturalism is under attack by those who would divide and undermine our movement, and students have been the target of horse charges, dawn raids, pepper spray and kettling for daring to protest for education.

Join students, education workers, academics, journalists and campaigners to debate the challenges facing our movement and the strategies to overcome them.

4pm The fight for Education – Learning from Wisconsin– LSE
Live video link-up with student and teacher from Wisconsin. Doors open 3:30pm

5pm Workshops – KCL
- Defending the Right to Protest
Hosted by Stop Kettling Our Kids and Defend the Right to Protest – includes Alfie Meadows and a speaker from Liberty
- The role of social media in the movement
Panel debate with Laurie Penny (journalist), Richard Seymour (blogger) and Aaron Peters (UK Uncut)
- Defending Multiculturalism
Don’t let David Cameron divide us! With Liz Fekete, Institute for Race Relations and Martin Smith, Love Music Hate Racism
- Building Universities of International Solidarity
With speakers from the LSE occupation in solidarity with Libya and the campaign for BDS in support of Palestine.

6:30pm Rally – KCL Lucas Theatre
- March 26th – Building for our Day of Anger
With Fightback author Guy Aitchinson, Egyptian revolution eyewitness Wassim Wagdy, activists from UCU and the Villiers School student strike and Billy Hayes, CWU General Secretary.

Download a poster and leaflet for the event that you can print, copy and distribute – and don’t forget to join the event on Facebook.
http://educationactivistnetwork.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/march-16-poster.pdf
http://educationactivistnetwork.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/march-16-leaflet.pdf
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=129712310434156

Egypt/Tunisia Meeting & Next Volume I group

2011-02-16T09:59:00.001-08:00

1) Volume I Group: 'Labour & Valorization - Constant Capital and Variable Capital'

Last week's Volume I reading session introduced by Ruth Lorimer on 'The Transformation of Money into Capital' is available at:
http://rapidshare.com/files/447362601/KCLReadingCapital_09_Feb_2011.mp3

Next week we have Tony Phillips intoducing a discussion on 'Labour & Valorization - Constant Capital and Variable Capital' - All welcome!

Wednesday 23rd February
6:30pm
Room S3.32
Strand Building
King's College London

N.B. We will be reading Vol.I chapters 7-9 for this session.

"The labour-process, resolved as above into its simple elementary factors, is human action with a view to the production of use-values, appropriation of natural substances to human requirements; it is the necessary condition for effecting exchange of matter between man and Nature; it is the everlasting Nature-imposed condition of human existence, and therefore is independent of every social phase of that existence, or rather, is common to every such phase."

"The labour-process, turned into the process by which the capitalist consumes labour-power, exhibits two characteristic phenomena. First, the labourer works under the control of the capitalist to whom his labour belongs...Secondly, the product is the property of the capitalist and not that of the labourer, its immediate producer."

"It must be borne in mind, that we are now dealing with the production of commodities, and that, up to this point, we have only considered one aspect of the process. Just as commodities are, at the same time, use-values and values, so the process of producing them must be a labour-process, and at the same time, a process of creating value."

"That part of capital then, which is represented by the means of production, by the raw material, auxiliary material and the instruments of labour does not, in the process of production, undergo any quantitative alteration of value. I therefore call it the constant part of capital, or, more shortly, constant capital."

"On the other hand, that part of capital, represented by labour-power, does, in the process of production, undergo an alteration of value. It both reproduces the equivalent of its own value, and also produces an excess, a surplus-value, which may itself vary, may be more or less according to circumstances. This part of capital is continually being transformed from a constant into a variable magnitude. I therefore call it the variable part of capital, or, shortly, variable capital."

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2) Volume II Group:

Our previous session discussing Vol.II chapter 17: 'The Circulation of Surplus-Value' will be available on the blog soon.

The Volume II group is moving on to read Part III on 'The Reproduction and Circulation of the Aggregate Social Capital'. We will not be holding fortnightly meetings for the time being, but hope to return with a special event later in the year.

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3) Upcoming events:

- Egypt, Tunisia and Revolution in the 21st Century

International Socialism seminar - hosted by the quarterly journal of socialist theory

Revolution in the 21st century is a reality. In less than two months, two dictators have been overthrown. In both revolutions, the entrance of the working class onto the stage of history proved decisive. The myths that the Arab world is incapable of democracy and that regime change can be achieved only through foreign intervention lie in tatters.

with Gilbert Achcar
(Professor SOAS, author of The Arabs and the Holocaust and The Clash of Barbarisms)
and Anne Alexander
(Research fellow Cambridge, author of Nasser: His Life and Times and contributor to Egypt: the Moment of Change)

Tuesday 22 February, 6.30pm
Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church,
235 Shaftesbury Avenue,
London, WC2H 8EP
Near Tottenham Court Road Tube (http://www.bloomsbury.org.uk/about/location.html)
Free entry - All welcome

www.isj.org.uk

- Birkbeck Reading Capital Meeting:

Friday February the 18th at 6:30 pm
Nicole Pepperell (author of a forthcoming book on Marx's Capital and of the blog roughtheory.org and researcher at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology).

Her paper will discuss, among other things, Marx’s “standpoint of critique” – that is, whether and how Marx is able to engage immanently with the object of critique. It will touch lightly on the narrative structure of the first four chapters of Volume I of Capital and give us the latest on Nicole's research for her forthcoming book.

There will be some wine served up. Could you let samdolbear@gmail.com know know if you would like to attend?

- Eric Hobsbawm on his latest book:

How to Change the World: Tales of Marx and Marxism.

7pm, Friday 25th February 2011.
Bishopsgate Institute, Liverpool Street.
Send your details to Stefan.dickers@bishopsgate.org.uk to confirm your place.

- Taking Control Conference:

SOAS, University of London 12th March 2011
Keynote: Professor Jodi Dean
Other speakers include: Professor Peter Hallward, Dr Alberto Toscano,
Dr Paul Blackledge
For more information see http://takingcontrol2011.wordpress.com

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Best,
KCL Reading Capital

Next Sessions & Upcoming Events

2011-02-04T06:32:00.000-08:00

1) Volume I Group: 'The Transformation of Money into Capital'

We are pleased to announce that the next Volume I reading session will be introduced by Ruth Lorimer on 'The Transformation of Money into Capital'. All welcome, especially as this is a good place to join us if you have missed the first couple of sessions (N.B. Some people will be attending the Contemporary Marxist Seminar immediately prior to this, see Upcoming Events below).

Wednesday 9th February
6:30pm
Room S3.32
Strand Building
King's College London

"Value therefore now becomes value in process, money in process, and, as such, capital. It comes out of circulation, enters into it again, preserves and multiplies itself within its circuit, comes back out of it with expanded bulk, and begins the same round ever afresh."

"In order to be able to extract value from the consumption of a commodity, our friend, Moneybags, must be so lucky as to find, within the sphere of circulation, in the market, a commodity, whose use-value possesses the peculiar property of being a source of value, whose actual consumption, therefore, is itself an embodiment of labour, and, consequently, a creation of value. The possessor of money does find on the market such a special commodity in capacity for labour or labour-power."

N.B. We will be reading Vol.I chapters 4-6 for this session.

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2) Volume II Group: 'The Circulation of Surplus-Value'

Our next session will be discussing Vol.II chapters 17: 'The Circulation of Surplus-Value':

Monday 14th February
6pm
Ground Floor Room 3
Strand Building
King's College London

N.B. We will be rading chapter 17 of Vol.II for this discussion.

Recordings of our previous two sessions are now available here and on the blog:
http://rapidshare.com/files/445183678/KCLReadingCapital_17_Jan_2011.mp3
http://rapidshare.com/files/445886503/KCLReadingCapital_31_Jan_2011.mp3

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3) Upcoming events:

- MARXISM & PHILOSOPHY Society
Workshop on the Notes on James Mill
2-6pm, Saturday 5 February 2011
The London Knowledge Lab, 23-29 Emerald Street, London WC1
Andrew Chitty and Martin McIvor will lead a discussion of this fascinating early text by Marx.
English and German parallel text of the Notes on James Mill [Word].

- LONDON SEMINAR ON CONTEMPORARY MARXIST THEORY
9th February, 5pm
King's College London, Strand Campus, S2.28
Alberto Toscano (Goldsmiths, University of London)
Marxism: A Realism of the Abstract?

For further information, please contact:
Alex Callinicos: alex.callinicos [at] kcl.ac.uk
Stathis Kouvelakis: stathis.kouvelakis [at] kcl.ac.uk
Costas Lapavitsas: cl5 [at] soas.ac.uk
Peter Thomas: PeterD.Thomas [at] brunel.ac.uk

- MARXISM IN CULTURE
Friday 11 February
The Marxism of Raymond Williams
Peter Thomas (Brunel University)
5.30pm, Wolfson Room, Institute of Historical Research

Senate House, Malet St, London.
For further information, contact Warren Carter, at: w.carter@ucl.ac.uk

or Esther Leslie at: e.leslie@bbk.ac.uk

- Eric Hobsbawm on his latest book:

How to Change the World: Tales of Marx and Marxism.

7pm, Friday 25th February 2011.
Bishopsgate Institute, Liverpool Street.
Send your details to Stefan.dickers@bishopsgate.org.uk to confirm your place.

- Taking Control Conference:

SOAS, University of London 12th March 2011
Keynote: Professor Jodi Dean
Other speakers include: Professor Peter Hallward, Dr Alberto Toscano,
Dr Paul Blackledge
For more information see http://takingcontrol2011.wordpress.com

Welcome back - All welcome

2011-01-07T07:44:00.000-08:00

1) Welcome back - All welcome:

Here's hoping that everyone had a relaxing holiday and perhaps found some time to read! Please feel free to come along to any of our meetings this term, whether you want to join the reading groups themselves (Are you thinking about reading Capital? Have a look at the links below), or come to one of the meetings organised by the Contemporary Marxist Theory Seminar (Full timetable available at http://www.kclreadingcapital.blogspot.com)

Wage Labour and Capital:
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/wage-labour/index.htm

Capital Volume I:
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/

Capital Volume II:
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1885-c2/index.htm

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2) Volume II Group: 'Theories of Fixed and Circulating Capital - Ricardo' & 'The Working Period, Time of Production and Time of Circulation'

The recording of the discussion from our last meeting on 'Theories of Fixed and Circulating Capital - Smith and the Physiocrats' is available here: http://rapidshare.com/files/438786805/KCLReadingCapital_20_Dec_2010.mp3.

Our next session will be discussing Vol.II chapters 11-14 on 'Theories of Fixed and Circulating Capital - Ricardo' & 'The Working Period, Time of Production and Time of Circulation':

Monday 17th January
6pm
Ground Floor Room 3
Strand Building
King's College London

"It is evident at the outset that the definition of capital invested in labour-power as circulating or fluent capital is a secondary one, obliterating its differentia specifica in the process of production. For in this definition, on the one hand, the capitals invested in labour are of the same importance as those invested in raw material, etc. A classification which identifies a part of the constant capital with the variable capital does not deal with the differentia specifica of variable capital in opposition to constant capital."

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3) Volume I Group: 'Exchange and Money, or the Circulation of Commodities'

The discussion from the previous session on 'The Fetishism of Commodities' is available to download here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/434577032/KCLReadingCapital_01_Dec_2010.mp3

The Volume I reading group will return on Wed 26th Jan 6:30pm, Room S3.32, with a discussion on 'Exchange and Money, or the Circulation of Commodities':

Wednesday 26th January
6:30pm
Room S3.32
Strand Building
King's College London

"All commodities are non-use-values for their owners, and use-values for their non-owners. Consequently, they must all change hands. But this change of hands is what constitutes their exchange, and the latter puts them in relation with each other as values, and realises them as values. Hence commodities must be realised as values before they can be realised as use-values."

N.B. We will be reading Vol.I chapters 2-3 for this session.

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4) LONDON SEMINAR ON CONTEMPORARY MARXIST THEORY

"In Search of the Young Marx's Politics"
- David Leopold (University of Oxford)
- Stathis Kouvelakis (King's College, London)

19th January, 5pm
King's College London, Strand Campus, S2.28

For further information, please contact:
Alex Callinicos: alex.callinicos [at] kcl.ac.uk
Stathis Kouvelakis: stathis.kouvelakis [at] kcl.ac.uk
Costas Lapavitsas: cl5 [at] soas.ac.uk
Peter Thomas: PeterD.Thomas [at] brunel.ac.uk

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5) Internation Socialism Journal 129 out now:
- A quarterly journal of socialist theory -

Analysis
The student revolt and the crisis

Mad as hatters? The Tea Party movement in the US
Megan Trudell
Police killings and the law
Simon Behrman
Labourism and socialism: Ralph Miliband’s Marxism
Paul Blackledge

...and more.

http://www.isj.org.uk/

LONDON SEMINAR ON CONTEMPORARY MARXIST THEORY

2011-01-07T06:32:00.000-08:00

In Search of the Young Marx's Politics
19th January, 5pm
King's College London, Strand Campus, S2.28

David Leopold (University of Oxford)
Stathis Kouvelakis (King's College, London)

The global economic and financial crisis has witnessed a deepening of
interest in different forms of critical and radical thought and
practice. This seminar will explore the new perspectives that have
been opened up by interventions of contemporary Marxist theory in this
political and theoretical conjuncture. It involves collaboration among
Marxist scholars based in several London universities, including
Brunel University, King’s College London, and the School of Oriental
and African Studies. Guest speakers – from both Britain and abroad –
will include a wide range of thinkers engaging with many different
elements of the various Marxist traditions, as well as with diverse
problems and topics. The aim of the seminar is to promote fruitful
debate and to contribute to the development of more robust Marxist
analysis. It is open to all.

2010/11 Seminar Series

9th February, 5pm
King's College London, Strand Campus, S2.28
Alberto Toscano (Goldsmiths, University of London)
Marxism: A Realism of the Abstract?

23rd March, 5pm
King's College London, Strand Campus, room TBA
Esther Leslie (Birkbeck College)
Flat Screens and Liquid Crystals: On the Politics of Aesthetics and
Vice Versa

18th May, 5pm
King's College London, Strand Campus, K.3.11 Raked Lecture Theatre
Gail Day (University of Leeds)
Dialectical Passions: Art Theory, Art History and Marxism

Additional seminars in Spring 2011 will be announced in due course.

For further information, please contact:
Alex Callinicos, European Studies, King's: alex.callinicos [at]
kcl.ac.uk
Stathis Kouvelakis, European Studies, King's: stathis.kouvelakis [at]
kcl.ac.uk
Costas Lapavitsas, Economics, SOAS: cl5 [at] soas.ac.uk
Peter Thomas, Politics and History, Brunel: PeterD.Thomas [at]
brunel.ac.uk

Last session before Holidays

2010-12-16T04:23:00.001-08:00

1) Vol.II - Last Session before hols: 'Theories of Fixed and Circulating Capital - Smith and the Physiocrats'

Unfortunately we did not record the discussion from our last meeting on 'Turnover and Time & Fixed and Circulating Capital'.
Our next session will be discussing Vol.II chapters 9-10 on 'Theories of Fixed and Circulating Capital - Smith and the Physiocrats':

Monday 20th December
6pm
Room S-3.18
Strand Building
King's College London

"By thus establishing the definition of circulating capital as being the determinant of the capital value laid out for labour-power — this physiocratic definition without the premise of the physiocrats — Adam Smith fortunately killed among his followers the understanding that that part of capital which is spent on labour-power is variable capital. The more profound and correct ideas developed by him elsewhere did not prevail, but this blunder of his did."

The first Vol.II reading group after the hols will be Mon 17th Jan 6pm, Room tbc.
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2) Vol.I - Returning after hols: 'Exchange and Money, or the Circulation of Commodities'

The Volume I reading group will return after the holidays on Wed 12th Jan 6:30pm, Room tbc, with a discussion on 'Exchange and Money, or the Circulation of Commodities':

"All commodities are non-use-values for their owners, and use-values for their non-owners. Consequently, they must all change hands. But this change of hands is what constitutes their exchange, and the latter puts them in relation with each other as values, and realises them as values. Hence commodities must be realised as values before they can be realised as use-values."

We will be reading Vol.I chapters 2-3. The discussion from the previous session on 'The Fetishism of Commodities' is available to download here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/434577032/KCLReadingCapital_01_Dec_2010.mp3
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'The Fetishism of Commodities' & 'Turnover Time & Fixed and Circulating Capital'

2010-11-28T09:33:00.000-08:00

1) Vol. I - Next Session: 'The Fetishism of Commodities'

The Volume I group continues this week (note later start time) with a discussion on 'The Fetishism of Commodities', introduced by Socialist Review Books Editor, Jack Farmer:

Wednesday 1st December
*** 7.30pm ***
Room S-1.08
Strand Building
King's College London
"A commodity is therefore a mysterious thing, simply because in it the social character of men’s labour appears to them as an objective character stamped upon the product of that labour; because the relation of the producers to the sum total of their own labour is presented to them as a social relation, existing not between themselves, but between the products of their labour..."

"...This I call the Fetishism which attaches itself to the products of labour, so soon as they are produced as commodities, and which is therefore inseparable from the production of commodities."

N.B. We will be reading Vol.I, Chapter 1, Section 4 for this meeting.

Facebook event at: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112044228861591
(The first meeting on 'Commodities and Values' can be downloaded here:http://rapidshare.com/files/430908198/KCLReadingCapital_RobJacksonVolI_November_10_2010.mp3)

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2) Vol.II - Next Session: 'Turnover Time & Fixed and Circulating Capital'

The discussion from our last meeting on 'Times & Costs of Circulation' is available here: http://rapidshare.com/files/432540457/KCLReadingCapital_22_Nov_2010.mp3

Our next session will be discussing chapters 7-8 on 'Turnover Time & Fixed and Circulating Capital':

Monday 6th December
6pm
Room S-3.18
Strand Building
King's College London

"From the point of view of the capitalist, the time of turnover of his capital is the time for which he must advance his capital in order to create surplus-value with it and receive it back in its original shape."
"[The] portion of the capital-value fixed in the instrument of labour circulates as well as any other. We have seen in general that all capital-value is constantly in circulation, and that in this sense all capital is circulating capital. But the circulation of the portion of capital which we are now studying is peculiar. In the first place it does not circulate in its use-form, but it is merely its value that circulates, and this takes place gradually, piecemeal, in proportion as it passes from it to the product, which circulates as a commodity. During the entire period of its functioning, a part of its value always remain fixed in it, independently of the commodities which it helps to produce. It is this peculiarity which gives to this portion of constant capital the form of fixed capital. All the other material parts of capital advanced in the process of production form by way of contrast the circulating, or fluid, capital."

N.B. We will be reading Vol.II Chapters 7-8 for this meeting.
Facebook event at: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=173865585976269

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3) Upcoming Events:

London Seminar on Contemporary Marxist Theory:

15th December, 5pm King's College London, Strand Campus, K.3.11 Raked Lecture Theatre
Peter D. Thomas (Brunel University) Contours of Contemporary Western Marxism

Next sessions & previous recordings

2010-11-14T17:36:00.001-08:00

1) Vol. I - Next Session: 'The Fetishism of Commodities'

The Volume I group began last week with a discussion on 'Commodities and Values', (which can be downloaded here: http://rapidshare.com/files/430908198/KCLReadingCapital_RobJacksonVolI_November_10_2010.mp3).

Our sessions on Volume I will be every 3 weeks. The next (1st Dec) will be a discussion on 'The Fetishism of Commodities', introduced by former KCL student, Jack Farmer:

Wednesday 1st December
6.30pm
Room tbc
Strand Building
King's College London
'A commodity is therefore a mysterious thing, simply because in it the social character of men’s labour appears to them as an objective character stamped upon the product of that labour; because the relation of the producers to the sum total of their own labour is presented to them as a social relation, existing not between themselves, but between the products of their labour...'

'...This I call the Fetishism which attaches itself to the products of labour, so soon as they are produced as commodities, and which is therefore inseparable from the production of commodities.'

N.B. We will be reading Vol.I, Chapter 1, Section 4 for this meeting.

Facebook event at: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112044228861591

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2) Vol.II - Next Session: 'Time & Costs of Circulation'

The introduction and discussion from our last meeting on 'Circuits of Capital' is available here: http://rapidshare.com/files/429870086/KCLReadingCapital_JonnyJones_November_8_2010.mp3.

As the material was quite lengthy we will be doing a further session discussing chapters 1-4 as well as reading and discussing the 'Time & Costs of Circulation':

Monday 22nd November
6pm
Room S-3.18
Strand Building
King's College London

"We have seen that the movement of capital through the sphere of production and the two phases of the sphere of circulation takes place in a series of periods of time. The duration of its sojourn in the sphere of production is its time of production, that of its stay in the sphere of circulation its time of circulation. The total time during which it describes its circuit is therefore equal to the sum of its time of production and its time of circulation."

N.B. We will be re-capping Vol.II, Chapters 1-4, and reading Chapters 5-6 for this meeting.

Facebook event at: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=117738471623262

Volume I Group begins:

2010-11-09T15:53:00.000-08:00

Have you been thinking, 'Well, Volume II sounds very interesting, but I haven't read Volume I yet'? Now is your chance to do something about it. The Capital Volume I reading group begins next week with a discussion on 'Commodities and Values', (assuming London's Universities haven't been shut down by the UCU/NUS demo earlier that day! - http://www.demo2010.org/)

Wednesday 10th November
6.30pm
Room S-1.08
Strand Building
King's College London

'The wealth of those societies in which the capitalist mode of production prevails, presents itself as “an immense accumulation of commodities,” its unit being a single commodity. Our investigation must therefore begin with the analysis of a commodity'

N.B. We will be reading Vol.I, Chapter 1, Sections 1-3 for this meeting.

Facebook event at: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=126093377447424

Next Session: 'Circuits of Capital'

2010-10-27T06:39:00.000-07:00

1) Vol.II - Next Session: 'Circuits of Capital'

The Reading Group had a very interesting discussion last Monday on Ernest Mandel's Introduction to Volume II, which can be downloaded here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/427153667/KCLReadingCapital_NickBeech_October_25_2010.mp3

For our next session, Jonny Jones, deputy-editor of International Socialism Journal, will be presenting a short introduction on 'Circuits of Capital', followed by a discussion. Room details now below:

Monday 8th November
6pm
Room S-3.18
Strand Building
King's College London

"The two forms assumed by capital-value at the various stages of its circulation are those of money-capital and commodity-capital. The form pertaining to the stage of production is that of productive capital. The capital which assumes these forms in the course of its total circuit and then discards them and in each of them performs the function corresponding to the particular form, is industrial capital, industrial here in the sense it comprises every branch of industry run on a capitalist basis."

"Money-capital, commodity-capital and productive capital, do not therefore designate independent kinds of capital whose functions form the content of likewise independent branches of industry separated from one another. They denote here only special functional forms of industrial capital, which assumes all three of them one after the other."

N.B. We will be reading Chapters 1-4 for this meeting.

Facebook event at: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119774294751013

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2) Upcoming Events & Information:

a) 'Crisis and Critique': Historical Materialism Annual London Conference 2010:
HM London 2010 aims to serve as a forum for dialogue,
interaction and debate between different strands of critical-Marxist theory.
Central London, Thu 11th-Sun 14th November
Registration and Provisional Programme Now Available online: http://www.historicalmaterialism.org/conferences/annual7

b) London Seminar on Contemporary Marxist Theory:
This seminar will explore the new perspectives that have been opened up Marxist theory. It involves collaboration among Marxist scholars based in several London universities. Guest speakers from both Britain and abroad will include a wide range of thinkers engaging with many different elements of the various Marxist traditions, as well as with diverse problems and topics. The aim of the
seminar is to promote fruitful debate and to contribute to the development of more robust Marxist analysis. It is open to all.

9th November, 5pm King's College London, Strand Campus, S-1.04, Raked Lecture Theatre
Massimiliano Tomba (University of Padua) The Historical Materialist at work: Re-reading 'The Eighteenth Brumaire'

15th December, 5pm King's College London, Strand Campus, K.3.11 Raked Lecture Theatre
Peter D. Thomas (Brunel University) Contours of Contemporary Western Marxism

For further information, please contact:
Alex Callinicos, European Studies, King's:
alex.callinicos@kcl.ac.uk
Stathis Kouvelakis, European Studies, King's:
stathis.kouvelakis@kcl.ac.uk
Costas Lapavitsas, Economics, SOAS:
cl5@soas.ac.uk
Peter Thomas, Politics and History, Brunel:
PeterD.Thomas@brunel.ac.uk

c) Education Activist Network Conference:
The EAN conference is an opportunity for students and education workers to discuss how to defeat the cuts in higher, further and adult education and fight for another vision of education.

Among the highlights will be workshops with strikers and student occupiers and a forum on the resistance in Europe with activists from France and Greece. This is a chance to organise for French-style resistance in Britain. Visit the link below to register online.

Education Activist Network National Conference
Sunday 31st October 11am-5pm
King’s College London & London School of Economics
Supported by NUS, London Region UCU and others
http://educationactivistnetwork.wordpress.com/national-conference-31st-october/

d) International Socialism 128 Out Now:
In this issue...
Palestine and Israel
Jamie Allinson analyses Hamas, the Islamist movement that has emerged as the pivotal force in the Palestinians’ struggle for national liberation.
Crisis and resistance
Panos Garganas in Greece speaks from the front line of the struggle there, Christakis Georgiou looks at the crisis in the eurozone and Jane Hardy surveys the forms taken by the Great Recession in Central and Eastern Europe. Also...
Jairus Banaji, on insurgency in rural India, Neil Davidson on struggles in the global South & Trotsky’s theory of permanent revolution, John Molyneux on Marxism & Michelangelo. Simon Pirani defends his interpretation of the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, Jess Edwards differs with the view of sex work put forward by Gareth Dale and Xanthe Whittaker in our last issue.
To order copies, email isj@swp.org.uk, call 020 7819 1177 or send £5.50 to ISJ, PO Box 42184, London SW8 2WD
www.isj.org.uk

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3) Volume I & Highlights:

More information coming soon on the Volume I discussion group.

Nicholas Beech on Mandel's Introduction Vol.II

2010-10-22T05:50:00.000-07:00

1) REMINDER: Volume II of Capital:

The Reading Group begins Volume II of Marx's Capital this week with Ernest Mandel's introduction to Volume II. For our first session, Nicholas Beech, a PhD student from UCL, will be presenting a short introduction followed by a discussion. Room details now below:

Monday 25th October
6pm
Room S-3.18
Strand Building
King's College London

N.B. We will be reading the Introduction to Vol.II by Ernest Mandel for this meeting.

Facebook event at: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=116271315100098

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2) Volume I Group:

We have now had sufficient numbers interested in reading Volume I of Capital to launch a group. If you have not already contacted us and would like to be involved in discussing when this meets please contact us on the usual email address kclreadingcapital@gmail.com.

John Weeks recording & Introduction to Volume II

2010-10-13T17:01:00.000-07:00

1) John Weeks Recording:

Around 70-80 people came to King's last Monday evening for John Weeks' very interesting talk on 'Capital, Exploitation and Economic Crises'. For those who weren't able to come, there is a recording of the talk here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/424492618/JohnWeeks_11Oct2010.mp3

A copy of John's powerpoint presentation will also be available soon on kclreadingcapital.blogspot.com

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2) Volume II of Capital:

The Reading Group continues this year with Volume II of Marx's Capital. Although, as Engels pointed out, Volume II does not contain 'much material for agitation', in describing the process by which the total social capital is reproduced and circulated, it occupies a crucial place in Marx's analysis of the capitalist mode of production. Volume II, centred around the market-place, explains not how value and surplus-value are produced, but how they are realised.

For our first session, Nicholas Beech, a PhD student from UCL, will be presenting a short introduction followed by a discussion on Ernest Mandel's Introduction to the Penguin edition of Volume II.

Monday 25th October
6pm
Strand Building, Room tbc
King's College London

N.B. We will be reading the Introduction to Vol.II by Ernest Mandel for this meeting.

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3) Reading Marx:

A number of people have expressed an interest in attending one-off sessions around shorter works by Marx, such the Communist Manifesto, the Paris Manuscripts, etc. If you would like to take part in such sessions please contact us on usual email addresskclreadingcapital@gmail.com.

Also if you would like to be put in touch with others interested in reading Volume I of Capital likewise please email.

- - -

Regards,
KCL Reading Capital

Abstract for John Weeks Meeting

2010-10-07T04:51:00.001-07:00

Download now or preview on posterous

CpExpEcCrss abstract.doc (25 KB)

John Weeks Meeting - Mon 11th Oct

2010-09-27T10:13:00.001-07:00

Download now or preview on posterous

John Weeks mtg A5 kcl.pdf (78 KB)

Welcome back, John Weeks & more...

2010-09-27T10:00:00.001-07:00

1) Welcome:

This is the King's College Reading Capital Society - welcome to all those new to the list and welcome back to those who were with us last year!

The Reading Capital Society is a discussion group organised (usually fortnightly) by students discussing the main issues & themes raised in Karl Marx’s work Das Kapital. It brings together students from across a range of subjects and with a range of backgrounds to introduce and debates ideas around the work. The group is open to anyone with an interest in finding out more about Marx's thought.

The King's Capital reading group has been running over the last year and a half. Building on the successes of last year, we intend to continue running activities in the upcoming academic year. We are interested in all of your thoughts on the sessions we should run.

First off, we are lucky to have John Weeks (author of the seminal book Capital & Exploitation) to introducing a meeting for the group entitled 'Capital, Exploitation and Economic Crises'. This is going to be the opening event on Monday October 11th. A poster for the event is available at:

http://kclreadingcapital.posterous.com/

The details are:

2) John Weeks Meeting:

The current economic crisis is the worst since the depression of the 1930s. Mainstream economics has failed to account for this disastrous collapse of financial assets, which required massive state intervention throughout the capitalist world. Karl Marx did anticipate this type of financial collapse, arguing that it was a product of the ‘fetishism of commodities’ inherent in the capitalist mode of production.

'Capital, Exploitation & Economic Crises'

a talk by John Weeks, author of seminal book 'Capital and Exploitation' (re-written and soon to be republished as 'Capital, Exploitation & Economic Crises'), who will trace a path from Marx’s analysis of commodities to the capitalist crisis of the twenty-first century.

Mon 11th Oct 2010

6.30pm

Room K4U.12, Strand Campus

3) Capital Volume II:

We are also intending runnning regular sessions with a group reading Volume II of Capital, and we'd like to know if anyone is interested in being involved. Obviously Volume II is an often neglected text, and therefore would be all the more useful for those who really want to get to grips with issues around the sphere of circulation, debates about the reproduction schemas, etc.

4) Further Events:

Finally, last year we organised a few very successful events like the 'Future of Capitalism' debate between Martin Wolf (Financial Times) and Alex Callinicos (Author Revolutionary Ideas of Karl Marx) and the very popular talk by David Harvey on the Enigma of Capital, and we hope to organise more of these in the future. If you missed out please watch the video and listen to the recordings on the blog.

Hope you all enjoyed your summers and look forward to seeing you soon.

Regards,

KCL Reading Capital

Break over the summer:

2010-07-08T04:42:00.001-07:00

Due to a variety of commitments, the Reading Group will now be having a break over the summer. Thanks to everyone who participated and spoke over the year in the discussion groups, and to the hundreds who attended our meetings on the 'Enigma of Capital' with David Harvey, and the 'Future of Capitalism' debate between Alex Callinicos and Martin Wolf. The group was even given props recently in the Guardian.

The break does of course mean that we will be finishing the final chapters of Volume I without meeting up, however if you have any questions or points to raise and/or would like to be included in a circular email discussion, please reply to kclreadingcapital@gmail.com.

Furthermore the Reading Group intends to return in the autumn reading Volume II of Capital, and with some special events and guest-speakers in the pipeline. Please get in touch if you are particularly interested in the former, or if you know others who might be interested in joining us.

- - -

A few links:

Here are a few links you might enjoy over the break:

http://www.resistancemp3.org.uk/
mp3 files of many meetings on Marxist economics can be found here.

http://marxists.org/subject/economy/index.htm
Collection of writings by Political Economists from 1651 to 1936, the works of Marx and beyond...

http://www.isj.org.uk/
The latest edition of the International Socialism Journal including a very important article on Marxism and feminism today by Judith Orr, the permanent arms economy and more...

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

RE-SCHEDULED: 'The Production of Absolute and of Relative Surplus-Value':

2010-06-29T04:08:00.000-07:00

A quick reminder of the next session (TUES) (re-scheduled and now at Strand campus)...

Joseph Choonara, former deputy-editor of International Socialism Journal, will introduce a discussion on:

‘The Production of Absolute and of Relative Surplus-Value'.
Tuesday June 29th
6pm
Room S-1.29 Strand Campus KCL

"From one standpoint, any distinction between absolute and relative surplus-value appears illusory. Relative surplus-value is absolute, since it compels the absolute prolongation of the working-day beyond the labour-time necessary to the existence of the labourer himself. Absolute surplus-value is relative, since it makes necessary such a development of the productiveness of labour, as will allow of the necessary labour-time being confined to a portion of the working-day. But if we keep in mind the behaviour of surplus-value, this appearance of identity vanishes. Once the capitalist mode of production is established and become general, the difference between absolute and relative surplus-value makes itself felt, whenever there is a question of raising the rate of surplus-value."

N.B. We will be reading Part V (chapters 16-18) for this session.

Next Session: 'The Production of Absolute and of Relative Surplus-Value':

2010-05-20T10:21:00.001-07:00

Joseph Choonara, former deputy-editor of International Socialism Journal, will introduce a discussion on:

‘The Production of Absolute and of Relative Surplus-Value'.

Tuesday May 25th
6pm
F-WB 2.80 Waterloo Campus KCL

N.B. We will be reading Part V (chapters 16-18) for this session.

Facebook event at:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=129398700403817

'Machinery and Modern Industry'

2010-05-03T13:58:00.000-07:00

Nicholas Beech, a PhD student from University College London, and Ken Kobayashi of the Reading Capital group will introduce a discussion on:

‘Machinery and Modern Industry'.

Tuesday May 11th
6pm
F-WB 2.80 Waterloo Campus KCL

"John Stuart Mill says in his “Principles of Political Economy":

“It is questionable if all the mechanical inventions yet made have lightened the day’s toil of any human being.”

That is, however, by no means the aim of the capitalistic application of machinery. Like every other increase in the productiveness of labour, machinery is intended to cheapen commodities, and, by shortening that portion of the working-day, in which the labourer works for himself, to lengthen the other portion that he gives, without an equivalent, to the capitalist. In short, it is a means for producing surplus-value.

In manufacture, the revolution in the mode of production begins with the labour-power, in modern industry it begins with the instruments of labour. Our first inquiry then is, how the instruments of labour are converted from tools into machines, or what is the difference between a machine and the implements of a handicraft? We are only concerned here with striking and general characteristics; for epochs in the history of society are no more separated from each other by hard and fast lines of demarcation, than are geological epochs."

N.B. We will be reading chapter 15 for this session.

Facebook event at:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=114369608599776&ref=mf

David Harvey - The Enigma of Capital - King's College London 27 April 2010

2010-05-01T05:46:00.000-07:00

David Harvey - The Enigma of Capital - Kings College from swpUkTv on Vimeo.

Between two and three hundred people came to King's College London last Tuesday 27 April to hear Marxist geographer David Harvey speak on 'The Enigma of Capital' and the crisis of capitalism. The meeting was jointly hosted by the King's Reading Capital Society and the Centre for European Studies.

DAVID HARVEY AT KING'S COLLEGE - TUES 27 APRIL

2010-04-14T13:18:00.001-07:00

The Centre for European Studies & KCL Reading Capital present...

The Enigma of Capital

A talk by the world's most cited academic geographer

DAVID HARVEY

Author of 'A Companion to Marx's Capital'

Tuesday 27 April. 6.30pm. Free.

Great Hall, Strand, King's College London

Please arrive early to avoid disappointment (Doors open 6pm).

For more info contact kclreadingcapital@gmail.com

www.kclreadingcapital.blogspot.com

With grateful thanks to

Bookmarks Bookshop

www.bookmarksbookshop.co.uk

Facebook event at:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=111026518917557&index=1

- - -

David Harvey is a Distinguished Professor at the City University of New York (CUNY), and author of numerous books including 'The Limits to Capital', and 'A Brief History of Neo-liberalism'. His most recent works are 'The Enigma of Capital' and 'A Companion to Marx's Capital', which aims to get "you to read a book by Karl Marx called Capital, Volume 1, and to read it on Marx’s own terms…”. The latter book is based on his hugely popular on-line lectures at www.davidharvey.org. They have been viewed over 700,000 times in 187 countries since June 2008.

David has been teaching Karl Marx's Capital for nearly 40 years. His work has contributed greatly to a resurgent interest in Marx's critique of global capitalism. He continues to bring his insights to these new debates about the economic crisis, social class and the continuing relevance of the methodological tools passed on to us by Marx. Join this discussion on TUESDAY 27 April in the Great Hall, Strand, King's College London.

‘The Division of Labour and Manufacture'

2010-03-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

Nicholas Beech, a PhD student from University College London, will introduce a discussion on:

‘The Division of Labour and Manufacture'

Tuesday April 13th (NOTE New date! - Giving everyone extra time to read this section)
6pm
F-WB 2.80
Waterloo Campus KCL

"That co-operation which is based on division of labour, assumes its typical form in manufacture, and is the prevalent characteristic form of the capitalist process of production throughout the manufacturing period properly so called. That period, roughly speaking, extends from the middle of the 16th to the last third of the 18th century."

"The organisation of manufacture has two fundamental forms which, in spite of occasional blending, are essentially different in kind, and, moreover, play very distinct parts in the subsequent transformation of manufacture into modern industry carried on by machinery. This double character arises from the nature of the article produced. This article either results from the mere mechanical fitting together of partial products made independently, or owes its completed shape to a series of connected processes and manipulations."

"An increased number of labourers under the control of one capitalist is the natural starting-point, as well of co-operation generally, as of manufacture in particular. But the division of labour in manufacture makes this increase in the number of workmen a technical necessity."

"The knowledge, the judgement, and the will, which, though in ever so small a degree, are practised by the independent peasant or handicraftsman, in the same way as the savage makes the whole art of war consist in the exercise of his personal cunning these faculties are now required only for the workshop as a whole. Intelligence in production expands in one direction, because it vanishes in many others. What is lost by the detail labourers, is concentrated in the capital that employs them."

N.B. We will be reading chapters 14 for this session.

Facebook event at:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49539959005&ref=ts#!/event.php?eid=375361080676&ref=mf

Surplus-Value, Relative Surplus-Value & Co-operation

2010-03-03T16:02:00.000-08:00

Lorenzo Fusaro, Jonny Jones (deputy-editor of International Socialism Journal), and John Cooper of the Reading Capital group will introduce a discussion on chapters 11, 12 and 13 respectively:

‘Surplus-Value, Relative Surplus-Value & Co-operation’.

Tuesday March 9th
6pm
F-WB 2.80 Waterloo Campus KCL

"At first, capital subordinates labour on the basis of the technical conditions in which it historically finds it. It does not, therefore, change immediately the mode of production. The production of surplus-value — in the form hitherto considered by us — by means of simple extension of the working day, proved, therefore, to be independent of any change in the mode of production itself. It was not less active in the oldfashioned bakeries than in the modern cotton factories."

"The object of all development of the productiveness of labour, within the limits of capitalist production, is to shorten that part of the working-day, during which the workman must labour for his own benefit, and by that very shortening, to lengthen the other part of the day, during which he is at liberty to work gratis for the capitalist."

"...the sum total of the mechanical forces exerted by isolated workmen differs from the social force that is developed, when many hands take part simultaneously in one and the same undivided operation... Not only have we here an increase in the productive power of the individual, by means of co-operation, but the creation of a new power, namely, the collective power of masses."

"Just as the social productive power of labour that is developed by co-operation, appears to be the productive power of capital, so co-operation itself, contrasted with the process of production carried on by isolated independent labourers, or even by small employers, appears to be a specific form of the capitalist process of production."

N.B. We will be reading chapters 11, 12 and 13 for this session.

The Working Day

2010-02-16T16:49:00.000-08:00

Tony Phillips will introduce a discussion on
‘The Working Day’.
Tuesday 23rd February
6pm
Room 2.80 F-WB
Waterloo Campus, KCL

“Capital is dead labour, that, vampire-like, only lives by sucking living labour, and lives the more, the more labour it sucks.”

“…in the history of capitalist production, the determination of what is a working-day, presents itself as the result of a struggle, a struggle between collective capital, i.e., the class of capitalists, and collective labour, i.e., the working-class”

N.B. We will be reading chapters 10 in preparation for this discussion.

Apologies

2010-02-08T15:21:00.000-08:00

Apologies to those looking to download the seminar on Climate Change. The seminar was unfortunately posted by the group against the wishes of Jonathan Neale and Gareth Dale. Jonathan's contribution was a work in progress for a piece he is writing for the International Socialism Journal and he would rather people read this upcoming work as his contribution than refer to the seminar. Respecting these wishes we have taken the recording down from the blog.

KCL Reading Capital

- - -

Jonathan and Gareth's previous works are available at:

Gareth's article from International Socialism 116, available online: http://www.isj.org.uk/?id=369

Jonathan's recent articles on Copenhagen (http://www.swp.org.uk/23/12/2009/copenhagen-betrayal-jonathan-neale and http://www.swp.org.uk/23/12/2009/copenhagen-new-movement-jonathan-neale)

Jonathan's book is available from Bookmarks for the reduced price of £10: http://www.bookmarksbookshop.co.uk/cgi/store/bookmark.cgi?review=new&isbn=9781905192373&cart_id=9137614.28572

Valorization and the Labour Process

2010-02-01T11:27:00.000-08:00

Jonny Jones, deputy-editor of International Socialism Journal, and Adam Fabry of the Reading Capital group will introduce a discussion on

‘Valorization and the Labour Process: Surplus Value, Constant Capital & Variable Capital’.

Tuesday February 9th
6pm
F-WB 2.80 Waterloo Campus KCL

"A spider conducts operations that resemble those of a weaver, and a bee puts to shame many an architect in the construction of her cells. But what distinguishes the worst architect from the best of bees is this, that the architect raises his structure in imagination before he erects it in reality. At the end of every labour-process, we get a result that already existed in the imagination of the labourer at its commencement."

"That part of capital then, which is represented by the means of production, by the raw material, auxiliary material and the instruments of labour does not, in the process of production, undergo any quantitative alteration of value. I therefore call it the constant part of capital, or, more shortly, constant capital.

On the other hand, that part of capital, represented by labour-power, does, in the process of production, undergo an alteration of value. It both reproduces the equivalent of its own value, and also produces an excess, a surplus-value, which may itself vary, may be more or less according to circumstances. This part of capital is continually being transformed from a constant into a variable magnitude. I therefore call it the variable part of capital, or, shortly, variable capital. The same elements of capital which, from the point of view of the labour-process, present themselves respectively as the objective and subjective factors, as means of production and labour-power, present themselves, from the point of view of the process of creating surplus-value, as constant and variable capital."

N.B. We will be reading Chapters 7-9 in preparation for this discussion.

Capitalism, Class and Climate Change

2010-01-11T15:36:00.000-08:00

Welcome back - Reading Capital continues this semester with a special event organised by the Internation Socialism Journal and supported by KCL Reading Capital:

Gareth Dale and Jonathan Neale on 'Capitalism, Class and Climate Change'

Gareth Dale, author of "Corporations and climate change" and several books on East Germany
Jonathan Neale, author of Stop Global Warming: Change the World and secretary of the Campaign against Climate Change (pc)

In the wake of the fiasco at Copenhagen, Gareth and Jonathan will be presenting an in-depth discussion of climate change, ranging from the science behind it through to the role of the working class in preventing it. This seminar will be of real benefit to all those concerned about climate change, whether new to the subject or a longstanding campaigner.

7pm, Monday 25 January, Kings College Waterloo Campus

(F-WB Classroom 2.40, 2nd floor of the Franlkin-Wilkins building)
Map: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/about/campuses/waterloo.html

As background for the discussion, you may want to read:

Gareth's article from International Socialism 116, available online: http://www.isj.org.uk/?id=369

Jonathan's recent articles on Copenhagen (http://www.swp.org.uk/23/12/2009/copenhagen-betrayal-jonathan-neale and http://www.swp.org.uk/23/12/2009/copenhagen-new-movement-jonathan-neale)

Jonathan's book is available from Bookmarks for the reduced price of £10: http://www.bookmarksbookshop.co.uk/cgi/store/bookmark.cgi?review=new&isbn=9781905192373&cart_id=9137614.28572

‘The Transformation of Money into Capital’

2009-12-01T15:06:00.000-08:00

Biswadip Dasgupta & Rob Jackson, members of KCL Reading Capital, introduce a discussion on:

‘The Transformation of Money into Capital’.
Tuesday 8th December
6pm
Room 2.43 F-WB
Waterloo Campus KCL

“The consumption of labour-power is completed, as in the case of every other commodity, outside the limits of the market or of the sphere of circulation. Accompanied by Mr. Moneybags and by the possessor of labour-power, we therefore take leave for a time of this noisy sphere, where everything takes place on the surface and in view of all men, and follow them both into the hidden abode of production, on whose threshold there stares us in the face “No admittance except on business.” Here we shall see, not only how capital produces, but how capital is produced. We shall at last force the secret of profit making.”

N.B. We are reading Part II: Chapters 4-6 in preparation for this meeting.

'Money or the Circulation of Commodities'

2009-11-11T12:37:00.000-08:00

Following a fascinating session discussing the fetishism of commodites, the Reading Capital group asks...

What is money? Where does it come from? What makes certain commodities suitable as money? Could we live without it?

Joseph Choonara, former deputy-editor of International Socialism Journal (www.isj.org.uk) will introduce a discussion on

'Money or the Circulation of Commodities’.

Monday 23rd November '09 (Note Change of Date)
6pm F-WB Room 2.43
Waterloo Campus
King's College London

"It is not money that renders commodities commensurable. Just the contrary. It is because all commodities, as values, are realised human labour, and therefore commensurable, that their values can be measured by one and the same special commodity, and the latter be converted into the common measure of their values, i.e., into money. Money as a measure of value, is the phenomenal form that must of necessity be assumed by that measure of value which is immanent in commodities: labour-time.”

All welcome - whether you have been reading Capital or just want to drop in for the talk - we aim to be accessible to all.

(Those wishing to read in advance should make their way to Chapter 3!)

Photos of Alex Callinicos & Martin Wolf Debate

2009-11-11T12:26:00.000-08:00

Alex Callinicos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6CZAQvAMaY

Martin Wolf:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXKqqgwAIeI

Questions & Answers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYpHLnlUrFg

'The Fetishism of the Commodity and its secret'

2009-11-05T16:21:00.001-08:00

Bis Dasgupta, of the KCL Reading Capital Movement, will introduce a discussion on

'The Fetishism of the Commodity and its secret'

Tuesday 10th November
6pm
F-WB Room 2.43 Waterloo Campus KCL

"Economists have a singular method of procedure. There are only two kinds of institutions for them, artificial and natural. The institutions of feudalism are artificial institutions, those of capitalism are natural institutions. In this they resemble the theologians, who likewise establish two kinds of religion. Every religion which is not theirs is an invention of men, while their own is an emanation from God... Thus there has been history, but there is no longer any."

The Future of Capitalism: Debate

2009-10-30T04:58:00.000-07:00

A Public Debate Hosted by KCL Capital Reading Group and KCL Business Society
Supported by the Centre for European Studies, King's College London

THE FUTURE OF CAPITALISM:
THE ROOTS OF THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CRISIS AND THE PROSPECTS FOR THE SYSTEM AS A WHOLE

ALEX CALLINICOS, Professor of European Studies, King's College London, and author of The Revolutionary Ideas of Karl Marx
MARTIN WOLF, Chief Economics Commentator, Financial Times, and author of Fixing Global Finance

6.30 P.M. MONDAY 2 NOVEMBER
GREAT HALL, KING'S COLLEGE LONDON, STRAND, LONDON WC2R 2LS (PLUS OVERFLOW IN EDMOND J. SAFRA LECTURE THEATRE)

for more information contact KCLreadingCapital@gmail.com

'Commodities & Values' - Tuesday 27th October 09

2009-10-16T14:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all who attended our re-launch meeting with Ben Fine (apologies for those who had to sit on the floor and stand by the door!). There is an mp3 of the meeting for download along with older sessions to the right on the blog.

We hope that everyone found the meeting interesting and will consider reading Capital with us. Details of our first meeting are below:
- - -
'Commodities & Values'

The wealth of societies in which the capitalist mode of production prevails appears as an 'immense collection of commodities'.

Marx begins Capital by looking at the elementary building block of capitalism, the commodity.

Marx identifies in the commodity a dual aspect, use-value and exchange value. One gives the commodity its usefulness for the consumer, the other commensurability with other commodities.
- - -
Chris Harman, editor of International Socialism Journal (www.isj.org.uk), introduces a discussion on 'Commodities & Values'
Tuesday 27th October 2009
6pm
Room 2.42 F-WB
Waterloo Campus
King's College London
- - -
-N.B. We will be reading the first 3 sections of Chapter 1 in preparation.

Prof. Ben Fine on 'Why Read Capital?'

2009-09-26T09:26:00.000-07:00

The Reading Capital group is re-launching this year with a talk by Prof. Ben Fine from SOAS (co-author of "Marx's 'Capital'") on:

Why read Capital? Marx in the 21st Century

Tuesday Oct. 13th 2009
6pm

Room 2.42
F-WB Building
Waterloo Campus
King's College London
- - -

KCL Reading Capital is a fortnightly seminar organised by students discussing the main issues & themes in Capital Volume I

Open to anyone with an interest in finding out more about Marx's great work.

Reading Group Returns in the Autumn

2009-07-25T10:24:00.001-07:00

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Reading Group this year. We will be returning at the beginning of next term with a special event. We are also hoping to formally become part of KCLSU and start up a lending library as part of the group with various texts of interest, as well as copies of Capital for members to borrow.

So look out for us at the Welcome Fair, and make sure to join and sign up to the email list for further updates.

Enjoy your summer!
KCL Reading Capital

‘Exploitation & the Working Day’

2009-05-26T06:05:00.000-07:00

Lorenzo Fusaro, of the KCL Reading Capital Movement, will introduce a discussion on
‘Exploitation & the Working Day’.
Tuesday 2nd June
6pm
Ground Floor Strand Building Room 1

“Capital is dead labour, that, vampire-like, only lives by sucking living labour, and lives the more, the more labour it sucks.”

“…in the history of capitalist production, the determination of what is a working-day, presents itself as the result of a struggle, a struggle between collective capital, i.e., the class of capitalists, and collective labour, i.e., the working-class”

N.B. We will be reading chapters 9 & 10 in preparation for this discussion.

Valorization and the Labour Process

2009-05-13T03:38:00.000-07:00

A member of the KCL Reading Capital Movement, will introduce a discussion on

‘Valorization and the Labour Process: Surplus Value, Constant Capital & Variable Capital’.

Tuesday 19th May
6pm
Ground Floor Strand Building Room 1

“That part of capital then, which is represented by the means of production, by the raw material, auxiliary material and the instruments of labour does not, in the process of production, undergo any quantitative alteration of value. I therefore call it the constant part of capital, or, more shortly, constant capital. On the other hand, that part of capital, represented by labour-power, does, in the process of production, undergo an alteration of value. It both reproduces the equivalent of its own value, and also produces an excess, a surplus-value, which may itself vary, may be more or less according to circumstances. This part of capital is continually being transformed from a constant into a variable magnitude. I therefore call it the variable part of capital, or, shortly, variable capital.”

‘The Transformation of Money into Capital’

2009-03-31T07:41:00.000-07:00

Take Capital home over the holidays, because when we return Biswadip Dasgupta, a member of the KCL Reading Capital Movement, will introduce a discussion on

‘The Transformation of Money into Capital’.
Tuesday 5th May
6pm
Ground Floor Strand Building Room 1

“The consumption of labour-power is completed, as in the case of every other commodity, outside the limits of the market or of the sphere of circulation. Accompanied by Mr. Moneybags and by the possessor of labour-power, we therefore take leave for a time of this noisy sphere, where everything takes place on the surface and in view of all men, and follow them both into the hidden abode of production, on whose threshold there stares us in the face “No admittance except on business.” Here we shall see, not only how capital produces, but how capital is produced. We shall at last force the secret of profit making.”

N.B. We are reading Part II: Chapters 4-6 in preparation for this meeting.

‘Money or the Circulation of Commodities’

2009-03-17T09:12:00.000-07:00

The reading movement continues to grow with 20 people attending our second session. At the next meeting, John Cooper, of the KCL Reading Capital Movement, will introduce a discussion on:

‘Money or the Circulation of Commodities’.
Tuesday 24th March
6pm
Ground Floor Strand Building Room 1

“It is not money that renders commodities commensurable. Just the contrary. It is because all commodities, as values, are realised human labour, and therefore commensurable, that their values can be measured by one and the same special commodity, and the latter be converted into the common measure of their values, i.e., into money. Money as a measure of value, is the phenomenal form that must of necessity be assumed by that measure of value which is immanent in commodities: labour-time.”

N.B. We are reading Chapter 3 in preparation for this meeting.

In case of doubt the original: “Capital” – an overview of its interpretations

2009-03-17T08:01:00.000-07:00

For more than a hundred years introductory and accompanying literature to “Capital” has been produced. For as long as the work itself, the need has existed for comprehensible summaries, because the original text is extremely long and at times difficult to approach. In some places the book raises more questions than it answers and secondary literature can be helpful here. But we should be aware that every text accompanying “Capital” also has its own subjective interpretation and views the text from a certain angle.

The text can be read from a logical as well as from a historical point of view. It can be seen in the perspective of gender politics or interpreted with regard to law, etc. In addition there are many political traditions that each interpret Marx’s work in their own way (see below). This is how a lively debate about the “correct” interpretation of “Capital” has developed. As a beginner one can easily lose track of this jungle of debates and the hundreds of contributions made. And one should be careful not to have read more of the secondary literature than of the actual text. This way one can also avoid the danger of being too quickly taken up by any one particular way of reading “Capital”.

In the Reading Capital group we do not want to insist on one specific version. Since we are starting without preconditions the primary text by Marx is at the centre and should also be the point of reference in discussions.

The following table illustrates very basically the different (historical) schools of interpretation of Marx, or of the different “Marxisms”. The schematic subdivision follows a very rough and simplified pattern. The years are merely to give an approximate orientation – the actual transitions were much more fluid and the blocks represented here are by far not that homogenous. Who wants to have a look at the different “schools” of Marxism can find useful indications in Leszek Kolakowski’s three-volume work “Main Currents of Marxism”. Each of these different perspectives has produced texts accompanying “Capital”, each with specific nuances – which is why there can be no “objective” secondary literature.

What? / When? / Where? / Main focus

Traditional Marxism 1st Generation / from 1878 on / SPD, 2nd International, Engels, Kautsky, Bebel, Bernstein and others / development of history along laws of nature

Traditional Marxism, 2nd Generation / 1914 until early 1920’s / Early 3rd International, Luxemburg, Lenin, Trotsky, Bucharin / Revolutionary perspective, against Reformism of 2nd International

Trad. Communist Interpretation, Marxism-Leninism / after 1928 / Communist Parties after Stalinisation / Party as the centre of praxis and theory, Marxism as state- Doctrine (USSR)

Western Marxism, Reference to working class / from 1923 on / Korsch, Lukács, Gramsci / Subjectivity of revolutionary praxis

Western Marxism, Frankfurt School / from 1930 on / Adorno, Marcuse, Horkheimer / Mechanisms of integration of late Capitalism

Neue Marx-Lektüre / from 1968 on / Backhaus, Heinrich, Hirsch / Critique of forms of capitalist socialisation

The different schools of Marxism stimulate the vivid debates around the interpretation of “Capital”. But the reason for this struggle of interpretation is the work itself. In the following comments we want to exemplify the controversies amongst Marxists by highlighting some points which are the objects of those controversies.

The status of the dialectical method:

In “Capital” Marx does not explicitly state whether and to what extent his analysis uses Hegelian dialectics. How do we therefore have to interpret formulations which seem to follow Hegelian categories (such as form and content or appearance and being)? [FORM, INHALT, SCHEIN, SEIN] And if the dialectic is always implicitly present, how can we understand the work without philosophical knowledge at all?

Historical or logical account in chapter 1 of volume I:

Does the depiction of the development from simple exchange of commodities to the capitalist wage labour (respectively the development of money) follow an imagined, real historical course or does Marx use abstractions in order to identify the specifically capitalist basic forms [GRUNDFORMEN] of value, labour and capital?

There are also differences as to where and when value is developed. An approach which is sometimes referred to as “the substantiveness of value theory” [“werttheoretischer Substantialismus”] situates the creation of value already in production. Others hold the view that value is only created when commodities face each other as commodities, i.e. in the exchange-process.

Another important field of debate is gender relations. To what extent does the analysis of “Capital” consider the oppression of women? What is the relation between wage labour and reproductive labour (Reproduktionsarbeit) in the determination of the value of labour-power?
This is only a small selection of questions and controversies which have emerged from “Capital”. The most important questions, however, often develop in the reading groups themselves and they can be completely different from the ones outlined here. These illustrations do not aim at working along a pre-modelled catalogue of questions, they merely show that reading “Capital” can open up many exciting debates in reading groups.

2009-03-03T06:16:00.000-08:00

Following an interesting discussion at our first session with 18 people attending, Rob Jackson, of the KCL Reading Capital Movement, will introduce a discussion on

‘The Secret of the Fetishism of Commodities’.
Tuesday 10th March
6pm
Ground Floor Strand Building Room 1

“A commodity is therefore a mysterious thing, simply because in it the social character of men’s labour appears to them as an objective character stamped upon the product of that labour; because the relation of the producers to the sum total of their own labour is presented to them as a social relation, existing not between themselves, but between the products of their labour."

N.B. We are reading section 4 of Chapter 1 in preparation for this meeting.

All good things come in threes - Michael Heinrich

2009-03-03T06:13:00.000-08:00

When Frederick Engels once again urged Marx to publish at least the first volume of “Capital”, Marx replied on August 31st 1865 that he could not bring himself to send off anything until it was finished. For him, whatever shortcomings they may have had, the advantage of his writings was that they were an artistic whole and could only be published at once.

Two years later, in 1867, the first volume of “Capital” was published although the project as a whole remained unfinished. Marx believed however that he would be able to complete the two remaining volumes within the following two years. As we know by now this was a miscalculation: Marx died in 1883, without having been able to complete “Capital”. The revision of Volume I for the second edition, his exhausting activity in the International Workingmen’s Association, publications on current political events such as the Paris Commune and finally his worsening physical condition made it impossible for Marx to complete Volume II and III. It was not until 1885 and 1894 respectively that Engels published Volume II and Volume III from Marx’s literary estate. The unfinished character of the manuscripts and their less sophisticated style of writing are visible despite Engels’ efforts. It is no surprise that the first volume of “Capital” dominates its reception even today. When someone says that they have read “Capital”, they usually refer to Volume I, and indeed, this first volume appears to be quite cohesive.

Volume 1

In Volume I Marx starts out by examining commodities and money and then proceeds to the “general formula for capital” M-C-M. He asks himself how the valorization of capital (Kapitalverwertung) is possible when ideal equivalents (i.e. the same values) are being exchanged. Marx explains that it is possible because labour-power (i.e. the ability to work) is sold as a commodity. The value of the commodity labour-power is less than the value that its application can produce. Therefore it is the exploitation of labour-power which delivers surplus value. Volume I is dedicated to the analysis of the capitalist process of production, and its largest part deals with the different possibilities of increasing the production of surplus value as well as with the social fights which take place under these conditions.

Marx shows at the same time how capitalist relations (kapitalistische Verhältnisse) veil themselves. The chapter on commodity fetishism is concerned with the representation (Darstellung) of social relations as objectified (sachliche) qualities of things: the world appears to be governed by material constraints we all have to submit to.

In the part dedicated to the form of the wage (Lohnform), Marx shows that although it is labour-power which is being paid for (so that it can reproduce itself and continue to be available for exploitation), the form (Gestalt) of the wage conveys the impression that it is in fact the work which has been done that is being paid for. It therefore seems as if a just and appropriate wage could abolish exploitation.

The chapter on accumulation then deals with the continuing repetition of the capitalist process of production on a growing scale, which is what economic science calls ‘economic growth’. Contrary to mainstream economics, however, Marx reveals the inevitable consequences of this process: periodically growing unemployment and increasing social polarization between those who appropriate the advantages of the development of society and those who have to bear the weight of this development. Volume I then concludes with an examination of the historical formation of modern capitalism and with a short perspective on the surmounting of that system.
Looking at Volume I as a whole, we are confronted with a rather difficult introduction, several very intriguing main parts and finally a happy end on the horizon. One is inclined to ask, what else (that is of major importance to the system) can there still be to come? Howard Zinn, a left-wing historian from the US who is politically committed in many ways, wrote in the epilogue of his theatre play “Marx in Soho” that although “Capital” is the most important one of Marx’s works, it is unnecessary to read Volume II and III unless one is serving a long prison sentence. But the second and third volumes can be very useful and interesting even outside of prison walls.

Volume 2

The second volume is concerned with the process of circulation of capital. Production and circulation (i.e. the entirety of the exchange-process) do not take place independently of one another. The examination of the process of circulation provides Marx with new definitions, for individual units of capital and for the economic reproduction of the whole of society.

It is only on the basis of his description of the unity of production and circulation in Volume II that Marx is then able to develop “the process of capitalist production as a whole” in Volume III. This confronts us with categories which play an important role in everyday life under capitalism, but which were absent from the first volume, as for instance “profit”, “prices of production”, “profit of enterprise” and “interest”. These categories are often confused with something which they are not: the value of commodities is by no means the centre of fluctuating market prices (Schwankungszentrum der Marktpreise), and surplus value is by no means simply the same as profit or profit of enterprise.

Volume 3

Volume III answers many questions one might have while reading Volume I. It is only in the third volume that Marx deals with the conversion of the different rates of profit into one average rate of profit. It is only in the third volume that he examines interest-bearing capital and following from that the functioning of banks and finance markets. Indeed, it is only in the third volume that we read about the mechanisms which again and again produce economic crises. And in the last section of Volume III Marx finally deals with the “Trinity Formula”, the summary of all fetishisms and mystifications, the analysis of which he had only begun in Volume I with the depiction of commodity fetishism and the form of the wage (Lohnform). These mystifications which naturally spring from capitalist society are the background of the development of a spontaneous everyday consciousness. Marx therefore also called them the “religion of everyday life”. We have to face this phenomenon everyday, whenever we attempt to criticize capitalism.
It is only now that we have obtained a general picture of the capitalist mode of production. Without volumes II and III the first volume does not only remain incomplete, but taken in itself it cannot be totally understood. The three volumes of “Capital” indeed form an ‘artistic whole’, which needs to be perceived as a whole. This is exhausting, it requires time and energy and persistence. But in return we gain an understanding which is fundamental for every form of political practice and we experience an exciting intellectual adventure.

"Commodities & Values" Tuesday 24th February

2009-02-17T14:48:00.000-08:00

Following a successful launch meeting with over 50 students, the Kings College Reading Capital Movement presents...

Joseph Choonara, deputy editor of International Socialism Journal introducing a discussion on:

"Commodities & Values"
Tuesday 24th February
6pm
Ground Floor Strand Building Room 1

The wealth of societies in which the capitalist mode of production prevails appears as an 'immense collection of commodities'.

Marx begins Capital by looking at the elementary building block of capitalism, the commodity.

Marx identifies in the commodity a dual aspect, use-value and exchange value. One gives the commodity its usefulness for the consumer, the other commensurability with other commodities.

-N.B. We will be reading the first 3 sections of Chapter 1 in preparation.

Article by Elmar Altvater

2009-02-17T14:37:00.000-08:00

Why read “Capital”, and how?

An introduction by Elmar Altvater

Consider a US-soldier in Iraq, or an employee of a private security company, or a messenger in Hamburg or a skinny model from Rio de Janeiro. None of these people need Karl Marx’s “Capital” in order to do their jobs. Quite the opposite, in many ways it would actually be more of a hindrance and therefore it’s certainly not included as part of the army’s survival kit. But it can happen that the GI develops doubts about the justification of the aggression against the Iraqi people. Perhaps the messenger demands a minimum wage and finds himself in conflict not only with his employer, but also with “expert opinion”. The skinny model decides to eat whatever she likes. None of them will start reading Capital simply because of these small doubts and these big deviances from the respective roles that they are expected to play. But it could happen that they accidently meet; the person who doubts the justification of the war, the person who fights for social justice and the person who criticises the dominance of consumption and commercialised ideas of beauty. They discover connections, and together with many others they decide to collectively draw political conclusions from their doubts. They begin to discuss their social conditions in order to be able to formulate coherent strategies. They realise the limits of their knowledge about social interrelations, their contradictions and the dynamics of conflicts. Then, however, the unexpected can happen, that they start studying “Capital” in order to understand these social contradictions, political conflicts and historical tendencies and in order to be able to formulate the strategies required by the times in which they live.

Some start reading “Capital” out of individual interest: out of curiosity, out of philological interest, to be able to join in discussions, or out of frustration about the mainstream explanations offered in the social science departments of our universities. A collective ‘Reading Capital’ movement on the other hand can only come into being when people share similar experiences in different social and geographical places, when similar questions occur and when it then becomes necessary to identify what one has in common by formulating it. Immediately, there is a problem: How does one do this? Where does one start? Which steps follow others? How is it possible at all to transform the individual act of reading into a collective movement of reading individuals who, on top of that, claim to practically and politically change the world? And, how can we understand the society we want to change at all? What is capitalism and how does capital work? Thankfully there is help we can find when we try to answer those questions.

Capital

“Das Kapital”, the “Critique of Political Economy” (the subheading of Marx’s work) is the most systematic of all literary works available. Reading “Capital” therefore is an obvious choice, although it is difficult. The sketch of an explanation of “Capital” as outlined in the “Grundrisse” gives some insight into Marx’s overall plan, but the steps Marx makes in the first volume of “Capital” can be hard to follow. When discussing the form of value (whilst everything appears to be simply an exchange of equivalents) one might stumble in the process of reading and of discussing. We can understand why Marx begins with an analysis of the commodity, because, as Marx states at the beginning of “Capital”, the “wealth of societies in which the capitalist mode of production prevails appears as an immense collection of commodities”. The individual commodity is the elementary form of that wealth. The form therefore is the decisive difference as to the appearance of wealth. Only in capitalism does it take the form of commodities. It therefore makes sense to begin with an analysis of the commodity form in the first chapter of “Capital”.

Then, step by step, social forms, their appearances and their corresponding forms of consciousness are developed. We usually accept social forms as self-evident, inherent necessities without understanding that we ourselves have created them. Therefore we are all ‘fetishists’, not because nature has condemned us to it but because we are all acting within social forms which require a lot of effort to understand. The fetishism embodied in the commodity is, as Marx says, “mysterious”. The individual effort to disclose the secret is made easier if reading happens collectively. For the first chapter on the commodity it is important to take some time and proceed carefully with some questioning.

Money

How does money come into the world, when things are produced by labour? The question is by no means trivial. Neoliberals think that money at every stage is brought into circulation by the central bank, as if dropped off by a helicopter. They are not interested in the notion of money, only in its quantity in relation to the quantity of commodities, which, in their view, determines the rate of inflation. Marx goes deeper than this. He asks questions about the form of money, before examining its function and quantity. The form of money is already given in one single act of exchange of commodities. It originates in the equivalent form of value. If the commodity A (let’s say, bread) is expressed in its equivalent, the commodity B (let’s say, chewing-gum), the equivalent (chewing-gum exchanged for bread) can be replaced by money.

Originally, money was as physical as the products exchanged, in Europe mainly gold and other precious metals. Other cultures, for example, used cattle as money. Today this task is fulfilled by (Central-) banknotes, i.e. paper money and electronic money, because nowadays Central Banks assure the value of money, gold and other substances being more and more “de-monetised”. It becomes clear that the form of money and the tasks it performs can be fulfilled by very different kinds of material, even by electronic bits and bites. Nevertheless, money is always tied to real values and to the real economy. During certain phases money and the highly developed sphere of finance can become more and more independent. We can understand the reasons for this when we read the chapter on fetishism, about the vile products of our own action which then become circumstances of constraint to our action. In his historical analysis of the transition to the market economy in the 18^th and 19^th century Karl Polanyi describes this as a tendency of the markets to disembed themselves from society, and as we have to add today, from nature.

The reading movement stops?

Many committed Marxists and followers of Marx’s theory, for instance around the Frankfurt School, have stopped here, with the Marxist theory of alienation, of the critique of ideology, of false appearances and distorted consciousness. But it is necessary to continue reading, for it is only now that we are confronted with the conditions under which modern industry functions. Only when reading the later chapters of the first volume of “Capital” and volume 2 and 3, does it become clear how the process of accumulation of capital functions and which contradictions within it lead to substantial crises. Reading capital therefore requires persistency, which not everyone might have. Not because they are weak or impatient but because they cannot always combine the time-consuming reading of “Capital” with their studies. This has always been the case, also in the Reading Capital movement in the aftermath of 1968. Reading “Capital” as a political project cannot avoid the possibility of a group of “Capital”-experts either.

Brecht said that it is expensive to be a good Marxist. Does this suggest Marxist human resources? Marx strictly opposed that idea, just as one would not think of describing the eye as the resources of seeing. This does not mean that it is not necessary to gain much knowledge in order to meet Brecht’s claim (which Marx shared) that in order to change the world we need to understand it. A ‘reading Capital’ movement always has to consider that knowledge can only be gained in collective effort and that this, together with the analysis of the social situation, determines the space for social praxis. The GI, the messenger and the model already got to the third chapter of “Capital” on “Money, or the Circulation of Commodities”. While reading they had many light-bulb moments and gained insight. They also believe that they dispose of the categories of analysis of forms with which they can understand their social situation, its contradictions and conflicts which initiated their reading in the beginning: The greed for oil and the interests behind the invasion of Iraq, the strategies to reduce wages (and not just in the privatised postal services) and the beauty fetishism as an expression of fetishised commodity aesthetics.

But the mentor of their reading group warns them. Reading “Capital” is a necessary precondition in order to understand the process of accumulation of capital but it is not sufficient. We also have to tackle an analysis of the “surface phenomena” of contemporary real capitalism, in order to be able to formulate strategies of action. For this reading “Capital” is indispensable, but we need to read it with the same method Marx used to analyse it: Firstly, “Capital” is the product of the vast research Marx made in the British library and secondly it is a serious critical examination of the thinking of his time. This is true for a “Critique of Political Economy” today. Reading groups cannot limit themselves to reading, they have to critically analyse contemporary ways of thinking and acting in order to fulfill the claim of being a political project.

Reading Capital Movement Launched at King's College

2009-02-13T05:29:00.000-08:00

Politicisation & the crisis are driving students to search for a fundamental understanding of the system. This week around 50-60 students attended a launch meeting for a Capital reading movement at King's College London. It was organised by a group of students in association with the International Socialism Journal (http://www.isj.org.uk/). Alex Callinicos (Professor, European Studies) introduced a discussion on 'Why read Capital? - Marx in the 21st Century'.

Students from many different departments (War Studies, Law, European Studies, etc.) raised serious issues ranging from the nature of intellectual labour, Marx & ecology, Utopian vs. Scientific Marxism, to questions about exploitation and the origin of surplus-value.

The group has translated introductory essays used by students from the group SDS.Die Linke, who have launched a Capital reading movement in Germany in over 30 universities. Many students have also been watching David Harvey's (CUNY New York) reading group lectures online at http://www.davidharvey.org/.

Joseph Choonara, deputy editor of ISJ, will speak at the next session on 'Commodities & Values' (Feb 24th 6pm Ground Floor Room 1, Stand Campus), after which the group will begin introducing topics itself.