[OPE-L:7008] Capital & Class

From: gerald_a_levy (gerald_a_levy@msn.com)
Date: Wed Apr 17 2002 - 11:57:28 EDT


No, not the journal. The following search was
inspired by something that Geert wrote recently
and I decided to follow-up on.

I did a word search  at http://www.marxists.org
for the 3 volumes of _Capital_   for "class".

Here's what I found:  in all 3 volumes there were 9l
references to "class".   

Yet, in looking through the references, I saw that 
25 meant "group" or  "classification"  and thus did 
not refer to Marx's perspective on class.  So far, the net 
is  then 66.

However, if we now deduct  ll references in the
"Prefaces" and "Afterwards" (most of these by
Engels), the table of contents (for V3), the study
guides at the site (not written by M&E), and 
the "Synopsis" by Engels (which also showed-up
in the word search), then -- deducting ll from 66 --
there are *55 references to class in all three volumes 
of _Capital_*. 

In my view, this (along with the location of the extremely
brief and unfinished Chapter 52 in Volume 3 on "Classes")
is *strong* evidence that this subject of class was not 
incorporated in a systematic way into the structure of
_Capital_  and consequently is a "post-Capital" subject
which Marx originally planned to incorporate into "Economics"
as Books 2-3 on "Landed Property" and Wage-Labour"
respectively.  This, in my view, says something very
important in terms of whether _Capital_ can be viewed as
a 'terminal' book or just l in a series of proposed books.

Do others agree?

In solidarity, Jerry



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