From: Francisco Paulo Cipolla (cipolla@UFPR.BR)
Date: Thu Mar 18 2004 - 15:22:58 EST
Paul, is your article on "Accumulation of Capital: its definition.." available online?. Paulo Paul Zarembka wrote: > Chris, > > Thanks for your review of White's work and I have obtained James White's > reply; it is attached. Did both appear in *Studies in Marxism*? > > I share White's understanding of what Luxemburg was trying to accomplish, > against your dismissal of her work on accumulation of capital. In fact, > I'll up the stakes. > > Marx started *Capital* with "Commodities" and goes forward as we all well > know, never really getting to history until the end of *Volume 1*. Yet, > around the time that the first edition of *Capital* was published, he > became more and more deeply drawn into the historical question and the > question of the penetration (or lack thereof) of capitalism into > pre-capitalist society. As White says, > > "It emerged [from White's investigations] that what Marx was interested > in at that time was the action of capital on non-capitalist societies, > traditional agrarian communities. He began this line of inquiry not with > Russia, but with his native Germany, using mainly the works of Maurer. But > the country where the peasant agrarian commune was most in evidence was > Russia, and it was to that country that he naturally turned his > attention." > > Compare Luxemburg's *Introduction to Political Economy*. She doesn't get > to "Commodity Production" until her six chapter! Her long third chapter > is "Elements of Economic History: Primitive Communism" and used some of > the exact same source materials as Marx was reading. (Marx, Luxemburg and > White all read Russian. Incidentally, half of Luxemburg's third chapter > is now translated into English in *The Rosa Luxemburg Reader*, edited by > Peter Hudis and Kevin B. Anderson, Monthly Review, 2004, pp. 71-110.) > Luxemburg goes on to feudalism and the guilds. > > In other words, Luxemburg's project became in fact what White says Marx > was moving toward in his late years! Pretty amazing, no? I think > Luxemburg came to this on her own, although apparently she did have access > to some of Marx's unpublished materials. > > Where I might depart from White is that I think the problem with > accumulation of capital as the extension of capitalism is already a > problem in *Volume 1* of *Capital*, while White thinks it arises from the > interface of *Volume 1* with *Volume 2*. My argument appears in > "Accumulation of Capital, Its Definition, A Century after Lenin and > Luxemburg", *R.P.E.*, Vol. 18, pp. 183-241, and is also mentioned in my > comment on Sayer's review of White. > > Another comment. In my view, you over-estimate the cogency of Lenin's > economics. For my own evaluation, see my article last year in *Science > and Society*, "Lenin, Economist of Production: A Ricardian Step > Backwards". The more carefully I read Lenin's economics, the less > 'marxist' it became and I wouldn't use it as a standard anymore. > > In any case, I prefer your review of White's *Karl Marx and the Origins of > Dialectical Materialism* because you clearly respect the work, in spite of > disagreements. I hadn't known of it before and am glad that White is > receiving increasing attention. > > Paul > > P.S. I notice some typos in White: > > a. "Manuscript I of the second draft written in 1865": actually refers to > Manuscript I of Volume 2. > > b. The first edition of Capital was 1867, not 1868. > > ************************************************************************** > Vol.21: Neoliberalism in Crisis, Accumulation, and Rosa Luxemburg's Legacy > RESEARCH IN POLITICAL ECONOMY, Zarembka/Soederberg, eds., Elsevier Science > *********************** http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/PZarembka > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Name: Arthur.doc > Arthur.doc Type: Microsoft Word Document (application/msword) > Encoding: BASE64
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