[OPE-L:21] Marx's political writings

glevy@acnet.pratt.edu (glevy@acnet.pratt.edu)
Fri, 8 Sep 1995 19:10:51 -0700

[ show plain text ]

Paul B.:
--------
I posted a question on this earlier which evidently didn't get
through, but I was wondering whether anyone would be interested in
exploring the connections between Marx's critique of political economy
(including any gaps therein revealed by our outline considerations) and
Marx's more political writings (including any analytical gaps therein).

Mike L.:
-------
I definitely think that making those links should be part of our
explorations. In some cases, the more political writings are a critical
guide to what remains implicit in the critique; eg., the concept of the
political economy of the working class (in the Inaugural Address), which I
explore directly in Ch 4 of Beyond Capital. It is also impossible to explore
Marx's concept of the capitalist state without turning to the Civil War in
France,etc.

Jerry:
------
I sent private messages to Paul B. and Mike L. about this issue, but I
want to add a comment to the list. Since both feel that Marx's political
writings have relevance for the outline (to which I agree), I would
suggest that the real questions are:

a) at what stage of the process do we consider such questions (the
listing stage might be one place to start)?

b) do we review Marx's political writings *or* do we attempt to simply list
the analytical gaps related to political theory that need to be filled
and then consider logically where and when those issues should be raised?