C. J. Arthur (cjarthur@pavilion.co.uk)
Tue, 19 Oct 1999 21:34:28 +0100
In reply to Jerry
>Chris A wrote in [OPE-L:1484]:
>
>> Jerry is right to ask for an integrated theory of th six books.
>
>I'm glad you agree with me with me, now I'm going to put you "on the
>spot":
>
>> In relation to this:
>> 1. marx somewhere referred to Caital/WagedLabour/LandedProperty as "the
>> inner totality" of boureois society. I take it this means that the
>> dialectical connections would be tighter here than in the further
>> developments.
>
> 1. Do you take the position (following Rosdolsky) that the subjects
> of the books on "Landed Property" and "Wage Labour" (Books 2-3 in
> the 6-book-plan) were incorporated into _Capital_ or do you take the
> position (as Mike L does) that the subject matter of Books 2-3 were
> outside the scope of _Capital_ (i.e. Book 1)?
>
The latter
>> 2. marxists have often tried to go straight from Vol.1 to the state as if
>> the state was only there to secure the conditions for accumulation.
>
> 2. In the Geert/Mike W book, there is a dialectical relation suggested
> between the categories of "civil society" and "state" that leads to
> the category of "mixed economy". Do you think that the subject of
> "civil society" has to be incorporated into the subject matter of
> "The State" (Book 4 in the 6-book-plan)?
Yes
Do you agree with the way
> in which this subject was presented in _Value-Form and the State_?
>
Pass for the moment
>> 3. Those who complain "there is no crisis theory in Capital" should
>> ponder the implications of the fact Marx intended to trat this in book
>> 6.
>
> 3. What do you see as the *order* of topics to be presented in Book 6
> (World Market and Crisis)? What are the aspects of "crisis theory"
> that need to be developed further at a level of abstraction
> associated with Volume 3 of _Capital_ and what are the aspects of
> "crisis theory" that require further development at a level of
> abstraction that is more concrete than that in _Capital_?
>
>In solidarity, Jerry
Pass again - I would start by rereading Simon Clarke's book on Crisis.
But the question is interesting. Broadly the problem for capital is
over-accumulation and the associateds fall in the rate of profit. Any
measures taken to restore the rate of profit will usually cause a
realization crisis.
The general reason why crisis has to be postponed until after the state is
that the measures the state takes in response to these problems will change
the form of the crisis.
Chris A
P. S. Please note that I have a new Email address,
<cjarthur@waitrose.com>
but the old one will also run until next summer. (To be doubly sure load
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