Jurriaan Bendien (djjb99@worldonline.nl)
Thu, 21 Oct 1999 19:34:12 +0100
Jerry wrote:
Who can imagine
>that a critique of political economy and an attempt to lay bare the law of
>motion of capitalism by Marx would not incorporate a *decisive* role for
>class struggle? Yet, to the extent that class struggle is discussed in
>_Capital_, it is discussed in a one-sided manner. While there are some
>tales of workers' struggles in _Capital_, they are examples of what might
>be called "picture-thinking" or "imaginative representation"
>[Vorstellung], imo, rather than an integral part of the theoretical
>presentation.
I think in Capital Marx does assign a central role to class conflict in the
development of capitalism, inasmuch as he identifies the extraction of
surplus labour as the very basis of the system. But his primary objective
is not to theorise the variegated modalities/forms of class struggles
themselves. These are only illustrative material. Few "laws" can be
specified in that area, beyond specifying objective conditions which
improve or obstruct the capacity of workers to struggle (it is otherwise a
matter of subjectivities and organisation). Rather his aim was to explain
what the class struggles are essentially (ultimately) about, and the
parameters within which they occur. For theories of class struggle, you
would have to refer to later Marxist authors.
In solidarity
Jurriaan
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