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- Herausgeber: Booksell-Verlag
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
Karl Marx's seminal works, "Capital" and "The Communist Manifesto," are cornerstones of social and economic theory that challenge the foundations of capitalist society. "Capital" offers a rigorous analysis of political economy, examining the relationships between labor, commodity, and capital with a deft blend of philosophical inquiry and empirical observation. In contrast, "The Communist Manifesto," co-authored with Friedrich Engels, presents a passionate call to arms for the proletariat, advocating for class struggle as the catalyst for social change. Together, these texts not only articulate the mechanics of capitalism but also envision an alternative society rooted in communal ownership and equality. Born in 1818 in Trier, Prussia, Karl Marx's life experiences'—including his engagement with the vibrant intellectual climate of Europe, exposure to the injustices of industrialization, and his journalistic endeavors'—shaped his revolutionary ideas. His historical materialist approach reflects a critique of capitalism that was both deeply personal and widely resonant in an era marked by rapid change, social upheaval, and the emergence of new class dynamics. These works are essential reading for anyone seeking to understand modern socio-economic structures and continue to inspire debate in contemporary discourse. Readers from diverse backgrounds will find profound insights into the nature of power, inequality, and the possibility of transformation, making these texts not only historical artifacts but also relevant guides for future social movements. In this enriched edition, we have carefully created added value for your reading experience: - A comprehensive Introduction outlines these selected works' unifying features, themes, or stylistic evolutions. - The Author Biography highlights personal milestones and literary influences that shape the entire body of writing. - A Historical Context section situates the works in their broader era—social currents, cultural trends, and key events that underpin their creation. - A concise Synopsis (Selection) offers an accessible overview of the included texts, helping readers navigate plotlines and main ideas without revealing critical twists. - A unified Analysis examines recurring motifs and stylistic hallmarks across the collection, tying the stories together while spotlighting the different work's strengths. - Reflection questions inspire deeper contemplation of the author's overarching message, inviting readers to draw connections among different texts and relate them to modern contexts. - Lastly, our hand‐picked Memorable Quotes distill pivotal lines and turning points, serving as touchstones for the collection's central themes.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023
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Capital & The Communist Manifesto
Table of Contents
Introduction
The collection 'Capital & The Communist Manifesto' serves as a comprehensive compendium of Karl Marx's seminal works, offering readers an exhaustive view of his influential theories and critiques. Through this curated compilation, readers can engage with Marx’s incisive analysis of political economy, his revolutionary ideas on class struggle, and his vision for a more equitable society. This anthology is not merely a gathering of texts; it is a journey through the intellectual evolution of one of history's most significant thinkers, allowing readers to appreciate the profound impact his ideas have had on modern thought.
In this collection, the featured texts span a range of genres, primarily focusing on economic theory, political critique, and manifesto literature. The inclusion of 'Capital' across its three volumes showcases Marx's rigorous methodical approach to political economy, while 'The Communist Manifesto' serves as a powerful political declaration. Additionally, 'Wages, Price and Profit' offers insight into labor dynamics within capitalist systems. Together, these works represent an intricate tapestry of essays and theorization that are foundational to Marxist thought, thus bridging theoretical and practical dimensions of his ideas.
A unifying theme throughout this collection is the critique of capitalism, particularly its inherent inequalities and exploitative structures. Marx's writings explore the relationship between labor, value, and capital, articulating a vision of society that challenges the status quo. His distinctive dialectical method serves as a hallmark of his style, encouraging readers to examine contradictions within capitalist societies and envision alternatives. The persistence of these themes underscores the relevance of Marx’s work as a lens through which contemporary social, political, and economic issues can be analyzed, making them essential reading in today’s context.
The collection also engages with the notion of class struggle, which is central to Marx’s philosophy. Through the examination of proletarian experiences and the bourgeoisie's role, Marx outlines a narrative of conflict that continues to resonate. His ability to articulate the grievances of the working class fosters a sense of urgency and relevance, reminding readers that these historical struggles are far from resolved. By positioning himself within this framework, Marx not only provides a critique but also catalyzes a call to action, motivating future generations to challenge oppressive systems.
Stylistically, Marx’s writing is both dense and intellectually stimulating, characterized by incisive argumentation and a thorough grounding in historical materialism. His ability to weave together empirical observations with theoretical insights sets him apart as a thinker whose work demands careful examination. The collection captures this complexity, offering readers opportunities to engage deeply with the material, prompting them to think critically and question accepted paradigms. The analytical vigor embedded in these texts continues to challenge and inspire scholars and activists alike.
Significantly, the works in this collection do not merely stand alone; they interact with each other in ways that enrich the overall discourse. 'Capital' serves as an elaborate foundation for the political principles laid out in 'The Communist Manifesto,' while 'Wages, Price and Profit' offers practical insights that complement Marx's grand theories of capitalism. These interconnections invite readers to reflect on how each work builds upon and informs the others, creating a cohesive framework for understanding Marx’s thoughts on society and economic systems.
The historical context of Marx's writings is equally vital, as they emerged during a period of immense social upheaval and transformation. The industrial revolution altered economic realities and social structures, providing a fertile ground for Marx’s theories. The collection allows readers to contextualize these works within their time, examining the responses to capitalist development and the reactions elicited by burgeoning labor movements. Understanding this historical backdrop enhances the appreciation of the urgency and significance of Marx's arguments.
Moreover, the collection embodies the radical spirit of Marx’s work, a spirit that not only critiques existing systems but also seeks to envision a new social order. This forward-looking perspective encourages readers to reflect on possibilities for social change and collective emancipation. By studying Marx’s ideas, readers can engage with a legacy that implores them to challenge injustice and envision equitable alternatives to prevailing economic models, crafting a narrative that is as revolutionary now as it was in the 19th century.
While the primary focus of this collection remains on Marx's economic and political theories, the inclusion of these specific texts allows for a nuanced exploration of the relationships between wage labor, capital accumulation, and social relations. Marx’s examinations expose the intricate dynamics of exploitation and the capitalist mode of production, revealing the often obscured realities that underpin economic interactions. This deeper understanding is crucial for anyone seeking to comprehend the systemic inequalities that persist in contemporary society.
This collection also pays homage to various thinkers and movements that predate Marx, acknowledging the rich intellectual traditions that contributed to his ideas. The inclusion of precursors to 'Capital' not only highlights the evolution of economic thought but also situates Marx within a broader discourse, reinforcing the idea that intellectual innovation is often a collaborative process. In doing so, it emphasizes the deep roots of Marxism in pre-existing theories and philosophies, showcasing the interplay between different historical perspectives.
In this way, the anthology reveals the dialogues between Marx and his contemporaries, illustrating the vibrant intellectual environment of the time. Engaging with these precursor texts enhances the understanding of Marx’s contributions, inviting readers to trace the developments in economic theory that influenced his work. This framework encourages a critical analysis that reflects on the continuity and change within political thought, further enriching the reader's exploration of Marx’s ideas.
A noteworthy aspect of this collection is its accessibility. While the subjects tackled by Marx are complex, the anthology aims to present these foundational texts in a format that is approachable for both seasoned scholars and those new to Marxist theory. Careful annotations and contextual introductions demystify dense passages, enabling a broader audience to engage with the contents meaningfully. This endeavor to maintain clarity ensures that Marx's revolutionary insights can reach and resonate with a diverse readership.
Additionally, the anthology emphasizes the timelessness of Marx's critique. As contemporary society grapples with global challenges such as economic inequality, climate change, and labor rights, the relevance of Marx's analysis remains profound. The collection invites readers to consider how Marx’s critiques can inform current debates, serving as a foundation for modern theories of social justice and economic reform. In this way, readers are encouraged not only to understand Marx's context but to reflect on the implications for their own civic engagement.
Furthermore, considering the lasting impact of Marx's thoughts on various disciplines—be it economics, sociology, political science, or cultural studies—the collection offers an opportunity to re-examine foundational concepts that continue to shape contemporary discourse. By situating Marx’s works within these broader academic frameworks, the anthology opens avenues for interdisciplinary dialogue, inspiring fresh interpretations and critical discussions that resonate within various fields.
By exploring this collection, readers are not just engaging with texts; they are also entering a critical conversation that has spanned generations. The ways in which Marx's ideas have been interpreted, contested, and expanded upon over the years underscore the dynamic nature of his work. Engaging with these texts provides insight into this ongoing dialogue, encouraging further inquiry into the implications of Marxist thought in both historical and contemporary perspectives.
In summary, 'Capital & The Communist Manifesto' stands as a significant resource for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of capitalism and the potential for revolutionary change. By bringing these key works together, the collection offers a multifaceted view of Marx's impact on political, economic, and social thought. This anthology seeks to not only honor Marx’s legacy but also to inspire critical reflection on the structures that govern our world.
We invite readers—students, academics, and curious minds alike—to delve into the depths of this comprehensive single-author collection. As you explore the interplay of different genres and themes within these pages, you may find new insights that encourage further dialogue and action. Join us in uncovering the powerful questions posed by Marx’s work, and allow his enduring legacy to provoke thought and inspire change in your understanding of our collective human experience.
Author Biography
Introduction
Karl Marx (1818–1883) was a German philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary whose analyses of capitalism and class struggle reshaped modern social thought. Best known for co-authoring The Communist Manifesto and for his multi-volume project Capital, he articulated historical materialism and the concept of surplus value, offering a systemic critique of capitalist production and its social relations. Living much of his adult life in exile, he produced influential political journalism and theoretical works that informed labor movements, socialist parties, and academic disciplines. Though reception varied during his lifetime, Marx’s ideas became foundational to debates in economics, sociology, political theory, and history, continuing to inform global discourse on inequality, power, and social transformation.
Education and Literary Influences
Marx grew up in the Rhineland and studied at German universities during the 1830s and early 1840s. He initially pursued law at the University of Bonn before turning to philosophy at the University of Berlin, where he engaged with the Young Hegelian milieu. He completed a doctorate through the University of Jena, focusing on ancient atomism in a dissertation comparing the philosophies of Democritus and Epicurus. This early immersion in classical philosophy, combined with exposure to German idealism, sharpened his critical method. The intellectual climate of post-Napoleonic Europe—marked by censorship, political reform debates, and philosophical controversy—formed the backdrop for his transition from academic inquiry to public engagement.
Hegel’s dialectics decisively shaped Marx’s approach, even as he would later invert it through a materialist lens. Ludwig Feuerbach’s critique of religion influenced his turn toward materialism and the analysis of human praxis. In Paris and later Brussels, Marx encountered French socialist currents associated with Saint-Simon and Fourier and debated Pierre-Joseph Proudhon’s ideas. He also immersed himself in British political economy, studying Adam Smith and David Ricardo to ground his emerging theory of value and exploitation. These strands—German philosophy, French social critique, and English economics—converged in his distinctive synthesis, enabling a historically situated analysis of social relations, institutions, and modes of production.
Literary Career
Marx began as a radical journalist. In the early 1840s he wrote for and edited the Rheinische Zeitung, challenging censorship and feudal privileges. After moving to Paris, he co-edited the Deutsch–Französische Jahrbücher and published essays such as On the Jewish Question and the Introduction to a Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right. He composed Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, which examined alienation under capitalism, although these were published only decades later. Relocating to Brussels, he produced the Theses on Feuerbach and, with Friedrich Engels, The German Ideology, a text that articulated historical materialism but likewise saw delayed publication. These works established enduring themes and methods.
During the revolutionary upheavals of 1848–1849, Marx and Engels issued The Communist Manifesto for the Communist League, distilling their view of class struggle and the dynamics of capitalist expansion. Returning to Cologne, he edited the Neue Rheinische Zeitung, confronting reactionary forces as revolutions receded. His prose combined polemical clarity with historical analysis, seeking to connect immediate political events to structural transformations. While authorities suppressed his publications and forced him into exile, the period solidified his reputation as a formidable critic. The Manifesto’s concise programmatic claims—internationalism, abolition of bourgeois property in the means of production, and proletarian self-emancipation—became emblematic of later socialist movements.
Settled in London from the late 1840s, Marx undertook extensive research at the British Museum while supporting himself as a correspondent for outlets including the New York Daily Tribune. He analyzed the politics of France in The Class Struggles in France and The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, offering enduring accounts of state power, ideology, and social forces. In the late 1850s he drafted the Grundrisse, notebooks that foreshadowed themes in Capital. Throughout these years, his journalism and political tracts combined close empirical observation with theoretical innovation, bridging immediate commentary and longer-term inquiry into the laws of motion of capitalist society.
Marx’s major scholarly achievement, Capital, began appearing with Volume I in 1867, presenting a systematic critique of commodity production, surplus value, accumulation, and crisis tendencies. He refined concepts such as the value-form, the distinction between labor-power and labor, and the fetishism of commodities. The reception was mixed: limited mainstream attention contrasted with growing interest among socialist activists and some scholars. After Marx’s death, Engels edited and published Volumes II and III from his manuscripts, extending analysis to circulation, reproduction schemes, and the rate of profit. Together, these volumes consolidated Marx’s reputation as a major theorist of capitalism whose arguments continue to provoke debate.
Beliefs and Advocacy
Marx’s core beliefs centered on historical materialism: the view that social development is driven by material production, class relations, and struggles over surplus. He argued that capitalism, while historically progressive in developing productive forces, rests on exploitation and generates recurrent crises. Concepts of alienation and commodity fetishism illuminated how market relations obscure social labor. He envisioned the working class as a potential agent of emancipation, advocating collective ownership of the means of production and the abolition of class domination. His method emphasized critique—testing categories against historical reality—and treated socialism not as a utopia but as a practical, historically conditioned outcome of social contradictions.
Marx’s advocacy unfolded through organizations and public interventions. As a leading figure in the International Working Men’s Association, founded in the 1860s, he drafted addresses that articulated principles of international solidarity and independent working-class politics. His pamphlet The Civil War in France interpreted the 1871 Paris Commune as a pioneering, if short-lived, example of democratic workers’ power. He engaged in strategic disputes over political organization and tactics, emphasizing the necessity of mass participation and programmatic clarity. While insisting on internationalism, he analyzed specific national contexts, arguing that paths to transformation would differ according to historical and institutional conditions.
Marx’s political counsel influenced socialist parties and trade unions, particularly in Central and Western Europe. His Critique of the Gotha Programme, written in the mid-1870s, challenged compromises he believed blurred class goals, refining distinctions between phases of post-capitalist development and critiquing vague appeals to distributive justice. He rejected dogmatism, urging that theory be tested by ongoing struggles and empirical research. Later movements and states invoked his work in divergent ways, but Marx himself cautioned against formulas detached from context. Across debates on reform versus revolution, parliamentary participation, and party organization, his emphasis remained on self-emancipation and the transformation of social relations.
Final Years & Legacy
In his later years, Marx’s health deteriorated, slowing progress on revising and extending Capital. He continued to study agriculture, credit, and world markets, aiming to refine analysis of reproduction and crisis. He traveled periodically to milder climates for recuperation and endured personal losses that further weakened him. After his death in London in 1883, he was buried at Highgate Cemetery. Engels delivered a notable graveside eulogy and later prepared additional volumes from Marx’s manuscripts, ensuring their publication. Contemporary reactions were concentrated in socialist circles, where he was mourned as a principal theorist of the labor movement and a rigorous critic of capitalism.
Marx’s long-term impact has been profound and contested. His ideas helped shape labor movements, parties, and 20th-century revolutions, while also informing academic fields such as sociology, political theory, history, cultural studies, and critical economics. Interpretations of Marxism varied widely, from reformist currents to state doctrines, prompting ongoing reassessments—especially after major geopolitical shifts in the late 20th century. Scholarly editions, including the multi-volume Marx–Engels Gesamtausgabe, have deepened access to his manuscripts and notes. Today, debates about inequality, automation, globalization, and ecological crisis continue to engage his categories, ensuring that his works remain central to discussions of power, production, and social change.
Historical Context
The mid-19th century in Europe was a time of accelerating industrialization and urban growth that transformed largely agrarian societies into factory-based economies. As new factories attracted workers from the countryside, traditional social structures were reshaped and labor movements began to emerge. It was in this environment that Karl Marx formulated his critique of capitalist production, first expressed in a joint pamphlet published in 1848 and more fully developed in the 1867 volume on political economy. His analysis examined how capitalist relations affected workers and society, challenging dominant economic and ideological assumptions.
Marx’s thinking was deeply affected by the wave of revolutions that swept Europe in 1848. These uprisings—fueled by demands for constitutional government, economic relief, and social reform—revealed a growing political awareness among industrial and agricultural laborers. Through his involvement with radical circles in Brussels and Paris, he refined the idea that historical change arises from conflicts between social classes. The setbacks of 1848 reinforced his conviction that organized working-class action would be necessary to contest entrenched property interests.
Philosophical currents of the Enlightenment and German idealism also shaped Marx’s method. From Hegel he borrowed the notion that ideas and material conditions develop through contradictory processes, and from Ludwig Feuerbach he adopted a critique of religious and abstract ideas in favor of examining concrete human needs. These influences coalesced into a materialist framework that located the driving forces of history in economic life rather than in purely intellectual movements.
Contemporary economic thought provided further building blocks. While acknowledging the pioneering work of Adam Smith and David Ricardo on value and market dynamics, Marx argued that classical political economy had overlooked how profits derive from paying laborers less than the full value they create. His study of surplus value sought to reveal the mechanisms by which capitalists accumulate wealth and to expose systemic inequalities in wage systems and distribution.
At the same time, 19th-century socialism advanced from utopian projects toward more organized political movements. Early social reformers such as Robert Owen and Claude Henri de Saint-Simon proposed cooperative communities; Marx critiqued these as insufficiently grounded in class conflict. He advocated instead for what he called a scientific socialism, based on the collective power of workers to secure political influence. His active role in the International Workingmen’s Association, founded in 1864 with participation from trade-unionists and socialists across Europe, illustrated his belief in coordinated struggle against capitalist exploitation.
The global expansion of European empires provided further context for his critique. As industrial powers sought raw materials and markets overseas, Marx observed how colonial ventures intensified social divides both at home and abroad. He pointed out that capital’s drive to constant growth and competition carried consequences for colonized peoples and deepened global inequalities.
Throughout the century, factory laborers faced long hours, low pay, and hazardous conditions—circumstances that underscored Marx’s call for fundamental change. He held that only by transferring control of production to the working majority could society overcome the alienation and dehumanization he saw as endemic under capitalist relations. His writings inspired later labor organizations and trade unions, many of which fought for legal protections and better wages in the years that followed.
Marx’s moral critique of capitalism emerged alongside these empirical observations. He saw stark contrasts between the wealth accumulated in industrial centers and the poverty endured by workers as evidence that the system was neither natural nor inevitable. In his view, capitalist production shaped social bonds and individual consciousness in ways that served private profit rather than human flourishing.
Personal experience also informed his work. Political repression forced him first into exile in Paris and then to London, where he lived under straitened circumstances. These difficulties reinforced his solidarity with displaced and marginalized groups and lent urgency to his writings.
Practical experiments in collective organization—workers’ cooperatives and mutual aid societies—caught his attention as early attempts to challenge capitalist norms. He regarded these initiatives as embryonic forms of self-management, though he believed they needed to be part of a broader political struggle to effect systemic change.
Although Marx did not develop an extensive theory of gender, his focus on class relations later provided a framework on which feminist scholars built analyses of how patriarchy and capitalism intersect. In the decades that followed, activists applied his insights to campaigns for women’s labor rights and social equality.
After his death, his analysis of class dynamics and economic injustice influenced a wide range of political movements. Socialist parties in Europe incorporated his ideas into programmatic platforms, and revolutionary leaders in Russia adapted his concepts to local conditions. Academic debates likewise flourished, giving rise to varied interpretations that ranged from orthodox readings to critical revisions.
In his published critiques, Marx occasionally addressed the depletion of soils and the exploitation of natural resources, foreshadowing later ecological concerns. Those reflections helped inspire eco-socialist arguments that link environmental sustainability to social and economic justice.
Today, discussions of financial crises, inequality, and globalization often echo his observations on cyclic tendencies in capital accumulation. His emphasis on the interdependence of economic structures and social relations continues to inform analyses of contemporary labor issues and systemic risks.
By situating his work within the social, political, and economic upheavals of the 19th century, we recognize both its historical origins and its lasting relevance. The tensions he identified between profit-driven production and human needs remain central to debates about labor rights, social welfare, and equitable development.
Synopsis (Selection)
Capital
A critical analysis of political economy, exploring the production processes of capitalism, the dynamics of capital accumulation, and the exploitation of labor, ultimately revealing the inherent contradictions within capitalist systems.
Vol. 2 - The Process of Circulation of Capital
This volume examines the circulation of capital, detailing how capital moves through the economy, covering processes such as the transformation of commodities into money and back into commodities, alongside the role of markets.
Vol. 3 - The Process of Capitalist Production as a Whole
Here, Marx analyzes the entire capitalist production process, exploring aspects such as profit distribution, competition among capitalists, and the impact of credit and investment on the capitalist economy.
The Communist Manifesto
A political pamphlet co-authored by Friedrich Engels, it presents the principles of communism, outlines class struggles between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, and calls for the working class to unite against capitalist oppression.
Two Important Precursors to Capital
A collection that includes significant writings that laid the groundwork for Marx's theories in Capital, emphasizing earlier economic thoughts and critiques of capitalism.
Wages, Price and Profit
This text discusses the relationship between wages, profit, and the price of commodities, arguing that while capitalists seek profit, workers must understand the mechanisms that determine wages and advocate for their rights in the capitalist system.
Capital & The Communist Manifesto
Capital
Vol. 1 - The Process of Capitalist Production
Author’s Preface: First German Edition
The work, the first volume of which I now submit to the public, forms the continuation of my Zur Kritik der Politischen Oekonomie (A Contribution to the Criticism of Political Economy) published in 1859. The long pause between the first part and the continuation is due to an illness of many years’ duration that again and again interrupted my work.
The substance of that earlier work is summarised in the first three chapters of this volume. This is done not merely for the sake of connexion and completeness. The presentation of the subject matter is improved. As far as circumstances in any way permit, many points only hinted at in the earlier book are here worked out more fully, whilst, conversely, points worked out fully there are only touched upon in this volume. The sections on the history of the theories of value and of money are now, of course, left out altogether. The reader of the earlier work will find, however, in the notes to the first chapter additional sources of reference relative to the history of those theories.
Every beginning is difficult, holds in all sciences. To understand the first chapter, especially the section that contains the analysis of commodities, will, therefore, present the greatest difficulty. That which concerns more especially the analysis of the substance of value and the magnitude of value, I have, as much as it was possible, popularised.1 The value-form, whose fully developed shape is the money-form, is very elementary and simple. Nevertheless, the human mind has for more than 2,000 years sought in vain to get to the bottom of it all, whilst on the other hand, to the successful analysis of much more composite and complex forms, there has been at least an approximation. Why? Because the body, as an organic whole, is more easy of study than are the cells of that body. In the analysis of economic forms, moreover, neither microscopes nor chemical reagents are of use. The force of abstraction must replace both. But in bourgeois society, the commodity-form of the product of labour – or value-form of the commodity – is the economic cell-form. To the superficial observer, the analysis of these forms seems to turn upon minutiae. It does in fact deal with minutiae, but they are of the same order as those dealt with in microscopic anatomy.
With the exception of the section on value-form, therefore, this volume cannot stand accused on the score of difficulty. I presuppose, of course, a reader who is willing to learn something new and therefore to think for himself.
The physicist either observes physical phenomena where they occur in their most typical form and most free from disturbing influence, or, wherever possible, he makes experiments under conditions that assure the occurrence of the phenomenon in its normality. In this work I have to examine the capitalist mode of production, and the conditions of production and exchange corresponding to that mode. Up to the present time, their classic ground is England. That is the reason why England is used as the chief illustration in the development of my theoretical ideas. If, however, the German reader shrugs his shoulders at the condition of the English industrial and agricultural labourers, or in optimist fashion comforts himself with the thought that in Germany things are not nearly so bad; I must plainly tell him, “De te fabula narratur!” [It is of you that the story is told. – Horace]
Intrinsically, it is not a question of the higher or lower degree of development of the social antagonisms that result from the natural laws of capitalist production. It is a question of these laws themselves, of these tendencies working with iron necessity towards inevitable results. The country that is more developed industrially only shows, to the less developed, the image of its own future.
But apart from this. Where capitalist production is fully naturalised among the Germans (for instance, in the factories proper) the condition of things is much worse than in England, because the counterpoise of the Factory Acts is wanting. In all other spheres, we, like all the rest of Continental Western Europe, suffer not only from the development of capitalist production, but also from the incompleteness of that development. Alongside the modern evils, a whole series of inherited evils oppress us, arising from the passive survival of antiquated modes of production, with their inevitable train of social and political anachronisms. We suffer not only from the living, but from the dead. Le mort saisit le vif![The dead holds the living in his grasp. – formula of French common law]
The social statistics of Germany and the rest of Continental Western Europe are, in comparison with those of England, wretchedly compiled. But they raise the veil just enough to let us catch a glimpse of the Medusa head behind it. We should be appalled at the state of things at home, if, as in England, our governments and parliaments appointed periodically commissions of inquiry into economic conditions; if these commissions were armed with the same plenary powers to get at the truth; if it was possible to find for this purpose men as competent, as free from partisanship and respect of persons as are the English factory-inspectors, her medical reporters on public health, her commissioners of inquiry into the exploitation of women and children, into housing and food. Perseus wore a magic cap down over his eyes and ears as a make-believe that there are no monsters.
Let us not deceive ourselves on this. As in the 18th century, the American war of independence sounded the tocsin for the European middle class, so that in the 19th century, the American Civil War sounded it for the European working class. In England the process of social disintegration is palpable. When it has reached a certain point, it must react on the Continent. There it will take a form more brutal or more humane, according to the degree of development of the working class itself. Apart from higher motives, therefore, their own most important interests dictate to the classes that are for the nonce the ruling ones, the removal of all legally removable hindrances to the free development of the working class. For this reason, as well as others, I have given so large a space in this volume to the history, the details, and the results of English factory legislation. One nation can and should learn from others. And even when a society has got upon the right track for the discovery of the natural laws of its movement – and it is the ultimate aim of this work, to lay bare the economic law of motion of modern society – it can neither clear by bold leaps, nor remove by legal enactments, the obstacles offered by the successive phases of its normal development. But it can shorten and lessen the birth-pangs.
To prevent possible misunderstanding, a word. I paint the capitalist and the landlord in no sense couleur de rose[i.e., seen through rose-tinted glasses]. But here individuals are dealt with only in so far as they are the personifications of economic categories, embodiments of particular class-relations and class-interests. My standpoint, from which the evolution of the economic formation of society is viewed as a process of natural history, can less than any other make the individual responsible for relations whose creature he socially remains, however much he may subjectively raise himself above them.
In the domain of Political Economy, free scientific inquiry meets not merely the same enemies as in all other domains. The peculiar nature of the materials it deals with, summons as foes into the field of battle the most violent, mean and malignant passions of the human breast, the Furies of private interest. The English Established Church, e.g., will more readily pardon an attack on 38 of its 39 articles than on 1/39 of its income. Now-a-days atheism is culpa levis[a relatively slight sin, c.f. mortal sin], as compared with criticism of existing property relations. Nevertheless, there is an unmistakable advance. I refer, e.g., to the Blue book published within the last few weeks: “Correspondence with Her Majesty’s Missions Abroad, regarding Industrial Questions and Trades’ Unions.” The representatives of the English Crown in foreign countries there declare in so many words that in Germany, in France, to be brief, in all the civilised states of the European Continent, radical change in the existing relations between capital and labour is as evident and inevitable as in England. At the same time, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Mr. Wade, vice-president of the United States, declared in public meetings that, after the abolition of slavery, a radical change of the relations of capital and of property in land is next upon the order of the day. These are signs of the times, not to be hidden by purple mantles or black cassocks. They do not signify that tomorrow a miracle will happen. They show that, within the ruling classes themselves, a foreboding is dawning, that the present society is no solid crystal, but an organism capable of change, and is constantly changing.
The second volume of this book will treat of the process of the circulation of capital2 (Book II.), and of the varied forms assumed by capital in the course of its development (Book III.), the third and last volume (Book IV.), the history of the theory.
Every opinion based on scientific criticism I welcome. As to prejudices of so-called public opinion, to which I have never made concessions, now as aforetime the maxim of the great Florentine is mine:
“Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti.”
Karl Marx
London,
July 25, 1867.
Editor’s Preface: First English Translation
The publication of an English version of “Das Kapital” needs no apology. On the contrary, an explanation might be expected why this English version has been delayed until now, seeing that for some years past the theories advocated in this book have been constantly referred to, attacked and defended, interpreted and misinterpreted, in the periodical press and the current literature of both England and America.
When, soon after the author's death in 1883, it became evident that an English edition of the work was really required, Mr. Samuel Moore, for many years a friend of Marx and of the present writer, and than whom, perhaps, no one is more conversant with the book itself, consented to undertake the translation which the literary executors of Marx were anxious to lay before the public. It was understood that I should compare the MS. with the original work, and suggest such alterations as I might deem advisable. When, by and by, it was found that Mr. Moore's professional occupations prevented him from finishing the translation as quickly as we all desired, we gladly accepted Dr. Aveling's offer to undertake a portion of the work; at the same time Mrs. Aveling, Marx's youngest daughter, offered to check the quotations and to restore the original text of the numerous passages taken from English authors and Blue books and translated by Marx into German. This has been done throughout, with but a few unavoidable exceptions.
The following portions of the book have been translated by Dr. Aveling: (I) Chapters X. (The Working day), and XI. (Rate and Mass of Surplus-Value); (2) Part VI. (Wages, comprising Chapters XIX. to XXII.); (3) from Chapter XXIV., Section 4 (Circumstances that &c.) to the end of the book, comprising the latter part of Chapter XXIV.,. Chapter XXV., and the whole of Part VIII. (Chapters XXVI. to XXXIII); (4) the two Author's prefaces. All the rest of the book has been done by Mr. Moore. While, thus, each of the translators is responsible for his share of the work only, I bear a joint responsibility for the whole.
The third German edition, which has been made the basis of our work throughout, was prepared by me, in 1883, with the assistance of notes left by the author, indicating the passages of the second edition to be replaced by designated passages, from the French text published in 1873.6 The alterations thus effected in the text of the second edition generally coincided with changes prescribed by Marx in a set of MS. instructions for an English translation that was planned, about ten years ago, in America, but abandoned chiefly for want of a fit and proper translator. This MS. was placed at our disposal by our old friend Mr. F. A. Sorge of Hoboken N. J. It designates some further interpolations from the French edition; but, being so many years older than the final instructions for the third edition, I did not consider myself at liberty to make use of it otherwise than sparingly, and chiefly in cases where it helped us over difficulties. In the same way, the French text has been referred to in most of the difficult passages, as an indicator of what the author himself was prepared to sacrifice wherever something of the full import of the original had to be sacrificed in the rendering.
There is, however, one difficulty we could not spare the reader: the use of certain terms in a sense different from what they have, not only in common life, but in ordinary Political Economy. But this was unavoidable. Every new aspect of a science involves a revolution in the technical terms of that science. This is best shown by chemistry, where the whole of the terminology is radically changed about once in twenty years, and where you will hardly find a single organic compound that has not gone through a whole series of different names. Political Economy has generally been content to take, just as they were, the terms of commercial and industrial life, and to operate with them, entirely failing to see that by so doing, it confined itself within the narrow circle of ideas expressed by those terms. Thus, though perfectly aware that both profits and rent are but sub-divisions, fragments of that unpaid part of the product which the labourer has to supply to his employer (its first appropriator, though not its ultimate exclusive owner), yet even classical Political Economy never went beyond the received notions of profits and rents, never examined this unpaid part of the product (called by Marx surplus-product) in its integrity as a whole, and therefore never arrived at a clear comprehension, either of its origin and nature, or of the laws that regulate the subsequent distribution of its value. Similarly all industry, not agricultural or handicraft, is indiscriminately comprised in the term of manufacture, and thereby the distinction is obliterated between two great and essentially different periods of economic history: the period of manufacture proper, based on the division of manual labour, and the period of modern industry based on machinery. It is, however, self- evident that a theory which views modern capitalist production as a mere passing stage in the economic history of mankind, must make use of terms different from those habitual to writers who look upon that form of production as imperishable and final.
A word respecting the author's method of quoting may not be out of place. In the majority of cases, the quotations serve, in the usual way, as documentary evidence in support of assertions made in the text. But in many instances, passages from economic writers are quoted in order to indicate when, where, and by whom a certain proposition was for the first time clearly enunciated. This is done in cases where the proposition quoted is of importance as being a more or less adequate expression of the conditions of social production and exchange prevalent at the time, and quite irrespective of Marx's recognition, or otherwise, of its general validity. These quotations, therefore, supplement the text by a running commentary taken from the history of the science.
Our translation comprises the first book of the work only. But this first book is in a great measure a whole in itself, and has for twenty years ranked as an independent work. The second book, edited in German by me, in 1885, is decidedly incomplete without the third, which cannot be published before the end of 1887. When Book III. has been brought out in the original German, it will then be soon enough to think about preparing an English edition of both.
“Das Kapital” is often called, on the Continent, “the Bible of the working class.” That the conclusions arrived at in this work are daily more and more becoming the fundamental principles of the great working- class movement, not only in Germany and Switzerland, but in France, in Holland and Belgium, in America, and even in Italy and Spain, that everywhere the working class more and more recognises, in these conclusions, the most adequate expression of its condition and of its aspirations, nobody acquainted with that movement will deny. And in England, too, the theories of Marx, even at this moment, exercise a powerful influence upon the socialist movement which is spreading in the ranks of “cultured” people no less than in those of the working class. But that is not all. The time is rapidly approaching when a thorough examination of England's economic position will impose itself as an irresistible national necessity. The working of the industrial system of this country, impossible without a constant and rapid extension of production, and therefore of markets, is coming to a dead stop.
Free Trade has exhausted its resources; even Manchester doubts this its quondam economic gospel.7Foreign industry, rapidly developing, stares English production in the face everywhere, not only in protected, but also in neutral markets, and even on this side of the Channel. While the productive power increases in a geometric, the extension of markets proceeds at best in an arithmetic ratio. The decennial cycle of stagnation, prosperity, over-production and crisis, ever recurrent from 1825 to 1867, seems indeed to have run its course; but only to land us in the slough of despond of a permanent and chronic depression. The sighed for period of prosperity will not come; as often as we seem to perceive its heralding symptoms, so often do they again vanish into air. Meanwhile, each succeeding winter brings up afresh the great question, “what to do with the unemployed"; but while the number of the unemployed keeps swelling from year to year, there is nobody to answer that question; and we can almost calculate the moment when the unemployed losing patience will take their own fate into their own hands. Surely, at such a moment, the voice ought to be heard of a man whose whole theory is the result of a lifelong study of the economic history and condition of England, and whom that study led to the conclusion that, at least in Europe, England is the only country where the inevitable social revolution might be effected entirely by peaceful and legal means. He certainly never forgot to add that he hardly expected the English ruling classes to submit, without a “pro-slavery rebellion,” to this peaceful and legal revolution.
Frederick Engels.
November 5, 1886.
