Talk:Capital, Volume I
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[edit] Part One Discussion
This is Sarah French. I just added the Chapter 1 Section 2 outline to the Part One subheading. FrenchFrieG 00:07, 22 January 2007 (UTC)
Chapter 1, section 1 suggestions: "The Two Factors Of The Commodity: Use-Value And Value (Substance Of Value, Magnitude Of Value)" -- use this subtitle as the outline for the summary. Focus on commodities, their two factors (use-value and value), and Marx's explanation of the substance of value (abstract human labor) and the measure of value (socially necessary labor time). The discussion of exchange-value can safely be left for a later section. This is an important section, so making the summary as short and clear as possible will be helpful. Marxclass 20:24, 22 January 2007 (UTC)
Chapter 1, section 2 suggestions: The linen Marx is talking about is cloth, not thread. Use the American spelling, "labor" instead of the British "labour." It's probably best to stick to talking about value and to avoid talking about prices since money has yet to be introduced into the discussion by Marx. For Marx, tailoring and weaving are different forms of concrete, useful labor that create different use-values (coats and cloth). The value of these different use-values created by these different forms of concrete labor can be compared because both are expenditures of definite quantities of human labor-time in the abstract. So if 1 coat and 20 yards of linen both take the same amount of socially necessary labor time to produce, then they both have the same value. The last paragraph on p. 137 can be a helpful place to look for Marx's summary of this "dual nature" of labor (concrete and abstract) that produces dual-natured commodities (use-values and values). Marxclass 20:50, 22 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Part Eight Discussion
Suggestions for Chapter 27: Delete the page numbers in the chapter title -- there are too many different editions in print to tie the article to any one specific edition. "The last third of the 15th Century marked the beginning of an era that provided for the rise of capitalist modes of production, changing the shape of modern industry, economics as well as the role of private ownership in the contemporary world." -- mode, not modes, of production -- and instead of "changing the shape..." perhaps the second half of this sentence should highlight that the particular change this chapter is tracing is the initial creation of the working class. "Most classically illustrated in England, and then spreading to Scotland, Germany and across Europe, the process of primitive accumulation takes root in the transition from communal land ownership by peasants and feudal lords alike, to the private ownership of a select few." -- This is the history in England. The claim that it is most classically or that it then spread geographically elsewhere seems somewhat contentious. "The manufacture of wool and its accompanying high prices serve as motivation for the feudal lords to drive peasantry from communal property." -- perhaps the expansion of the manufacture of wool... and higher prices. Some mention of "sheep-walks" and "deer-forests" are usual in discussions of this chapter, as is some mention of the "dissolution of of the bands of feudal retainers" (878) and the "colossal spoliation of church property" (881). "Bills" plural for the Inclosure of Commons. "The parliament later declares a ‘genreal Act of Parliament for the enclosure of Commons,’ claiming that a parliamentary 'coup d’etat' is necessary for the transformation into private property." -- perhaps strike this sentence. This is Marx's gloss on the events, and not an actual act of Parliament. Wage-laborers instead of labourers. -- use the American spelling. (first form of capitalist production) -- perhaps delete this parenthetical remark. It seems out of place here and is likely to be somewhat contentious as well. "free and rightless proletarians" -- use double quote marks for quotations and give reference (895). Marxclass 19:18, 22 January 2007 (UTC)
Chapter 28 suggestions: "vagabondage" seems an archaic word, perhaps it can be avoided. The prohibition against combinations of workers in France was prohibited even after the revolution.
Chapter 29 suggestions: "Firstly the Agricultural Revolution of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries increased the productivity of the newly acquired lands." -- isn't Marx saying it is the newly acquired lands (the usurped commons) that allowed for more production of cattle and sheep? Marxclass 19:47, 22 January 2007 (UTC)
Chapter 31 suggestions: “one of the most powerful levers of primitive accumulation” -- give the reference for this quote. On p. 915 Marx lists: "colonies, the national debt, the modern tax system, and the system of protection." -- each of these should probably get at least a brief mention in the chapter summary. Marxclass 20:02, 22 January 2007 (UTC)
Chapter 32 suggestions: No connection with the Communist Manifesto should be asserted -- even though there may be some overlap in themes. Spell check. Use reference tags to match other citations in the article. "the expropriation of a few usurpers by the mass of the people"(930) -- The historical tendency of capitalist accumulation is towards its own downfall. This quote is the opposite of what's asserted here: it is the overthrow of capital (the few usurpers) by the proletariat (the mass of the people) that Marx is anticipating.
Chapter 33 suggestions: Spell check. Use reference tags. Consider shortening and leaving out some of the details. The overall point for Marx is that in the case of the colonies, even the capitalists say what Marx is saying: "The only thing that interests us is the secret discovered in the New World by the political economy of the Old World, and loudly proclaimed by it: that the capitalist mode of production and accumulation, and therefore capitalist private property as well, have for their fundamental condition the annihilation of that private property which rests on the labour of the individual himself; in other words, the expropriation of the worker" (940). Marxclass 14:17, 23 January 2007 (UTC)
