Confronting Capitalism in the 21st Century: Lessons from Marx’s Capital

Description

This book analyzes key aspects of Marx’s Capital with an eye towards its relevance for an understanding of issues confronting us in the 21st Century. The contributions to this volume suggest that while aspects of Marx’s original analysis must be adjusted to take into account changes that have occurred since its initial publication in 1867, his overall perspective remains necessary for understanding the nature of crises in 21st century. Part I emphasizes the central concepts Marx employed in Capital, includingexploitation, capital accumulation, commodity fetishism, and his use of dialectics as a method for baring the underlying relations that define capitalism. Parts II and III extend that focus by addressing the concept of value, fictitious capital, credit and financialization. Parts IV and V offer analyses of several concrete manifestations of contemporary crises from national contexts (Europe, Latin America, China, and the United States). The volume argues that we have to combat the imperatives of capitalism to move towards a more humane and egalitarian future. Front Matter ....Pages i-xv Introduction: Confronting Capitalism—Lessons from Marx’s Capital (Marc Silver)....Pages 1-11 Front Matter ....Pages 13-13 Marx’s ‘Ultimate Aim’ in Writing Capital Was… (Bertell Ollman)....Pages 15-24 Marx and Commodity Fetishism: Some Remarks on Method (Vesa Oittinen)....Pages 25-45 Late Marx and the Conception of “Accumulation of Capital” (Paul Zarembka)....Pages 47-65 Front Matter ....Pages 67-67 Form Analysis, Space, and Spatial Struggle (Bernd Belina)....Pages 69-89 The Transformation Problem and Value-Form: Methodological Comments (Pertti Honkanen)....Pages 91-124 Value Forms and the Structure of the Capitalist System (David Fishman)....Pages 125-150 Front Matter ....Pages 151-151 Marx’s Musings on Financial Crises: Credit and Crises in the Mid-Nineteenth-Century Gold Standard (Laurence A. Krause)....Pages 153-177 Marx on Financial Intermediation: The Promise of Money as Command Over Future Labor (Joseph M. Ricciardi)....Pages 179-190 Front Matter ....Pages 191-191 The Ambiguous Role of China’s Collective Land Ownership Under Global Capitalism (Xiangjing Chen)....Pages 193-213 Beyond the “Pink Tide”: Dependent Capitalism in Crisis in Argentina and Lessons to Be Learned for Radical Social Change (Mariano Féliz)....Pages 215-230 The Final Fiction: Madoff Clawback Suits and Their Implications for Capitalism in the Twenty-First Century (Colleen P. Eren)....Pages 231-245 Navigating the Scylla and Charybdis of Precarious Work: Through the Storm of Contingency (Christian Garland)....Pages 247-265 Front Matter ....Pages 267-267 What If Our Schools Are Working? Base, Superstructure, and Hegemony in Education (Alan Singer)....Pages 269-280 Demographic Changes, Pension Reforms, and Absolute Surplus Value: Intertemporal Exploitation in Contemporary Capitalism? (Marcelo Milan)....Pages 281-309 Readings of Capital: A Starting Point for Reinventing Socialist Politics? (Ingo Schmidt)....Pages 311-335 Back Matter ....Pages 337-344