The Communist Manifesto (Signet Classics)

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"A spectre is haunting Europe," Karl Marx and Frederic Engels wrote in 1848, "the spectre of Communism." This new edition of The Communist Manifesto, commemorating the 150th anniversary of its publication, includes an introduction by renowned historian Eric Hobsbawm which reminds us of the document's continued relevance. Marx and Engels's critique of capitalism and its deleterious effect on all aspects of life, from the increasing rift between the classes to the destruction of the nuclear family, has proven remarkably prescient. Their spectre, manifested in the Manifesto's vivid prose, continues to haunt the capitalist world, lingering as a ghostly apparition even after the collapse of those governments which claimed to be enacting its principles.

Book Description

Critically and textually up-to-date, this new edition of the classic translation (Samuel Moore, 1888) features an introduction and notes by the eminent Marx scholar David McLellan, prefaces written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels subsequent to the original 1848 publication, and corrections
of errors made in earlier versions. Regarded as one of the most influential political tracts ever written, The Communist Manifesto serves as the foundation document of the Marxist movement. This summary of the Marxist vision is an incisive account of the world-view Marx and Engels had evolved during
their hectic intellectual and political collaboration of the previous few years.

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Still relevant today both as a historical document and as a stirring call for social democracy, this New Albion edition includes Engel's extensive footnotes from the various editions, plus the changing Prefaces written first by Marx and Engels, and later by Engels alone, plus notes on the Manifesto and the various translations of it.

Customer Reviews:

The Hobo Philosopher.......2007-09-14

Well, if you are a student of Philosophy or economics you must make this a part of your reading whether you want to or not. It is not long. It is not difficult. It is quite explicit. And after you read it you should have a better understanding of where you personally stand politically. I am not going to comment on what it says or advocates. Read it and find out for yourself. You won't need an interpreter.

Must have for any wannabe idealist.......2007-09-10

Well, obviously I havent read this fascinating piece of litrerature, but thats because a read book just looks so scruffy on my beautiful capitalist shelves.
This book makes me look a lot more sympathetic to all those wannabe commies, so why not dish out on a copy too?
Nah just joking, just read it and decide for yourself.

Political Classic...read for historical insight.......2007-06-27

My son required a copy of "The Communist Manifesto" for a philosophy class. After he was done with it, I decided to read it since this was one of the founding documents for Communism.

I found it difficult to decide how to rate this book. The presentation of Manifesto by Penguin in this book is excellent. The central ideas of the Manifesto itself are disturbing.

Should you read the Communist Manifesto? Yes. Is this a good presentation? Yes. Was Communism envisioned by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels a good idea? No. So I have compromised between the excellent presentation and the ideas espoused by the Manifesto in selecting an average rating.

Some reviewers feel that the Manifesto's critique of capitalism is right on; I have grave doubts. Marx and Engels were critiquing capitalism from an ivory tower. Their remedies for capitalism show that they had no real experience or contact with the workers in the trenches.

Some reviewers have mentioned the changing of labor laws due to the Manifesto, such as child labor laws (a generally agreed good thing). I believe those laws would have changed if the Manifesto had never been written. I believe those reviewers are seeing cause and effect relationships where there is none. I believe labor leaders in non-Communist states, pushing for change in labor laws, did not need belief in Communism behind them to push for change. Even without Communism, they would have done what they did anyways because the labor leaders came up from the laboring trenches. They knew first hand the abuses going on. The writers of the Manifesto did not; their ideas were theoretical. I know my ideas, in this area, are conjectures of what would have happened without the Manifesto, without Communism; there is no way they can be proven, history cannot be rewritten.

The remedy proposed by Marx and Engels is frightening. It foreshadows exactly how Communism gave birth to totalitarian states, to Communist dictatorships. Their remedy for capitalism requires a select group of leaders (Communist elitists) to force Communism onto the populace for the good of the people. We should all be suspicious of anyone who professes an idea that is for the good of the people because it invariably is not good for the people. To paraphase Lord Acton, "power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely," and the states envisioned by the writers of the Manifesto set up perfect conditions of absolute power (for the good of the people) which in practice led to absolutely corrupt power. History has shown there has been extreme abuse by Communist leaders, who became power meglomanics, of the masses of workers in their states.

Indeed, history has repeatedly shown that the concentration of power in the hands of a select few led to abuse of power. The smaller the select, the greater the abuse. This has been true regardless of the political theories espoused by the leaders. Let this be a cautionary tale to all of us.

A Must Read.......2007-06-23

It amazes me that the effects of cold war propaganda drivel still permeates the minds of most Americans. This is easily one of the most influential works since it's publication in the 19th century. To say something along the lines that the pages should be torn out and used as paper airplanes is like saying the literary masterpieces Dickens should be used as toilet paper. Disagree with it all you want but at least acknowledge it's influence and respect it, as several reviewers have. Don't simply pigeonhole a great work due to the ignorance or American cold war dogma. If you are going to rant about this work at least get your facts straight. Hitler is not a communist..never was. As a matter of fact he hated communism just as much as most Americans do. Second, recognize communism is an ideal, just a capitalism is may I add, and there never has been a purely communistic state. If you are going to give this work a bad rating at least pretend you have read it. Most of the bad reviews are complete drivel and it is obvious the work has not been read. Give a reason why you do not like the book. Simply saying it sucks is not very insightful. Finally, do not give this a bad review simply because you cannot understand what is being said. If the merit of literary works were based upon how something is being said rather than what is being said Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Milton would not be considered literary geniuses.

A Misleading Edition.......2007-06-14

The following is the composure of the book:
pg. 1-170 Introduction by Translator
pg. 170-240 Various Prefaces of Other Editions by the Authors
pg. 240-280 The Manifesto

For those not familiar with Marx, who want to read the introduction and gain new insights--this is a brilliant setup.

For those who would rather just pay $2 for the Manifesto itself--this is disappointing.

Recommended for the student of philosophy, not the professor.

Average customer rating:

A classic compendium of Marxist thought
Essential Marx, all in one volume
Essay: Alienation from Humanity, on Marx and Mill
Essential Works Of Marxs & Engels For the Beginner!
The best collection we have

The Marx-Engels Reader, Second Edition
Robert C. Tucker , and Friedrich Engels
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 039309040X

Customer Reviews:

A classic compendium of Marxist thought.......2007-06-03

Whether or not one is a Marxist, knowledge of Marx' work is important in understanding the variety of political philosophizing over the millennia. Marx' political thought is sometimes difficult (think the "Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844") and sometimes transparent (e.g., "The Manifesto of the Communist Party," more popularly referred to as the "Communist Manifesto").

This edited work is one of the best introductions to the works of Marx (and Engels). The volume begins with the early Marx, which includes the "Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844," excerpts from "The Holy Family" (in which he attacks some of the other socialists of the era), "Theses on Feuerbach," and the first of the truly classic works that Marx and Engels co-authored, "The German Ideology." It is interesting to note that "The German Ideology" covers much the same territory as "The Holy Family," with the major exception that Marx now addresses the intriguing and offbeat work by Max Stirner, "The Ego and His Own." In the process of addressing Stirner, Marx and Engels take the philosophical edifice to a more powerful level, creating a new perspective with a move away from idealism and toward materialism.

Other major works included are excerpts from "Das Kapital" (fairly turgid reading, I fear), the "Manifesto of the Community Party" (which ends with the famous phrase [page 500]) "The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains."), the "Critique of the Gotha Program," and "The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte" (with its great introductory phrase [page 594] "Hegel remarks somewhere that all great, world-historical facts and personages occur, as it were, twice. He has forgotten to add: the first time as tragedy, the second as farce.").

The final section of the work features the work of Engels, including "Socialism: Utopian and Scientific," "Anti-Duhring," "The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State."

If one be interested in learning more about Marx (and Engels), this is an accessible edited work that provides some of the key works.

Essential Marx, all in one volume.......2007-05-19

If you're looking for a single volume collection of Marx (and a little Engels), this is the one you want. The other reviewers list some of the selections, but the bottom line is: if you've heard of it, it's here. This is the book I keep on my shelf for those (decreasingly common) moments when I want to look up something in Marx.

The only problem lies in the production values - - the pages are thin and light weight, and the font a bit small, in order to cram it all in. If you highlight with a yellow pen, you'll be frustrated because it will bleed through worse than usual. Use a ballpoint pen or a pencil. My eyesight is still good, but if it weren't, I suspect the font size would be another frustration.

Still, if you're browsing this page, you're in the market for Marx. This is the book you want.

Essay: Alienation from Humanity, on Marx and Mill.......2005-06-07

The modern age is a dangerous age, an age in which we might be alienated from that individual independence in work and in mind which defines our humanity. Confronted by this crisis, Karl Marx and John Stuart Mill offer the world diverging solutions: annihilate the existing world and march toward communism, or guard against the dangers of the existing world as we further embrace liberal democracy. Despite these divergent paths which arise from differing views on the driving force of history, both systems aim to rescue the supreme interest of our individual humanity-for Marx, this interest lies in reaching absolute prosperity for the material man, and for Mill, it lies in the search for absolute truth for the idealistic man.

With its emphasis on individuality and diversity, Mill's theory is in a sense more encompassing than Marx's. Mill's theory, however, is fundamentally flawed in comparison to Marx's because of its ignorance of property as a danger against human liberty.

Marx sees in the industrial age the death of the property-less class. This death is brought by the industrial age's five qualities: division of labor, accumulation of capital, competition, financial crisis, and monopoly. In this age, machineries and the division of labor reduce the skillful artisans to the proletariats who merely work on one monotonous element of production. The capitalists who own the machines enlarge their capital by exploiting the proletariat's labor, leaving them only with enough to eat. Competition forces capitalists to lower prices, but this is good only until each factory produces more than demanded and a financial crisis emerges. The small capitalists are reduced to the property-less as millions of workers are swept into deeper hell. Only the biggest capitalist survives, and he becomes the monopolist who can lower wages and raise prices at whim, destroying the lives of all. (Part 1, Bourgeois and Proletarians, Manifesto of the Communist Party)

The above scenario is unavoidable because the accumulation of more capital is the only end of capital. If the capitalist stops investing capital for gains he ceases to be a capitalist, and becomes a mere consumer of goods, enjoying the fruits of old exploitations. Tragically, capital can only increase when it exploits the difference of what labor costs and labor produces, as Marx writes,

"The modern bourgeois private property is the final and most complete expression of the system of producing and appropriating products, that is based on class antagonisms, on the exploitation of the many by the few." (Marx p484)

The rich man sitting in his patio who has inherited a million pound and who lets others manage his money has not done anything to deserve profits, indeed, since he himself did not work, his profits must come from the works of others who he exploits. In the capitalistic system, there exists no pity, only keen self-interest, "all are instruments of labour, more or less expensive to use..." (Marx p479)

The workers might die, but before their body ceases to be exploited, their mind is already died-capitalism has alienated them from their humanity which is defined by their creative productivity. This alienation from our humanity was Marx's greatest worry. Animals make nests and produce goods just as we do, however, as Marx writes,

"...a bee would put many a human architect to shame by the construction of its honeycomb cells. But what distinguishes the worst architect from the best of bees is that the architect builds the cell in his mind before he constructs it in wax... Man not only effects a change of form in the materials of nature; he also realizes his own purpose in those materials." (Chapter 7, Das Kapital)

In order to freely produce as the creativity of his mind directs him and as his productive ability allows, the material man must be endowed with control over the means of production. In the world of private property, however, the workers have turned from the master of production to the slave of the machine-they are reduced to programmed animals that produce merely for the end of survival.

The proletariat can only reassert his humanity by violent overthrowing the capitalists and through the "abolition of private property" (Marx p484). Once in communism, the workers will own the means of production and enjoy the full produces of their labor. He will be motivated to constantly transform the world into a more prosperous kingdom. As Marx writes, "In communist society, accumulated labour is but a means to widen, to enrich, to promote the existence of the labourer." (Marx p485) The abundance of material goods will allow man to work not for survival, but for his own enjoyment. In this society, there will be no family and nor religion, everything is made for the love of all and enjoyed by all. Any vestiges of private interest would result in the return to capitalism with all its evils.

To Mill, the modern life is also threatening because the voice of the majority might alienate men from their individuality. The differentiation of society is essential for the vitality of the society, and this vitality empowers men on their search for truth.

Political debates, according to Mill, have been about striking the balance between the ruler and ruled. It is necessary for the ruled to have a ruler in order to preserve peace and law, yet the elected or unelected ruler's power must be restrained so that he does not abuse it against the ruled. In contrast to Marx's class struggle, this "struggle between liberty and authority" (p59) from Mill is more amiable. In the current era of democratic nations, however, since the ruled are also the rulers, the opposition no longer exists. People feel that all actions taken by the people's government will be good for the people, and hence they lose the old vigilance against the invasion of public power into their private spheres. The voice of the majority becomes the equivalent of the truth and justice.

Mill is worried that this majority voice will obstruct man's search for truth, the attaining of which is the goal of life. Truth is not reached once and then preserved for eternity, it is an organic being with a thousand facets whose survival requires continued inputs of each person's active mind. This truth is the individual treasure of each being, fitting perfectly to his taste and preferences; yet it is also a truth for the whole community, since it is only through the struggles of different truths that humanity as a whole reaches a higher truth-a higher level for the activation of the mind. As Mill writes, "There is always need of persons not only to discover new truths and point out when what were once truths are true no longer" (p71) If the majority religion is the only religion and taste the only taste, then people will no longer think but simply follow; society will be bogged into the swamp of mediocrity with a mind that is dead. Marx also feared the death of the mind, the mind of the creative worker. Despite the differences, both philosophers are concerned about the destruction of man's defining qualities.

To counter this, Mill proclaims that the only defense for "interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number is self-protection." (p68). The government must be restrained in the sphere of public affairs, and individuals shall live as free as they want to following their individual passions.

Marx and Mill both want to regain humanity. In one case, the enemy is the benumbing effects of majority rule, and man's mind for truth is debased forever into mediocrity, in the other case, the enemy comes from the benumbing effects of subjugation to the machine, and the man is turned from the master of production into the slaves of capital.

The core difference between the two theories in practical operation arises from their different views on individuality (both systems serve individuals as their ends, however, individuality, allowing people to be different, are treated differently). For Mill, we must preserve individuality to bring truth (Chapter 3, On Liberty), but for Marx, the destruction of private property is the only task. The communistic society will be a union in which man can "...hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticize after dinner..." (The German Ideology). This free life of a communist in communism is all good until one day the comrade does not want to be a communist anymore-but he must be one, there is no choice. In Communism, one does not have the individual liberty to have families, nor try to build a little store of private wealth.

On the other side, if someone in Mill's world decides to be a communist, he has the full right to do so. He can even segregate himself away with his friends and enjoy the life of a commune. In another word, Marxism can not destroy Mill's democracy-it will just be one of the many ways of thinking allowed by the system-but Mill's cry for diversity will destroy Marx's world within a second.

Confronted with the above, Marx would reply like he did in the Jewish Question, that the so-called liberty and freedom of the capitalistic world are nothing other than man's desire to keep himself a self-sufficient nomad. As he writes, all the rights of man are simply "the right to enjoy one's fortune and to dispose of it as one will; without regard for other men and independently of society." (Marx, p42) Marx will say that only seeing the superficial political liberation is not to see the deeper human liberation which could only be achieved with the abolition of private property. Marx might not be completely right, but he does stand at a higher ground than Mill in this analysis of property.

Mill in On Liberty is focused solely on avoiding the abuse of power through government, but he ignores the abuses that property owners are capable of against the property-less. In an agricultural society where everyone is equal and land unlimited, the government might be the only thing capable of suppressing individual liberty, but when one sees child-labor and 12 hour work day in modern industrial society, there is no doubt that capital could be a pitiless monster. Even when one ignores the industrial age, and tries to give Mill credit for drawing the best possible life for the pre-industrial man, one still can not avoid noticing the subjugation of the slaves, the suffering of the serfs, and all the other dark stories of the property-less in all the ages previous to the industrial one which Marx gives a full account of.

Marx and Mill were faced with the same modern phenomenal, the danger of been alienated from the defining quality of humanity in the face of a new economic and a new political system. Marx might not have made the best analysis, but he did have a deep understanding of history and the problems in history. He stood at the level of the common people and tried to solve their problems caused by their material desperation. Mill did not stoop to the common people, he looked up into the sky of truth and tried to preserve the march toward truth first embarked on by Plato.

Essential Works Of Marxs & Engels For the Beginner!.......2004-02-25

Given the impact of Marxism on the unfolding history of the later nineteenth and twentieth century, the beginning student of the combined writings of both Marx and Engels will find this collection of the essential works of these two pioneering socialists absolutely essential reading. Its list of included works covers the waterfront of all that is required to gain a fruitful first look at the wealth of their philosophical musings, and the nature of their revolutionary canon, as well. Reading this material is essential if one is to understand the depth of Marx's understanding and the detail of his genius, however discredited he may be in current estimations. Indeed, with the rise of international corporatism is so close to his prognostications regarding the final phases of capitalism that it is hard to deny his continuing relevance.

Included here is everything from the Communist Manifesto all the way to Volume One of Das Capital. One can gain a better appreciation for his ideas regarding the way in which the antagonism between the oppressed and the oppressors provides the motive force for history, and how all history is the history of such class struggles between the owners of the means of production, on the one hand, and the workers, who have nothing to barter with but their considerable capacity to accomplish labor. If one want to gain a better appreciation for the nuances regarding how alienation is created buy the organization of work, or the origin of property, or even the ways in which all of the aspects of a particualr society's culture are manifestations of the values of the ruling class, then a careful reading of the material found here will serve you well. I highly recommend this book. Enjoy!

The best collection we have.......2003-06-07

"The Marx-Engels Reader" is the best single collection of Marx's thought. What makes it doubly important, is that it is one of the few texts which contain an index. This sounds unremarkable, but believe me, it makes the text extremely more useful. This book transcends the state of being a mere anthology, and is an indespensible reference work.

Book Description

Using high-quality, real-world case studies and examples, this introduction to mathematical statistics shows how to use statistical methods and when to use them. This book can be used as a brief introduction to design of experiments. This successful, calculus-based book of probability and statistics, was one of the first to make real-world applications an integral part of motivating discussion. The number of problem sets has increased in all sections. Some sections include almost 50% new problems, while the most popular case studies remain. For anyone needing to develop proficiency with Mathematical Statistics.

Customer Reviews:

dry and difficult.......2007-07-07

In case you're unclear on the matter, "mathematical statistics" is code talk for "statistics with calculus." So don't think this is book is a high-school or even undergraduate-level "introduction" for statistics. For that I would recommend the friendlier but still meaty Stats: Modeling the World (2nd Edition) (DeVeaux/Velleman/Bock).

At my university, this book is usually used in the first math class required of those in graduate school majoriing in the statistical social sciences.

So make sure you're ready. The authors assume you are quite solid at the calculus.

Confused and confusing.......2007-04-12

I used this as the text in a sequence on probability and statistics I taught recently, and I soon came to regret this choice. The authors are obviously quite confused about basic concepts. Here are some examples: the "definition" of the median ignores obvious problems with existence and uniqueness; the "proof" of the central limit theorem is thoroughly incomplete; the "theorems" on the tests in Sect. 9.2, 9.3 summarize previous discussions, but the "proofs" of these theorems (we are even referred to an appendix - no small surprise when the statements seem obvious) establish something entirely different; finally, to conclude this (very incomplete) selection, there is the delightful claim that the golden ratio is a transcendental number (which just proves that the authors don't have the slightest idea what a transcendental number really is, but then it might have been wise to avoid the use of the term).

In addition to these blatant problems, the authors' treatment frequently misses the point and/or is confusing.

Infuriating.......2006-11-08

The text presents all relevant information, but does so in such a confusing and poorly explained fashion as to prompt the reader to wonder if the authors have ever met anyone who hasn't known all subtleties of probability since the womb. There is no avenue for the student who does not understand, no pedagogy whatsoever. Everything is presented at lightning pace with blisteringly difficult proofs and, often, no meaningful explanation of the physical meaning of the concepts explained. A very solid background in calculus is an absolute necessity, to the point where many problems in the text are more challenging in evaluating integrals than they are in actually applying concepts. This is a serious problem that recurs over and over.

Examples worked out in the chapter sections also almost never bear any resemblance to the problems students are expected to complete. Although the examples vary in terms of difficulty, a student stuck on an exercise almost definitely will not find any help in the teaching material of the section in completing it simply because the examples never entirely cover the concepts demanded in the exercises.

s

Excellent intro to the mathematics of traditional statistics.......2005-03-19

The first half of the book begins with basic discrete and continuous probability theory. It continues with thorough overviews of the basic distributions (normal, Poisson, binomial, multinomial, chi-squared and student-T). The focus is on basic probability and variance analysis, though it briefly covers higher-order moments.

The second half of this book is devoted to hypothesis testing and regression. There is an excellent explanation of the mathematical presuppositions of the various classical experimental methodologies ranging from chi-square to t-tests to generalized likelihood ratio testing. It contains a very nicely organized chapter on general regression analysis, concentrating on the common least squares case under the usual transforms (e.g. exponential, logistic, etc.).

Like many books in mathematics, this introduction starts from first principles in the topic it's introducing, but assumes some "mathematical sophistication". In this case, it assumes you're comfortable with basic definition-example-theorem style and that you understand the basics of multivariate differential equations. I was a math and computer science undergrad who did much better in abstract algebra and set theory than analysis and diff eqs, but I found this book extremely readable. I couldn't have derived the proofs, but I could follow them because they were written as clearly as anything I've ever read in mathematics. I found the explanation of the central limit theorem and the numerous normal approximation theorems for sampling to be exceptionally clear.

The examples were both illuminating and entertaining. One of the beauties of statistics is that the examples are almost always interesting real-world problems, in this case ranging from biological (e.g. significance testing for cancer clusters) to man-made (e.g. Poisson models of football scoring) to physical (e.g. loaded dice). The examples tied directly to the techniques being explored. The exercises were more exercise-like in this book than in some math books where they're a dumping ground for material that wouldn't fit into the body of the text. This book has clearly been tuned over many years of classroom use with real students.

I read this book because I found I couldn't understand the applied statistics I was reading in machine learning and Bayesian data analysis research papers in my field (computational linguistics). In paticular, I wanted the background to be able to tackle books such as Hastie et al.'s "Elements of Statistical Learning" or Gelman et al.'s "Bayesian Data Analysis", both of which pretty much assume a good grounding in the topics covered in this book by Larsen and make excellent follow-on reading.

Master your calculus.......2005-02-07

I took up this book for my course in economics and i found the book clear and examples quite relevant. However, our calculus background was rather weak and we were left to study integrals by oursleves. Because of this, most of us floundered in the text and could not fully appreciate some of the more essential steps of the proofs. The solutions to many examples requires a solid background in calculus to fully appreciate and, at times, even understand since certain steps are ommited. So much so that our eco teacher, with a degree in engineering mind you, admitted the book was a bit too terse and spent most of the time explaining the calculus that we learnt very little of actual statistics.
In short, master your calculus or this book will only give you a rough feel for elementary statistics but will definitely not arm you to take up higher stat courses.

Future-focused Leadership: Preparing Schools, Students, And Communities for Tomorrow's Realities

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Strongly recommended to educators, school counselors, and building principles and school board members

Future-focused Leadership: Preparing Schools, Students, And Communities for Tomorrow's Realities
Gary Marx
Manufacturer: ASCD
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1416602194

Book Description

Can your organization keep up with today's rapid pace of change? Or is it falling behind, overrun by forces that seem almost uncontrollable? In Future-Focused Leadership: Preparing Schools, Students, and Communities for Tomorrow's Realities, Gary Marx suggests that staying abreast of current worldwide trends and being aware of those just around the corner is the essence of successful leadership. In this insightful and informative guide, Marx presents principles, tools, and techniques to help leaders steer their organizations confidently into the future and prepare the next generation of leaders for life in the 21st century. Readers will learn to

* Scan the environment to identify and analyze significant trends and issues;
* Manage issues to set priorities and minimize negative fallout;
* Identify the characteristics of an ideal organization and construct scenarios that depict possible futures;
* Engage the larger community in building a future-focused organization; and
* Develop a strategic communication plan that supports the organization's goals and contributes to its ultimate success.

Future-Focused Leadership is written not only for education leaders, but also for anyone interested in successful, forward-looking leadership. Combining stimulating ideas and practical suggestions, the book will ensure that your organization or community is fully prepared today to confront the challenges of tomorrow.

Customer Reviews:

Strongly recommended to educators, school counselors, and building principles and school board members.......2006-04-03

Future-Focused Leadership: Preparing Schools, Students, And Communities For Tomorrow's Realities by Gary Marx (President, Center for Public Outreach, Vienna, Virginia) is an intricate and detailed study and philosophical outlook on various strategies and understandings of organizing schooling facilities, students and environmentally involved citizens for a greatly potential driven future for not only youth, but as well the general community. Exploring the realities of social direction as varying trends and outside influences take a community through differing involvements and activities, Future-Focused Leadership informs both educators and community leaders of what best may suit the pursuit and education of their potential future leaders. Future-Focused Leadership is very strongly recommended to educators, school counselors, and building principles and school board members.

Capital: Volume 1: A Critique of Political Economy (Penguin Classics)

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Doors of Perception
Fascinating, Intelligent, and Obsolete.
please read the book before reviewing it!
Seeing in the Fifth Dimension
How Many Stars Do You Give to a Discredited Classic?

Capital: Volume 1: A Critique of Political Economy (Penguin Classics)
Karl Marx
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
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ASIN: 0140445684

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Capital, one of Marx's major and most influential works, was the product of thirty years close study of the capitalist mode of production in England, the most advanced industrial society of his day. This new translation of Volume One, the only volume to be completed and edited by Marx himself, avoids some of the mistakes that have marred earlier versions and seeks to do justice to the literary qualities of the work. The introduction is by Ernest Mandel, author of Late Capitalism, one of the only comprehensive attempts to develop the theoretical legacy of Capital.

Customer Reviews:

Doors of Perception.......2007-01-24

If :
- Your mum has taught you lots of valuable things (eat your vegetables, be nice to old people and little dogs, don't be late to school, keep a clean nose) but she was never really able to explain why you had to WORK for a living - instead of, you know, just living;
- Your teachers packed your head full with all kinds of useful knowledge (about prepositions and adverbs, mineralogy and astrophysics, the reproductive organs of plants, x+2-y=0) but they never told you how exactly PROFITS are made - and why anybody would want to make them anyway;
- Your friends and lovers can spend hours yakking about various interesting topics (the latest music machine, videogames, designer shoes, imitation leather sofas, blockbuster movies, pink underwear and cherry flavoured bubble-gum) but they call you a bore and a nitpick whenever you wonder why you're all surrounded by so many COMMODITIES and publicity ads promising you bigger, better and faster useless things.
- You often have the impression that some greater truth is lacking in your life (and you've tried all the legal/illegal drugs, exciting TV shows, gurus and psychoanalysts, help-yourself books and bestsellers about kid sorcerers)...

...Then the time may have come to have a long talk with good old Uncle Karl - the black sheep of the social sciences, the guy nobody likes to mention at social occasions (except in the form of a joke: "have you heard the one about Karl Marx in Las Vegas?"), the most misquoted and misinterpreted modern thinker.
In "Capital", he kindly invites you to break on through to the other side (that's how countercultural he was) and check out what's really happening behind the glitzy appearances of everyday life. You don't even have to be a genius to understand him (it will be enough if you can count to ten without choking). And you might be surprised about how obvious some things will seem after he explains to you about the cage you're sitting in.

Of course, mum will probably be broken-hearted and fear that you'll join the next anarcho-pinko-terrorist organization down the block. Your teachers might refer to a vast list of successful anti-Marx books and charity organizations. And your friends and lovers will find you an even greater bore than before.

Fascinating, Intelligent, and Obsolete........2005-11-23

"When Volume 1 of Capital was first published, capitalist industry, though predominant in a few Western European countries, still appeared as an isolated island circled by a sea of independent farmers and handicraftsmen which covered the whole world, including the greater part even of Europe," writes Ernest Mandel in his introduction to 'Capital'.

How did we advance to the present day?

An *economic* text, this book is considerably distinct from much of Marx's preceding output. Capital stands a work of theoretical economics similar to the output of David Ricardo in many ways -- calls for action, the nature of the state, and philosophical concepts are given little treatment throughout the 2,500 pages. Marx *did* write about ideas like commodity production, use-values and exchange-values, theories of surplus-value, crisis theory, organic and technical compositions of capital, the transformation problem, changes in the rates of profit, and much more. It is an analysis of *capital*, and hence, *capitalism.* There is little information about the mechanics of a post-capitalist society. After investing the time to read it, readers will be baffled when critics argue "50 bujillion people DIED as a result of 'Capital!!!'" (Marx died in 1883) -- "therefore Marx is wrong!" To be objective, a thinker can imagine the absurdity of blaming World War One, slavery in America, and imperialism on 'The Wealth of Nations'.

The volumes of this massive economic text were published successively in 1867, 1885, and 1894. Most economists feel marginalism has rendered it obsolete. At the end of the 19th century, Bohm-Bawerk argued since production occurs in a roundabout way, part of the product Marx attributed to workers needs to be employed to finance the roundaboutness. Workers would obtain the whole of what the produced only if production was instantaneous; as a result, interest must be paid no matter who owned the capital.

This is a brilliant work. The tough part is understanding the meaning of Marx's terms, which was especially difficult for me, learning the neo-classical viewpoint first. The first chapters took a few days to understand with confidence. After that, the sheer length of the text is formidable, though rewarding and absolutely fascinating.

please read the book before reviewing it!.......2005-06-29

Reading the "reviews" of Capital here on Amazon.com, a person who has read the book can see that most "reviewers" have not even troubled themselves read the book! Instead of taking the time and energy to plow through this work, many would rather get on a soap box and ramble on about their own views thereby "reviewing" the work.
I read the entire book from cover to cover. Not an easy task. It took me more than a year with persistence! But I did it.
Socialism is not mentioned once the the actual work itself. (Of course it is mentioned in the 87 page Introduction which some of the "reviewers" might have bothered to skim through!)
What is the name of the book? Capital! Not Communism or Socialism! One who has bothered to read this long book knows that the book has nothing to do with Communism. The book was supposed to form a scientific explanation of what the Capitalist mode of production was and how it formed and its' inner workings. Marx felt that after writing the pamphlet Manifesto of 1848, he owed it to the world tho explain what Capitalism was. It is a microscopic examination of the capitalist mode of production in mid-nineteenth century England. Granted that things have changed since 1850 England, the basic core of Capitalism hasn't changed.
The man was brilliant, he obviously spent a lot of time formulating an understanding of what Capitalism is. It was an eye opener for me into what Capitalism really is. It was stimulating to see how Marx in the work slowly but surely synthesizes his successive points one by one thereby building a model of the Capitalist mode of production for one to examine.
My only complaint was that it was too long. He could have said what he had to say in 200 pages rather than 800.

Seeing in the Fifth Dimension.......2004-06-18

I think it was the poor French philosopher Althusser who claimed that Marx had discovered a new continent of thought called "history" equivalent to the continents of thought discovered by Pythagoras (geometry) and Aristotle (science). I would use a different metaphor. It is as if Marx invented a pair of x-ray glasses that allows you the viewer to see the exploitation hidden in every commodity, no matter how beautifully it is packaged. I guess the only book it is really comparable to would be the Bible, edited and created in the year 207 by the North African Roman citizen Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus. On the narrative level the books are quite opposite. The one starts with a single savior who comes to save the world, but ends up being exploited, abused and killed, thus needing saving, the other starts with a class that is exploited, abused and killed, but ends up saving the world. Of the two, Marx is definitely the more optimistic view. But if we could resurrect Marx as we resurrected Jesus, would he still have his optimism?

How Many Stars Do You Give to a Discredited Classic?.......2004-04-12

To tell the truth, I haven't read too much of Capital since I was assigned sections of it in a college course years ago. However, the opportunity to once again match wits with Amazon reviewer Mr. Walt Bryars, an Austro-feminist-scholastic studying economics in Tampa, Florida, was just too tempting to resist. His recent "review" of Capital can be found below (I've put the word in quotes since it isn't clear whether or not Mr. Bryars has actually read Capital, though he certainly hates it). Mr. Bryars' views are clearly stated therein but his suggestion that Marx lived in the 18th century is a bit off. News flash, Mr. Bryars: the 1800s were the 19th century, not the 18th century.

Regarding Capital, it was a towering achievement of 19th century thought. However, like the Wealth of Nations (written in the 18th century -- i.e., the 1700s) and other economics classics, Capital is mostly of historical interest today. The book can be thought of, at least in part, as an unintentional reductio ad absurdum of the labor theory of value which was bequeathed to Marx by Classical economists such as Adam Smith. Marx's tireless working out of the ramifications of this theory led him to embrace now-discredited conclusions about the declining rate of profit and the immiseration of the proletariat. Marx was wrong, in other words, about some of the central parts of his economic system.

On the other hand, there's no doubt that he was a genius of the first rank. To my knowledge, Marx was the first economist to seriously take up issues like underconsumption, boom-and-bust cycles, and the technology-driven growth of large business firms -- issues that only entered mainstream economic discussion decades later in the 20th century. (I'll defer to Mr. Bryars on the history here, since it's possible that Spanish Dominicans wrote about the growth of large corporations in the 17th century -- i.e., the 1600s.)

Since Capital is incredibly long and frequently obscure, readers interested in contemporary Marxist economic thought might be better off reading something by Paul Sweezy or Ben Fine. And readers looking for a readable, short, balanced, and easy-on-the brain overview of the totality of Marx's thought -- he was a philosopher and political thinker as well as an economist -- should consult Why Read Marx Today? by Jonathan Wolff.

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Good intro to social & historical influences on economics

Marx's Capital Fourth Edition
Ben Fine , and Alfredo Saad-Filho
Manufacturer: Pluto Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Capital: Volume 1: A Critique of Political Economy (Penguin Classics)

Understanding Capital: Marx's Economic Theory

Beyond Capital: Marx's Political Economy of the Working Class

A Brief History of Neoliberalism

Knowledge and Class: A Marxian Critique of Political Economy

ASIN: 074532049X

Book Description

This brilliantly concise book is a classic introduction to Marx's key work, Capital. In print now for over a quarter of a century, and previously translated into many languages, the new edition has been fully revised and updated, making it an ideal modern introduction to one of the most important texts in political economy.

The authors cover all central aspects of Marx's economics. They explain the structure of Marx's analysis and the meaning of the key categories in Capital, showing the internal coherence of Marx's approach. Marx's method and terminology are explored in detail, with supporting examples. Short chapters enable the meaning and significance of Marx's main concepts to be grasped rapidly, making it a practical text for all students of social science.

Discussing Capital's relevance today, the authors consider Marx's impact on economics, philosophy, history, politics and other social sciences. Keeping abstract theorizing to a minimum, this readable introduction highlights the continuing relevance of Marx's ideas in the light of the problems of contemporary capitalism.

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Good intro to social & historical influences on economics.......2005-12-23

The earliest political economists, including Smith, Ricardo and Marx, viewed economics quite differently than popular opinion sees it today. For one thing, they beleived social & political institutions had great impact on markets. Their debate was over HOW, NOT IF, social class, political institutions, culture and a society's basic beliefs would effect economic growth.

Today, neoclassical economics refers to a general approach (a "metatheory") to economics based on supply and demand. It rests on the assumption that individuals operate rationally: i.e. each person seeks to maximize his/her individual utility or profit by making choices based on only available information given by prices. More importantly, this is the only factor that matters. Altruism does not exist, making decisions based on social customs or religious beliefs do not fit (these are not economically `rationale'), and being a farmer versus a bank CEO gives no advantage to a person. Ben Fine terms this "ahistorical and asocial" economics. That is to say, the same economic principles work in every society, in every culture, and at every stage in a society's development with absolutely no need to take into account historical, political or social factors.

Marx starts off differently, with economics firmly rooted on a broader study of how society works, including social classes, historical trends and cultural values. For example, Marx used a value-led theory of production where the form of production determined the value of output, in his case, the labour put into making an item. The labour theory of value equates the "value" of an exchangeable good or service {i.e., a commodity} with the total amount of labour required to produce all the components that went in to its production.

This is opposed to the neoclassical theory that everything is reducible to maximising personal pleasure (called utility). Demand is `derived' only (and this is the critical point) from an Individual's single-minded desire to wring out the most utility from a given budget. Supply is determined solely by the production costs. The price comes from the point where the supply and demand lines intersect; i.e. price is based only on the value given to a good's exchange in the market. The idea of value coming from any other cause simply has no place in neoclassical economic models.

Interestingly, while neoclassic models dominate MBA programs, they are promptly thrown out the window in marketing classes, where brand loyalty, brand positioning and all sorts of irrational factors have been proven to be of fundamental importance to demand.

Much is made of Marx's atheistic slant, but this ignores the real issue. Marx thought religion and religious institutions have a great deal of impact on a person's demand for a given item, as did one's social ties and the political institutions of a nation. It is neoclassical, free-market capitalism that completely dismisses the relevance of God or any other factor outside influencing a person's demand for a good, outside of the all-consuming drive to maximise individual pleasure.

So it is ironic to see many self-labelled `Christian fundamentalists' so eager to embrace a neoclassical economic theory that is based on the assumption that God does not matter to decision-making in the market! One recalls the discomfort of many people with the "would Jesus drive an SUV?" campaign. It assessed the essentially amoral (as in lacking a reference to morals, different from immoral) nature of free-market capitalism against Christian beliefs of altruism, compassion, so beautifully by Christ: "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

If you wish a short, but intellectually stimulating attempt to present a rigorous and careful alternative view to how value and other elements of economic theory can be defined, this book fills the need very, very well. Highly recommended.

Marx and Nature: A Red and Green Perspective

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Marx and Nature: A Red and Green Perspective
Paul Burkett
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0312219407

Book Description

There may still be disagreement about the threat to human survival posed by society's environmental impacts, but no one can doubt that individual eco-systems and the global biosphere are both increasingly shaped by human production and consumption. This book shows that Marx's treatment of natural conditions possesses an inner logic, coherence, and analytical power which has not been previously recognized. The power of Marx's approach stems from his consistent treatment of human production in terms of the mutual constitution of its social form and material content. While recognizing that production is structured by historically developed relations among producers, Marx also insists that production as a social and material process is shaped and constrained by natural conditions, including the natural condition of human bodily existence. Paul Burkett shows that it is Marx's overriding concern with human emancipation that impels him to approach nature from the standpoint of materialist history, sociology, and critical political economy.

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This book shows that Marx's treatment of natural conditions possesses an inner logic, coherence, and analytical power which has not been previously recognized. The power of Marx's approach stems from his consistent treatment of human production in terms of the mutual constitution of its social form and material content.

While recognizing that production is structured by historically developed relations among producers, Marx also insists that production as a social and material process is shaped and constrained by natural conditions, including the natural condition of human bodily existence.

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The Only True Marxist Primer for Understanding ' Das Kapital'........2007-04-24

This economic political classic sets the stage for Marx' masterpiece ,'Das Kapital'.It presents the Marxist view of economic labor theory and other radical issues concerning the public socialization of capitalistic economies.After reading this interesting monetary classic,I felt as if socialism can only compliment capitalism and never completely replace it.There needs to be a constant flux of balance between the two systems.During the days of the Industrial Revolution,the shift and focus was on absolute capitalism,unrestrained by indifferent royalists.After the the Russian Revoltion,the emphasis was on a centrical labor socialist oligarchy,with no blue-blood royalist tax restrictions.Under the reforms of Boris Yeltsin ,Russia moved to a more capitalist system ,in which some business gamblers lost everything.Putin has moved Russia back to a more centralised economy and perhaps refining the previous economic blunders of the Soviet Era.This book will help nuture a budding economics thinker by offering more philosophical avenues of free-thought and political choice.

The Rosetta Stone .......2006-02-17

The Grundrisse is perhaps one of the most important additions to Marxian scholarship in the last fifty years and stands as a true Rosetta Stone for deciphering Marx(ist, ian, oid) thought. Foundations of the Critique of Political Economy stands as a bridge between the early humanist writing such as the Manifesto and the later scientific Marx as seen in the three volumes of Capital. In this text we see the very beginnings of the scientific critique as well as a brilliant display of Marx as the dialectician that forces the astute and serious reader to rethink the engagement between Marx and Hegelian thought. This work has seriously challenged what I thought I knew about Marx and has sent me into a deep reflection on Hegel. This work is a must read for those serious about engaging critically the works of a Karl Marx.

Tough but Worthwhile.......2002-05-12

A collection of seven notebooks on capital and money, drafted during the winter of 1857-8, exploring the themes and theses that dominate his later writings, including Marx's own version of Hegel's dialectics, and thoughts on alientation. While not as sophisticatedp--or lengthy--as Das Kapital, it remains a "must read" for anyone interested developing a sophisticated understanding of Marxist philosophy.

Critical Reading.......2000-04-29

Unlike many other works, the Grundrisse exposes in more obvious ways Marx's dialectical thought. The Introduction should really be read as a great antidote to the 1859 Preface to a Critique of Political Economy, which gave us the base-superstructure analogy. The weakest link in Marx's though may very well be found there. The Grundrisse Introduction starts from the point of view of class struggle, whereas there is no place for the class struggle as the driving force in the base-superstructure schema.

Also, Grundrisse starts in a different place from Capital. There is a reason for this, and a good discussion of this can be found in the writing of Raya Dunayevskaya and a counter discussion can be found in Roman Rosdolsky. The choice to eventually shelve the organization of the Grundrisse for the organization of Capital flows in part from the changes in the intervening years, most notably the U.S. Civil War.

Real life constantly shaped Marx's thinking, hardly fitting the representation we commonly get of him from ideologues and capital's priests (economists). As a result, Grundrisse also has serious limitations in its understanding of the logic of capital. Basing the entire understanding of Marxism and capital on Grundrisse leads to the kind of mistakes made by Italian Autononmist Marxism, esp. Antonio Negri, who find themselves engaged in a very subjectivist understanding of capitalism. A useful, but sympathetic, antidote can be found in Werner Bonefeld and John Holloway's writings.

A classical of marxian economic thought.......2000-04-20

This book is a sketch of what would become, a couple of years later, the author's masterpiece: Das Kapital. It was written in an intense effort during revolutionary agitations in Europe, such hard work had as goal to show the inherent contradictions of capitalism and the way it would soon collapse. Well, capitalism did not collapse then and did not so far, but this book remains a classic in the critique of classical political economy. It is indded shorter than Das Kapital, and in parts not as mature as, but it has the advantage of providing discussion on themes not discussed elsewhere in marxian works. Thus, the most famous part of Grundrisse are its Introduction and the part on "Pre-capitalistic modes of production". A must for anyone who wish to get acquainted with marxian thought.

The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 and the Communist Manifesto (Great Books in Philosophy)

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Marx's Manuscripts
The Blueprint for Economic Democracy
Dialetical Materialism taking form
Essential Marxism
The Marxian question

The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 and the Communist Manifesto (Great Books in Philosophy)
Karl Marx , and Friedrich Engels
Manufacturer: Prometheus Books
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 087975446X

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Marx's Manuscripts.......2006-03-18

Marx's Philosophic Manuscripts are just that. Dont think you'll get a nice package of arguments. I'd like to think of this as Marx "in the raw" so be ready to follow Marx as he organizes his own thoughts.

The Blueprint for Economic Democracy.......2005-10-10

Many people have sounded the Death Knell of Marx with the fall of the Eastern Bloc in the 80's and 90's. Many who have been interested in Marx read 'The Communist Manifesto' an admitedly dated work and never go beyond it. It must be remembered the Manifesto was a simplified form of practical ideas printed to drive the working class to action.

Marx was a student of Hegel, a notoriously difficult and deep philosopher to understand, but it shaped Marx to a degree that few understand. Marx was more than an economic philoshpher, he was an astute observer of psychology, sociology and anthropology. All of his philosophy shines in clarity in the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844.

Of all of Marx's works we see most the thesis and theory devised from his understanding of the human condition through historical analysis. This work is the most accessable, easily understood work by this great thinker. If you have the desire to truly understand a major influence for the framework of many socialized democracies of modern Europe, the drives for nationhood and equality that rocked Europe in revolt in 1848 or desire to truly understand the whole theory of Marx this small book is an absolute must.

Marx was a both a materialist and process theorist in philosophical terms. His later socio-econmic works were a sort of working blueprint based upon the historical, psyhcological, sociolgoical, economic and anthropologic theories laid down in this work.

Dialetical Materialism taking form.......2003-01-31

I derived great amusement from the book's cover being that atrocious shade of hot pink. Perhaps red was too provocative for them?
Moving on to the contents itself, this books shows Marx's interesting interpretation of economics and its histroy. For such a dry topic, I found Marx's prose entertaining. He's not a skillful writer, such as Nietzsche or Wittgenstein, some of his sentences are long and torturous. But when his prose is overheated it is quite amusing. "Money is the pimp and whore of all nations."
His idea of alienation is not perhaps fully accurate psychologically, but it is a profound insight into our modern condition. Looking at the entertainment and advertising super-structure of Western society, you cannot help but be sickened by the objectification of man.
Class struggle is also interesting. That often seems to be true. The point is illustrated when higher tax breaks are given to the rich apposed to the poor.
I find it doubtful that all of history is subservient to an abstract economic movement though. This reduces man to a wholly material being as much as the machinery of capitalism does. Not that his cry to change the structure of society should go unheard. The most disturbing aspect is the way that Marx's ideas were implemented. The fact that the people in power are corrupt and pervert ideas to their own end says nothing about the idea itself. A highly readable introduction to Marx.

Essential Marxism.......2002-05-12

With the crumbling of the Berlin Wall--symbolizing for many the end of the relevance of Marx's political theory--and the veering toward a "third way" (read, neo-liberal way) in various Western European countries by formerly avowed socialist parties, Marxism, and its brand of socialism, is now universally assumed to be an historical artifact, and maybe neither a very interesting nor productive one at that.

"The Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844" offers a point of rebuttal to those neo-liberals and their quick-handed assumptions that the totality of Marx's theory can be gleaned from The Communist Manifesto, a work written with the intention of motivating political action.

The "Manuscripts" is an essential read for those seeking Marx's revlevancy in the 21st century.

The Marxian question.......2000-12-23

The Paris manuscripts go back to a young and idealist Marx - perhaps one which few would bother to read, as today the concentration (and much contempt of Marxian theory) is based on his contributons to the understandings of a communist state. All that can be said is that Marx was trying not only to understand man as "homo economicus" (as seen clearly in Capital) but also as "homo sociologicus"...a fact which students of sociology should not forget.

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Kingdom of Ends
Closet Kantian Outed
Finally a solid book on Marx
Better than "Empire"

Transcritique: On Kant and Marx
Kojin Karatani
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0262612070

Book Description

Kojin Karatani's Transcritique introduces a startlingly new dimension to Immanuel Kant's transcendental critique by using Kant to read Karl Marx and Marx to read Kant. In a direct challenge to standard academic approaches to both thinkers, Karatani's transcritical readings discover the ethical roots of socialism in Kant's Critique of Pure Reason and a Kantian critique of money in Marx's Capital.

Karatani reads Kant as a philosopher who sought to wrest metaphysics from the discredited realm of theoretical dogma in order to restore it to its proper place in the sphere of ethics and praxis. With this as his own critical model, he then presents a reading of Marx that attempts to liberate Marxism from longstanding Marxist and socialist presuppositions in order to locate a solid theoretical basis for a positive activism capable of gradually superseding the trinity of Capital-Nation-State.

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Kingdom of Ends.......2006-01-05

As we distance ouselves from 1989 the perennial Marx paradox takes effect: refuted over and over his thinking resurfaces. The same could be said for Kant in the wake of the postmodern assault on his philosophy. To find an exploration of the connection of the two is a nice surprise, completely topical and quite adacious. One always has the feeling that Marx is resonating a Kantian theme below the surface of the Hegelian swansong. A similar judgment is appropriate for Kant,whose ethical critique contains a latent Marx jack-in-the-box in the implications of the discourse on the Kingdom of Ends. Of course, as the author notes,this is nothing new, and the statement of Cohen that Kant was the true source of German socialism is well known. Time to wrest Kant from the Hayekian monopoly. Seeing the connection between Kant and Marx is one thing, carrying out the discourse in detail is a tricky assignment and I was amazed at how well the author carried this out, despite a considerable number of reservations. The Kant-Marx connection is mediated with a tertiary postmodern discourse/jargon that sounds a jarring note in some cases, although this is the key to gaining the ear of the current generation. One nice thing about the book is the no nonsense treatment of Marxism, with no outstanding commitments to theoretical failures, Stalinism, and much of the harebrained theory of the Second Internationale. We get a realistic and refreshed perspective on globalization that is not caught up in Lenin hangovers, Hegelian pastiche, or special pleading for programs known to have been disastrous.

Closet Kantian Outed.......2005-11-03

In Transcritique, Kojin Karatani offers a reinterpretation of the Kant/Marx relationship. What Karatani sets out to do is two things: first, correct the misconceptions of Kant's three critiques, and second, underline the Kantian cadences in Marx. What Karatani wants to argue is that both thinkers were deploying a method of analysis, which Karatani calls: transcritique.

The transcritical method emerges in spaces where an contradiction emerges where two or more different perspectives may be taken with equal legitimacy. Instead of resolving the contradictions by synthesizing all the perspectives--a la Hegel--the transcritical method opts to sustain the differences by occupying its perspective. Obviously, this problematizes any one claim to the universality, which is not to say that universality is denied.

The book itself is divided into two halves: the first, devoted to readings of Kant; and the second, devoted to Marx. The first half on Kant is excellent. Through a detailed reading of Kant's three critiques, Karatani outlines what it is that Kant was trying to do, and in the process, Karatani corrects many misconceptions surrounding Kant and what exactly it is that he claimed. In an interesting way, Karatani argues that the whole project of the three critiques is pronounced in the third critique, which goes against the argument that Kant wrote the Critique of Judgement in order to fill in gaps. For Karatani, the third critique reraises issues that were latent within the first two, and takes them head on. In writing each of the critiques, Karatani argues, Kant bracketed certain issues in order to distill a trancendental problematic: thus the first bracketed the moral and the aesthetic in order to distill the analytic, etc. For any beginning scholar in Kant, Karatani's commentary will be very worth reading and very illuminating. For any schooled scholar of Kant, Karatani's book will force one to revisit what one understood. It is excellent.

The second section on Marx is not so even. First, Karatani offers detailed reading of Capital and places the work in context of the surrounding political economists of the time. In doing so, we learn what it is exactly that Marx brought to the table and what he simply inherited. In the transcritical space between England and Germany, Marx was able to make this critique of political economy. Second, Karatani is interested in arguing that Marx was a closet Kantian and no a Hegelian at all. Thus for Karatani, Capital is Kant's missing fourth critique of history. For Karatani, Marx was not interested in synthesizing any contradictions, but rather, sustaining the differences in between. What is at stake is Marx's political stance: in Karatani's Kantian reading, Marx was an anarchist. Karatani's readings of political economy in themselves are very excellent and praise worthy. Where he begins to falter is in his argument that Marx was actually a Kantian. It is inadequate because Karatani must ignore all the Hegelian language and form that is exhibited in Capital as well as Marx's explicit allegiances to Hegel in order to ground it. Also, at crucial moments in the book, to show what makes Marx distinctive, Karatani himself resorts to Hegelian terminology. The idea that critique is singular to Kant and must be read in Kantian light is also strange since critique occupies the first movement of Hegel's dialectic. Perhaps, Karatani wants to argue that Hegel is much more Kantian than he himself is aware, which is legitimate. Ultimately, to argue Marx advocated for anarchism does not depend on Marx being a Kantian transcritical scholar, therefore, provocative as it is, the argument runs dry.

The book ends by outlining what anarchist politics should be. This is a very interesting project, and it is a step many theorists are unwilling to take for fear of sounding flacid or inadequate. Ultimately, Karatani's program called "associationism" seems unfinished, but this is because Karatani is in the midst of working out the project theoretically and practically, and therefore should not be counted against him. Finding an example of associationism in the LETS exchange system: Karatani's model is a method of exchange and intercourse where there is no credit and no overproduction. In a zero sum society, one only consumes what one is able, and one only produces what can be consumed. Thus no capital, or surplus value, is ever produced. Very interesting stuff.

As for transcritique itself as a method. What bothers me most about it is not that it strives to be anti-dialectical, but rather, that it is grounded in personal biography. Karatani wants to argue that Marx was transcritical in method because he was in biography: in between Germany and England. Kant too was transcritical in biography because he lived a cosmopolitan lifestyle. Also, Heidegger is not transcritical because he never dislocated himself. That is why, Karatani must assure us in the very beginning of the book that he himself is in a transcritical space between Japan and NY/USA. To argue that one can best practice transcritique when one is transcritical in life is a weak argument, unnecessary, and ultimately exclusionary. Transcritique is ultimately Karatani's own method: thus he is trying to argue not that Marx was a closet Kantian, but rather, that both Marx and Kant were closet Karatanians.

Finally a solid book on Marx.......2005-01-31

Whenever the term "transcendental" is conceptualized, one tends to think of it using the metaphores of depth: "condition of possibilities", "grounding" and so on. The aim of Karatani's book seems to be the opposite - taking the "trans" in "transcendental" seriously, he tries to show how the transcendental as transcritique always emerges "in between". Kant's critique is therefore not a mere Hegelian "sublation" of the great empiricists/rationalists dispute, it is above all the very space between two rigid theoretical positions.
Yet the core of Karatani's book certainly lies in his readings of Marx. Drawing parallels between Kant and Marx, Karatani shows how Marx's theory too is just another name for flexible theoretical space, disclosed by Bailey's "nominalistic" turn of classical economics and the political impact, caused by French thinkers of utopia. Dismissing popular postmodern readings of Marx as a thinker of cultural hegemony (Gramsci,Adorno), Karatani returns to the "Marx the economist", only to show how contemporary notions of "other" and "multitude" are already deeply inscribed into Kapital.
Written with profound schoolary patience and yet striking and inventive, Transcritique is a must-read for everyone lost between postmodern disawoval of Marx and futile attempts to read him as a cultural critic.

Better than "Empire".......2003-08-01

It's ironic that the translation of Karatani's magunus opus comes at a time when organisational troubles and personal fall-outs have hindered his New Associationalist Movement's progress. Internet problems in setting up community currencies have put the `public' movement on hold for the moment.

The thesis is however is remarkably clearheaded. In order for workers-as-consumers to opt-out of the M-C-M flow and cease to produce surplus value at both the sites of production and consumption - community currencies are established (for example LETS) as a safety net. A non-profit, non-value making, fundamentally ethical relationship is established far from the imagined communities of the nation. Capital ceases to be accumulated, produced and re-produced. And, the state has no control over the activities.

Drawing on utopian socialism, anarchism and communism and by claiming that none of these traditions has properly dealt with the intrinsic relationship between Capital-Nation-State, but merely opposed one by utilising another, Karatani imagines a potent mix of strikes and boycotts that can oppose all.

This is all based on a thourough re-reading of Marx through Kant and Kant through Marx - completely at odds with the Neo-Kantians - that claims economics without ethics is blind and ethics without economics are empty. Karatani also chastises the "cultural turn" and comodification of Marxist theory as leading to only a form of despair and separation from the economic.

This is a breath of fresh-air and a far cry from the complex web of syntax coming from Hardt, Negri and others. Neither from the autonomist strand nor statist marxist traditions, Karatani himself says that his thesis pays a debt to Japanese Marxist traditions and it will be interesting to see him map this out.

Great translation! How to get it wider attention?!

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