Description
Book SynopsisThe re-publication of Karl Korsch's Karl Marx (originally published in 1938) makes available to a new generation of readers the most concise account of Karl Marx's thought by one of the major figures of 20th-century Western Marxism. It brings Marx's work to life for non-specialist readers. As Michael Buckmiller writes in his new introduction to the work, Korsch wanted his book to serve as a passport into the non-dogmatic sections of the American labour movement. The result is a bracing, concise and accessible overview of the entirety of Marx's thought, and a pungent history of Marxism.
Trade Review"[I]n its compactness and objectivity the book is a useful theoretical tool for proletarian class aspirations, we cannot in reviewing it do better than to indicate, though inadequately, its richness and value." Paul Mattick “The republication of Karl Korsch’s masterly study of Karl Marx provides a useful reminder of the theoretical insights of the author, made during a period of major upheaval and debate among the then faltering international communist and workers movements. The book provides, not only an in-depth examination of Marx’s core ideas and work, it is also to be viewed in many ways as a summary of much of Korsch’s understanding of Marx and Marxism. Ideas such as the principle of historical specification and Korsch’s own understanding of dialectics, political economy and historical materialism feature prominently.” –Liam Conway, Marx & Philosophy Review of Books
"[I]n its compactness and objectivity the book is a useful theoretical tool for proletarian class aspirations, we cannot in reviewing it do better than to indicate, though inadequately, its richness and value." —Paul Mattick
Table of ContentsContents Foreword by Michael Buckmiller Introduction Part One Society 1. Marxism and Sociology 2. The Principle of Historical Specification 3. Specification (continued) 4. The Principle of Change 5. The Principle of Criticism 6. A New Type of Generalisation 7. Practical Implications Part Two Political Economy 1. Marxism and Political Economy 2. From Political Economy to ‘Economics’ 3. From Political Economy to the Marxian Critique of Political Economy 4. Scientific versus Philosophical Criticism of Political Economy 5. Two Aspects of Revolutionary Materialism in Marx’s Economic Theory 6. The Economic Theory of Capital 7. The Fetishism of Commodities 8. The ‘Social Contract’ 9. The Law of Value 10. Common Misunderstandings of the Marxian Doctrine of Value and Surplus-Value 11. Ultimate Aims of Marx’s Critique of Political Economy Part Three History 1.The Materialist Conception of History 2. The Genesis of Historical Materialism 3. The Materialist Scheme of Society 4. Nature and Society 5. Productive Forces and Production-Relations 6. Base and Superstructure 7. Conclusions Bibliography Index of Names
