Jim.+Manifesto

Marx, Karl, Friedrich Engels, and David Harvey. 2008. //The Communist Manifesto//. Translated by Moore, Samuel. London: Pluto Press.

1848

Dynamic nature of capitalism Dramatic prose

No use of the term “capitalism”

History of capitalism

37: “The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.”

Cash nexus

loss of halo

38: “... wonders far surpassing Egyptian pyramids...”

“The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society.”

“... all that is solid melts into air...”

creative destruction, globalization, coercive laws, revolutionary nature of capitalism

39: “The need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the whole surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connections everywhere.”

40: “...idiocy of rural life.”

“...whole populations conjured out of the ground...”

41: “... a society that has conjured up such gigantic means of production and of exchange, is like the sorcerer, who is no longer able to control the powers of the nether world whom he has called up by his spells.”

“commercial crises... epidemic of overproduction”

accumulation cycles, overaccumulation, devaluation, spatial fix

42: “And how does the bourgeoisie get over these crises? On the one hand by enforced destruction of a mass of productive forces; on the other, by the conquest of new markets, and by the more thorough exploitation of the old ones. That is to say, by paving the way for more extensive and more destructive crises, and by diminishing the means whereby crises are prevented.”

43: “...appendage of the machine.”

labor theory of value

wage slaves

grave diggers

unite... chains

One thing that always strikes me when I read this is all the classic phrases from this text that have made it into social science common language, if not the broader culture. Usually these terms are paraphrased, so it is interesting to see them in the original wording. Some of these turns of phrase are rendered slightly differently in other of Marx’s texts, like Capital. While Capital has moments of dramatic prose, the lyrical Marx, this is pure dramatic prose. What strikes me most this time is the extent to which Marx’s broader argument of the history, dynamics and crisis tendencies of capitalism function, is presented here in simple everyday language.

Section two seems to be about the political project.

Section three seems to be an evaluation of the existing left parties/movements of Marx’ time.

Harvey’s into:

This is the lightest, easiest version of Harvey’s argument I’ve seen. As usual he is probably trying imitate Marx’s form, by writing a text that is as accessible as the Manifesto. He basically argues that this text is as relevant, if not more so, today as it was when it was written. He talks about current issues (2008) including the sub-prime mortgage crisis, deindustrialization, peripheral Fordism that fit right in with what Marx was saying in 1848. He takes on the political project. M&E seem to be asking for reasonable things (social democratic reform?). He talks about communism in one country, particular territories, vs some kind of simultaneous world revolution. This was somewhat lost on me, not knowing these debates. He ends up with an environmental angle. Capitalism needs to grow. Imagine what the world would be like after another 100 years of 3% compounded growth? Capitalism is environmentally unsustainable. We need to come up with a more just more rational system that would be zero growth. He’s pretty convincing here that fundamental change, and not reform, is the only answer.