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George C. Comninel |  |
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POLS 4090 3.0 Classical Marxist Theory
The goal of this exploration will be to reveal the general theoretical potential of historical materialist analysis through an appreciation of the historical specificity of its application to capitalism by Marx. While on the one hand capitalism is a form of class society that emerged from a long history of class societies, it is on the other hand qualitatively different from all other societies in the apparently purely economic form that its class relations take. This historically unique character of capitalism will be seen to underpin Marx’s expectation that class struggle would bring about an epochal transformation of human social life, putting an end to the political domination and economic exploitation that has characterized the roughly ten thousand years known to history. Marx’s political writings will be examined in light of this historical materialist analysis of the specificity of capitalism and its historical appearance. Particular attention will be paid to the issues raised by Marx’s presumption that capitalist society had been sufficiently established to form the basis for class politics across the whole of European society by the middle of the nineteenth century. Finally, we will explore the connection between Marxist political ideas and political practice through an examination of Marx’s later political analyses.
Course Requirements – Undergraduate
All of these readings, as well as the other assigned readings, can be found on-lline. Follow the "Readings" link to access them. The entire Marx-Engels Collected Works is available online, through York computers or using Passport York, at : http://library.nlx.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/xtf/view?docId=marx/marx.00.xml;brand=default In addition, an extensive collection works by Marx and later Marxists is available at www.marxists.org/archive/marx/index.html Schedule of Lectures and Required Reading Jan 17 Issues of Historical Materialism: French Revolutions, Part I G.C. Comninel, “Marx’s Context,” History of Political Thought, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 467-83 B. Nicolaievsky and O. Maenchen-Helfen, Karl Marx: Man and Fighter, pp. 1-60. Recommended: F. Engels, “Karl Marx” Jan 24 Early Works: 1843 Early Writings: “Critique of Hegel’s Doctrine of Law”; “On the Jewish Question”; “Contribution to a Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right. Introduction” Jan 31 The Turning Point Early Writings: 1844 Manuscripts (Note: read the section “Wages of Labour” first) Recommended: Introduction by Colletti Feb 7 The Original Political Project Manifesto of the Communist Party Feb 14 French Revolutions, Part II – SHORT ESSAY DUE – The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte Feb 21 Reading Week Recommended: Ellen Meiksins Wood, The Origin of Capitalism: A Longer View Feb 2 Foundations for the Critique of Political Economy - The Grundrisse Grundrisse, “Introduction”; Wood - "Historical Materialism in 'Forms which Precede Capitalist Production'" Mar 7 Introducing the Critique of Political Economy - Capital Capital, Ch. I Mar 14 Advancing the Critique of Political Economy - Capital Capital, Ch. I - XXII Mar 21 Historicizing the Critique of Political Economy Capital, Ch. XXIII - XXVIII Recommended: “Labour Rent” (Capital, v. III, Ch. 47, Section II) Mar 28 French Revolutions, Part III – PAPER PROPOSAL DUE – The Civil War in France Apr 4 Marx’s Politics of Revolution Interview with Karl Marx; “Conspectus of Bakunin’s Statism and Anarchy”;“Critique of the Gotha Programme”; “Circular Letter”; Comninel, “Marx and the Politics of the First International”. Apr 17 – TERM PAPER DUE –
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