Explain the bookclub: We are reading Volumes 1, 2, and 3 in one year and discussing it in weekly threads. (Volume IV, often published under the title Theories of Surplus Value, will not be included in this particular reading club, but comrades are encouraged to do other solo and collaborative reading.) This bookclub will repeat yearly. The three volumes in a year works out to about 6½ pages a day for a year, 46⅔ pages a week.

I’ll post the readings at the start of each week and @mention anybody interested. Let me know if you want to be added or removed.

Just joining us? You can use the archives below to help you reading up to where the group is. There is another reading group on a different schedule at https://lemmygrad.ml/c/genzhou (federated at [email protected] ) which may fit your schedule better. The idea is for the bookclub to repeat annually, so there’s always next year.

Archives: Week 1 – Week 2 – Week 3 – Week 4 – Week 5 – Week 6 – Week 7 – Week 8 – Week 9 – Week 10 – Week 11 – Week 12

Week 13, March 25-31, from Volume 1 we are reading Chapter 22, Chapter 23, and Parts 1,2,and 3 of Chapter 24

In other words, aim to get up to the ridiculously long section-heading by Sunday. (The Circumstances which, Independently of the Proportional Division of Surplus-Value into Capital and Revenue, Determine the Extent of Accumulation, namely, the Degree of Exploitation of Labour-Power, the Productivity of Labour, the Growing Difference in Amount between Capital Employed and Capital Consumed, and the Magnitude of the Capital Advanced)

Discuss the week’s reading in the comments.

Use any translation/edition you like. Marxists.org has the Moore and Aveling translation in various file formats including epub and PDF: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/

Ben Fowkes translation, PDF: http://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=9C4A100BD61BB2DB9BE26773E4DBC5D

AernaLingus says: I noticed that the linked copy of the Fowkes translation doesn’t have bookmarks, so I took the liberty of adding them myself. You can either download my version with the bookmarks added, or if you’re a bit paranoid (can’t blame ya) and don’t mind some light command line work you can use the same simple script that I did with my formatted plaintext bookmarks to take the PDF from libgen and add the bookmarks yourself.

Audiobook of Ben Fowkes translation, American accent, male, links are to alternative invidious instances: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9

Resources

(These are not expected reading, these are here to help you if you so choose)

  • Doubledee [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    8·
    3 months ago

    Hope everyone is doing well, I know last week’s thread was a bit slow. Health and happiness to the whole book club! rat-salute

    That said, this reading has been the most conceptually horrifying to me so far. I knew the terms we throw around, I knew roughly what alienation meant and surplus value and all that. But seeing the system broken down and revealed to be entirely surplus value, to be entirely stolen and then given back piecemeal so that part of the machinery can keep itself lubricated to come back tomorrow… Not a great feeling.

    • Kolibri [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
      5·
      3 months ago

      I had the same feeling to when getting around to this. It also really changes the meaning to of what is said by dead labor as well. It reminded me of like one of the very earlier chapters, I think chapter 6? of working being like credit to the capitalist, but taking on another new meaning now. also like with the part of alienation, that surplus value from one worker being used to hire another worker from another worker labor. It’ was also pretty gross how open some of those capitalists or political economists were open about seeing workers as machinery and such, like with Potters and that manufacturers’ manifesto