#11: CAPITAL’S TENDENCIES (Ch. 25)

Our eleventh episode concentrates on chapter 25, where Marx synthesizes his findings so far to articulate some general laws (or tendencies) of capitalist accumulation. We cover the different compositions of capital before turning to the two models of accumulation Marx proposes, the difference between concentration and centralization, and how the centralization of capital provides the material foundation for communism. We clarify the general law of capitalist accumulation and the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation before examining the impacts they have on the working class, including the production of an industrial reserve army. After examining how the reserve army serves as a lever of capitalist accumulation, we go next to reviewing some of the layers of the industrial reserve army--including the “dangerous classes”--and relating them to our contemporary condition. We draw out that here Marx is insisting that the working class includes all of those who are oppressed and exploited by capitalism and what this means for organizing. Finally, we spend some time on the colonization of Ireland and how Marx’s thought about the relationship between anti-colonial and socialist revolution developed over time. Articles mentioned in this chapter US gov’t jobs report: The reality behind the fakery Contact us with questions or feedback at ReadingCapital@LiberationSchool.org

You can listen to #11: CAPITAL’S TENDENCIES (Ch. 25) online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

#11: CAPITAL’S TENDENCIES (Ch. 25) is an episode from Reading Capital With Comrades by Reading Capital With Comrades.

This episode is 00:48:07 long.

This episode was published on Apr 26, 2021.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Reading Capital With Comrades when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.