An Introduction To Marx’s Capital—Part-3

(This is based on and mostly from “Marx’s Capital” written by Ben Fine and Alfredo Saad-Filho)

(For Part-2, please see the blog entry dated 12-1-2012)

Marx’s method

Marx’s method is not a fixed set of universal rules to be applied in all contexts. Specific application of the materialist dialectics (materialist dialectics is the method of reasoning required to understand the ever changing material reality through the process of the struggle of the opposites in it and its consequent transformation into a new higher reality) has to be developed in order to address each problem. The best known example of the application of Marx is his critical examination of capitalism in his book Capital. In this work, Marx’s approach has five important broad features. They are:

1. Social phenomena can be understood only in their historical context. Generalisations supposed to be valid every where and for all time, are meaningless and invalid. Societies are distinguished by the mode of production under which they are organised.  For example feudalism is the society dominated by kings, jamindars and landlords where the peasant pays tax to  to the lord, extends several free services to the lord  or works for some days for himself and some days for the lord freely . It is opposed to capitalism where the worker is legally free to sell his labour power to this or that capitalist or Capitalist Corporation. Capitalist is not a feudal lord receiving profit in place of tribute or free service.  A wage labourer is not a peasant who happens to be paid for his labour.  Each mode of production is structured according to its class relations, that is, the relation between the feudal lord and the peasant in feudalism, and the relation between the capitalist and the worker in capitalist society.

2. Theory loses its validity if pushed beyond social limits. The concepts to be drawn out from a particular society to understand it are different from the concepts to be drawn out from another society to understand that society. Marx claims that in capitalism, the worker produces more value than the value he appropriates (takes possession of ) through his wage. This value produced by the worker over and above the value of his wage, is the surplus value. The capitalist appropriates this surplus value. Thus surplus value is produced by the worker, but appropriated (taken possession of ) by the capitalist. This is the exploitation in capitalist society. But to understand the exploitation in feudal society or in slave society, different concepts other than the wage, capital, surplus value etc are required. The analysis of capitalism does not provide the principles for understanding a different society.

3. Reality exists historically, that is, it was different yesterday from what it is today and from what it will be tomorrow. Reality exists materially, that is, it exists outside the analyst’s thinking head. Therefore reality has to be understood historically and materially. Idealism (developing the idea, concept, without any link to reality) errs because it seeks to explain reality by concepts not related to the history and materiality of the reality. Marx recognizes that reality is shaped by the social structure and tendencies and counter tendencies ( which can be understood dialectically) as well as unpredictable contingencies (which cannot be so understood).  Consequently, although materialist dialectics  can help understand both the past and the present, it is impossible to foretell the future (Marx’s law of the tendency of the rate of profit to fall and the counter tendency is an example in this regard.)

4. Materialist dialectics identifies the key concepts, structures, relationships and levels of analysis required for the explanation of the concrete (means a specific reality). In Capital, Marx employs materialist dialectics to pinpoint the essential features of the capitalism and their contradictions (mutually opposing tendencies), to explain the dynamics of the capitalist mode of production and to locate the potential sources of historical change, that is, the sources in capitalist society potentially capable of transforming it to a higher stage of production.The concepts evolved by Marx help to reconstruct the realities of the capitalism in thought. These concepts help to explain the historical development of capitalism and indicate its critical vulnerabilities. Theoretical progress includes the introduction of new concepts, the refinement of existing concepts to a higher level and complexity and the historical evidence to provide a richer and more specific account of the reality.

5. Marx’s method focuses upon historical change. In the  bookds Communist Manifesto, the preface to the Contribution to the critique of political economy and the introduction to the Grundrisse, Marx famously summarises his account of the relationship between structures of production (capitalism, feudalism, slave society, primitive society), social relations (relations between classes-feudal lord and peasant in feudal society, capitalist and worker in capitalist society etc) and historical change. There is a relationship of mutual determination between technology, society and history (and other factors), but in ways which are invariably influenced by the social organisation (mode of production). For example, under capitalism, technological development is primarily driven by the profit imperative across all commercial activity. Under Feudalism, the production of luxury goods and (military) services and to a certain extent, agricultural implements, is paramount, which, in the absence of the profit motive, limits the scope and pace of technological advance. In contrast, Marx argues that in the future communist societies technological development would seek to eliminate repetitive, physically demanding, unhealthy and unsafe tasks, reduce overall labour time, satisfy basic needs and develop human potential.

Summary of Marx’s method

a)      Social phenomena have to be understood in their historical context. Generalisations said to be valid every where and for all times are meaningless and invalid. In the history, human societies are organised differently with different modes of production—primitive societies, slave societies, feudal societies, and capitalist societies and the capitalist societies are liable to transform into higher forms of societies.

b)      The concepts useful for understanding one society having a particular mode of production are not useful for understanding another society with a different mode of production.

c)      Reality exists materially and historically, that is, outside the thinking head of the analyst and in a process of change and development. The social reality is shaped by the social structure, tendencies and counter tendencies in it and unpredictable contingencies. Materrialist dialectics helps in understanding the past and the present, but it is impossible to foretell the future.

d)      Materialist dialectics is the method of reasoning required to understand the ever changing material reality through the process of the struggle of the opposites in it and its consequent transformation into a new higher reality. Marx employs materialist dialectics to pinpoint the essential features of the capitalism and their contradictions (mutually opposing tendencies), to explain the dynamics of the capitalist mode of production and to locate the potential sources of historical change, that is, the sources in capitalist society potentially capable of transforming it to a higher stage of production.The concepts evolved by Marx help to reconstruct the realities of the capitalism in thought. These concepts help to explain the historical development of capitalism and indicate its critical vulnerabilities.

e)      Marx’s method focuses on historical change. Social change is determined  by the relation of mutual determination between technology, society and history, but invariably influenced by the mode of social organisation.

How Marx evolved his economic theory using this method, let us see tomorrow.