마르크스, 자본주의의 비밀을 밝히다
조셉 추나라 (지은이),차승일 (옮긴이)책갈피2010-07-10
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마르크스, 자본주의의 비밀을 밝히다
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국내도서 > 사회과학 > 사회사상/사회사상사 > 사회주의/공산주의
국내도서 > 경제경영 > 경제학/경제일반 > 경제이론/경제사상
국내도서 > 경제경영 > 경제학/경제일반 > 경제이야기
국내도서 > 고전 > 경제학고전
국내도서 > 사회과학 > 사회사상/사회사상사 > 마르크스주의 > 마르크스주의 일반
국내도서 > 인문학 > 서양철학 > 마르크스주의
국내도서 > 추천도서 > 외부/전문기관 추천도서 > 인문사회과학출판인협의회 추천.. > 인문사회과학출판인협의회가 선..
책소개
영국의 BBC는 지난 1000년 동안 인류에게 가장 큰 영향을 미친 책의 목록을 발표했는데, 1위가 ≪자본론≫이었다. 2008년 세계경제 위기로 이 위대한 고전이 새삼 주목받았고 한국에서도 해설서들이 쏟아져 나왔다.
그러나 대부분의 해설서는 모종의 ‘교양 쌓기’나 기껏해야 ‘비판적 사고력 키우기’를 위해 ≪자본론≫을 읽으라고 권한다. 조셉 추나라는 떠오르는 젊은 활동가이자 혁명가답게 마르크스의 혁명적 정신을 잘 살린 새로운 ≪자본론≫ 해설서를 우리 앞에 내놓았다.
단순한 해설서에 그치지 않는 것도 장점이다. 마르크스의 이론에 비춰 오늘날의 자본주의를 분석하고 다시 현실에 맞게 이론을 발전시키는 살아 숨 쉬는 마르크스주의 경제학을 선물한다.
목차
옮긴이 머리말
한국어판 머리말
머리말
1부 자본주의의 비밀
비밀을 숨기는 체제
우유 한 통 = 신문 한 부
화폐가 세상을 굴러가게 한다
산 노동, 죽은 노동
착취, 자본주의의 핵심
자본의 구조
노동자를 쥐어짜기
생산적 노동, 비생산적 노동
실업은 과잉인구 때문일까?
소외가 만연한 세계
2부 자본주의는 어떻게 움직일까?
자본의 순환
자본의 자기 증식
축적하고 축적하라!
이윤율 저하
이윤율 저하를 상쇄하는 요인
자본주의와 경제 위기
노쇠해 가는 체제
잉여가치 분배
금융의 세계
주식시장의 비밀
경제 위기를 다시 살펴보기
가격과 일반 이윤율
경제 위기의 정치학
3부 변화하는 체제
자본주의의 태동
제국주의의 탄생
불황과 국가자본주의
장기 호황
다시 위기로
부록
마르크스의 지대론
‘전형 문제’
더 읽을거리
찾아보기
접기
책속에서
마르크스는 왜 ≪자본론≫을 썼을까?
마르크스가 총 세 권의 ≪자본론≫을 쓴 목적은 단 하나였습니다. 자본주의의 ‘운동 법칙’을 이해해 그 전복을 앞당기기 위해서였습니다. 이 책의 주된 독자는 마르크스가 자본주의를 전복하는 데 핵심이라고 여긴 노동계급이었습니다. 그러나 마르크스는 독자들이 ≪자본론≫을 읽느라 골머리 ... 더보기
우유 한 통 = 신문 한 부
가치란 정확하게 무엇일까요? 앞 장에서 다룬 분석 방법으로 돌아가 보죠. 가치는 아이작 뉴턴이 설명한 중력이 우주에서 하는 것과 비슷한 구실을 하는 추상적 개념입니다. 우리는 중력을 보거나 만지거나 냄새 맡지 못합니다. 그러나 중력이라는 개념 덕분에 행성들이 태양 주위를 공전(公轉)하는... 더보기
누가 더 많이 착취당할까?
자본주의 경제는 일단 형성되면 노동 착취에 바탕을 둬야 합니다. 착취의 정도는 시간과 장소에 따라 다양합니다. 그러나 인도나 중국 노동자들이 미국이나 영국 노동자들보다 더 착취당한다는 말은 틀렸습니다. 꼭 그렇지는 않기 때문이죠. 인도나 중국 노동자들은 십중팔구 선진 산업국가 노동자들보다... 더보기
실업은 과잉인구 때문일까?
자본주의 사회에서 착취당하는 것보다 더 나쁜 것이 하나 있다면, 그것은 착취당하지 않는 것입니다. 자본가에게 더는 쓸모없게 된 수많은 연금 생활자들이나 건강(신체적이든 정신적이든)에 문제가 생겨 자본가에게 쓸모가 덜한 사람들이 겪는 곤궁은 체제가 잉여가치 추출 이면에서 저지르는 대표적 악... 더보기
주류 경제학자들의 경제 위기 설명
흔히 경제학자들은 경제 바깥의 외부적 요인으로 위기를 설명합니다. 그들은 십중팔구 인간 심리의 비정상성을 탓합니다. 또, 국가의 시장 개입이 문제라고 합니다. 1980년대에 IMF와 세계은행은 이 논리를 되풀이하며 제3세계에 구조조정 프로그램을 강요했습니다. 윌리엄 스탠리 제번스라... 더보기
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추천글
세계경제 위기로 마르크스의 ≪자본론≫이 주목받으며 해설서들이 쏟아져 나왔다. 그러나 대부분은 그저 ‘교양 쌓기’나 ‘비판적 사고력 키우기’를 위해 ≪자본론≫을 권한다. 조셉 추나라는 젊은 혁명가답게 마르크스의 혁명적 정신을 잘 살린 새로운 해설서를 내놓았다. 이 책은 마르크스의 이론에 비춰 오늘날 자본주의를 분석하고 다시 현실에 맞게 이론을 발전시키는 살아 숨 쉬는 경제학을 선물한다.
- 인문사회과학출판인협의회(인사회)
저자 및 역자소개
조셉 추나라 (Joseph Choonara) (지은이)
저자파일
신간알리미 신청
영국 사회주의노동자당(SWP) 중앙위원이고 계간지 《인터내셔널 소셜리즘》 편집위원이며 레스터대학교 교수다. 국내에 소개된 저서는 《마르크스, 자본주의의 비밀을 밝히다》(책갈피), 《차베스와 베네수엘라 그리고 21세기의 혁명》(다함께), 《자본주의 위기의 시대 왜 혁명인가》(책갈피, 공저)가 있다.
최근작 : <베네수엘라 위기>,<계급, 소외, 차별>,<그리스 외채 위기와 시리자의 부상> … 총 13종 (모두보기)
차승일 (옮긴이)
저자파일
신간알리미 신청
고려대학교 법대를 졸업하고 번역가와 편집자로 활동하고 있다. 옮긴 책으로 《인종차별과 자본주의》, 《마르크스, 자본주의의 비밀을 밝히다》, 《오바마의 아프팍 전쟁》, 《이란의 여성, 노동자, 이슬람주의》(공역), 《세계화와 노동계급》(공역) 등이 있고, 엮은 책으로 《사회주의의 진정한 의미를 찾아서》, 《그리스 외채 위기와 시리자의 부상: 좌파 정부는 긴축을 끝낼 수 있는가》 등이 있다.
최근작 : <사회주의의 진정한 의미를 찾아서>,<그리스 외채 위기와 시리자의 부상> … 총 11종 (모두보기)
출판사 소개
책갈피
도서 모두보기
신간알리미 신청
출판사 제공 책소개
영국의 BBC는 지난 1000년 동안 인류에게 가장 큰 영향을 미친 책의 목록을 발표했는데, 1위가 ≪자본론≫이었다. 2008년부터 시작된 세계경제 위기로 마르크스의 이 위대한 고전이 새삼 주목받게 됐다. 독일에서는 판매 부수가 세 배로 늘었고, 일본에서는 만화 ≪자본론≫이 수십만 권이나 팔렸으며, 중국에서는 베스트셀러에 올랐다. 한국에서도 해설서들이 앞다퉈 쏟아져 나왔다.
그러나 대부분의 해설서는 모종의 ‘교양 쌓기’나 기껏해야 ‘비판적 사고력 키우기’를 위해 ≪자본론≫을 읽으라고 권한다. 이 책의 지은이 조셉 추나라는 떠오르는 젊은 활동가이자 혁명가답게 마르크스의 혁명적 정신을 잘 살린 새로운 ≪자본론≫ 해설서를 우리 앞에 내놓았다. 마르크스 자신이 말했듯이 “그동안 철학자들은 세계를 이렇게 저렇게 해석했지만, 중요한 것은 세계를 변화시키는 것”이기 때문이다.
현실은 끊임없이 변하기 때문에 이런 변화를 설명하지 못하는 이론은 아무 쓸모없는 박제가 될 것이다. 또... 더보기
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마르크스 자본에대한 이해를 주는 책
yjh2932 2010-12-11 공감 (0) 댓글 (0)
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많이 약하다
자본론에 대한 일반적인 개론서다. 아무리 개론서라고 해도 그 내용이 빈약했다는 생각이 든다. 난 이미 이와 비슷한 개론서는 대여섯권 정도를 봤다. 하지만 개론서라고 다 같진 않았다. 보면서 또 새롭게 배우는 점도 많았다. 우리나라분들(김수행, 강신준, 강상구)이 쓰신 것이 훨씬 더 좋다고 생각된다. 이 책을 보기 전에 연필을 들고 밑줄을 그으려고 했는데, 한 번도 긋지를 못 했다. 책도 2시간 정도에 모두 다 읽게 됐다. 읽고나서 좀 허무했다. 다른 걸 볼껄. 마지막 휴가 날에 본 책인데..
별점을 이렇게 낮게 줄 수밖에 없는 점이 미안하지만 그래도 솔직하게 얘기해 드리고 싶다.
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Unravelling Capitalism: A Guide to Marxist Political Economy (Second Edition) Paperback – July 1, 2017
by Joseph Choonara (Author)
5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 5 ratings
3.8 on Goodreads
57 ratings
Karl Marx was the greatest critic of capitalism. Yet his ideas are widely dismissed or misunderstood.
But Marx is indispensable for anyone who wants to grasp why capitalism is a system of exploitation, instability and repeated crises.
Joseph Choonara introduces Marx’s approach to understanding capitalism—developed above all in the three volumes of Capital. He also outlines how this can be applied to capitalism as it has developed since Marx’s time.
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Print length
142 pages
Product details
Publisher : Bookmarks (July 1, 2017)
Language : English
Paperback : 142 pages
ISBN-10 : 1910885444
ISBN-13 : 978-1910885444
Item Weight : 5.4 ounces
Dimensions : 6.89 x 0.47 x 4.33 inchesBest Sellers Rank: #5,184,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)Customer Reviews:
5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 5 ratings
Joseph Choonara
Lecturer in Management & Organisations at Leicester University School of Business. Former teaching fellow in International Political Economy at King's College London.
Recently completed a PhD at Middlesex University researching precarity and insecurity in the UK labour market.
Interests include classical Marxist approaches to political economy and class analysis. Frequent contributor to International Socialism, and author of Unravelling Capitalism: A Guide to Marxist Political Economy (Bookmarks, 2009), A Reader's Guide to Capital (Bookmarks, 2017; Haymarket, 2019) and Insecurity, Precarious Work and Labour Markets: Challenging the Orthodoxy (Palgrave, 2019).
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Michael m.
5.0 out of 5 stars A must readReviewed in the United States on May 24, 2021
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Phil Webster
5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding CapitalismReviewed in the United States on July 28, 2017
This is a new (2017) second edition of a book first published in 2009. It is a really excellent introduction to Marxist economics. The Marxist theorist and activist Alex Callinicos has summed the book up with the following comment:
“Joseph Choonara has updated and revised his excellent introduction to Marxist political economy. Remarkably, he’s improved on what was already a first-class book, which succeeds in making Marx’s ideas accessible without dumbing them down.”
Choonara follows Marx in showing that there are two key features of the capitalist system. Firstly, there is the fact that the capitalists make their profits by exploiting the working class. (The working class today includes ordinary white collar workers as well as manual workers.) Choonara clearly explains the process by which the capitalists extract surplus value from the workers. As Marx himself wrote, “Capital...vampire-like, only lives by sucking living labour...”
Secondly, there is the competition between rival capitalists which drives on the exploitation and which leads to the anarchy of the market system, with its booms, slumps and crises, as we are seeing today. This economic competition between units of capital also leads to military competition between rival capitalist/imperialist states.
In relation to the crises which flow inevitably from this capitalist competition, Choonara clearly explains, and shows the importance of, what Marx called “the law of the tendency of the rate of profit to fall”.
The author also takes us through the changes to the capitalist system since Marx’s day, and through its ups and downs, such as the long boom of the 1950s and 1960s, and the return to crises since the 1970s.
Marx’s “Capital” is not just a technical economic treatise. Marx’s humanism and democratic instincts shine out throughout that book. There are marvellous indictments of the alienating, exploitative and undemocratic nature of the capitalist system, as well as some remarkably vivid historical sections.
I particularly like how Marx shows that people are alienated under capitalism, in the sense of their work being turned into soulless degradation, and also in the sense of having lost control of their lives to something they themselves have created - capital. Marx wrote: “As, in religion, man is governed by the products of his own brain, so in capitalist production, he is governed by the products of his own hand.” Again, Choonara has a chapter on this concept of alienation.
To many people Marxism is a dirty word because of its association with the bureaucratic tyranny of the Stalinist regimes of Russia, Eastern Europe, China etc. But Choonara shows that these regimes had/have nothing to do with genuine Marxism. The so-called “communist” states were/are actually state capitalist systems controlled by a ruling class of bureaucrats who betrayed the aims of the 1917 Russian Revolution and turned on its head Marx’s aim of a democratic workers’ state and classless society.
Of course, it is not enough just to understand capitalism, we need to get rid of it. I’ll end by quoting the final part of the last chapter of Choonara’s excellent book:
“… while socialism is far from inevitable, the constant tussle between capital and labour… will continue as long as capitalism continues. In that conflict lie the seeds of something very different: a world structured according to the needs of its population, rather than the drive for profit; run democratically from below, rather than from on high by capitalists and their supporters; a world of socialism rather than a world of barbarism.”
Phil Webster.
(England)
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nigel newton-smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Must readReviewed in the United Kingdom on December 17, 2018
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Martin Empson
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December 23, 2014
This is a detailed and well written book. The centrality of the economic situation to political discourse at the moment makes this a must read for any radical trying to understand the ins and outs of the system. It should also be on the reading list for every economics student in the country, clearing away the confusions that a myriad of mainstream commentators have spread about Marxism....
http://resolutereader.blogspot.com/20...
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Nathan Fisher
161 reviews
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October 2, 2019
The first two parts are a fairly lucid attempt at extreme concision — the last part is where Choonara moves from what is an admirable compression of Marxism toward a rendition of the SWP's particular line on imperialism / state capitalism / the permanent arms economy — contested positions which I find smuggled in here in a somewhat objectionable manner (alas, yes, because I disagree with them).
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river
51 reviews
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July 9, 2022
a great intro to marxist PE + covered basically everything that i learned in my intro political economy class but obviously in a much more succinct way . would recommend if you’re just getting into PE/marxist PE
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Moth
57 reviews
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May 14, 2018
Contrary to the other reviewers, I found this a bit hard to follow. I usually like short-and-to-the-point reads but Choonara was a bit too concise for me, and I'm assuming a bit too concise for any reader who is a complete economy dummy.
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gaverne Bennett
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May 25, 2022
I am trying to understand the standard of living crisis from a different perspective. Very interesting.
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William Brown
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February 11, 2023
Almost all of this is incorrect and fraught with peril. Avoid!
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system-müde
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March 13, 2023
Good and short explanation of the basic ideas of Marxs "Kapital". Sometimes well explained, sometimes a little hard to understand but still suitable for beginners or interested people.
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Joshua
79 reviews
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December 7, 2011
I read this book because I wanted to learn more about Marxist political economy. This has become interesting to me because of the global economic crisis of recent years. Overall I feel that this book is a good introduction to the field. I would say that this is an intermediate level book about Marxism in general, but a beginner level book in the field of Marxist political economy.
Marx's economic theory is explained using straight forward language with examples. Concepts like surplus value, living and dead labour, variable capital, constant capital, the organic composition of capital and the tendency for the rate of profit to fall are all introduced and explained fairly well. There are also brief chapters on the role of finance and credit which facilitates capitalist expansion while also increasing the crisis prone voltatility of the capitalist system.
The final third of the book is devoted to explaining five different eras of capitalism. The five eras are divided into the classical era, the birth of imperialism, the slump and state capitalism, the long boom, and the return to crisis (the era of capitalism we live in). These chapters were interesting because they build up explanations using the ideas introduced in the earlier chapters. There is of course a bias towards explanations worked out by theoreticians from the International Socialist Tendency. This is not surprising given that this book is published by Bookmarks, which is the publisher for the International Socialist Tendency.
I found the level of discussion to be not too difficult, although there were some areas that I had to read more than once to get my head around, specifically those found in the chapter on Prices and the general rate of profit. This chapter is a brief account of ideas outlined in Marx's third volume of Capital. Apparently this is a contentious area and there is something called the 'transformation problem'. I'm still not sure what the transformation problem is exactly. Apparently Marx asserts that the rate of profit in an economy tends to equalise across different branches of industry. Apparently capital flows from branches with a high organic composition of capital to areas with a low organic composition of capital. Somehow this leads to a 'general rate of profit' for the whole economy which capitalists grab a share of in proportion to the amount of capital they invest...
Overall I reckon this is a pretty good book to start looking at Marxist political economy. There are several pages worth of further reading suggested. I think I will return to Unravelling Capitalism and get more out of it as I read more about this fascinating area.
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Jacob Pointon
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March 23, 2012
Great introduction to Marxian Political Economy. I would recommend reading this along with Wage-Labour and Capital Value Price and Profit before starting Capital Vol. 1
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January 25, 2012
Easy enough to read, and quite helpful in dealing with some complex issues
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Joseph Choonara - Unravelling Capitalism, A Guide to Marxist Political Economy
Economics is one of those subjects that those who are proficient in it, often like to pretend is beyond the understanding of most mortals. Unfortunately, recent economic news, the reactions to failing banks and the inability of governments around the world to protect ordinary people from the effects of recession, would prove that most economists know little about economics.
There is a secondary, but related myth. That Marxist economics is even more difficult to comprehend. Marx had some interesting insights we are told, but they don't really explain what capitalism is about.
Joseph Choonara's excellent new book is a fantastic introduction to Marx's economics. Starting from the fundamental basics of economics, Choonara builds up a picture of a complete economic system. In doing this, he helps even those with little grounding in economics understand precisely what is wrong with the system we live in, and why, once again we are living through an era of economic crisis.
For Marx, capitalism is different to other, pre-existing class systems because of the nature of the basic exploitation at the heart of the system. Capitalists employ workers, who are paid less than they generate in value for their boss. As Choonara explains;
The secret of surplus value, is the secret of the capitalist system. The world around us is based on pumping surplus value out of one billion or so wage workers.
Choonara goes on to show how, the need of the capitalists to constantly accumulate more and more value, in blind competition with the other capitalism leads to an anarchic and chaotic system. What is good for the individual capitalists is bad for the system as a whole. Unlike pre-existing economic systems, the surplus value that is generated from the exploitation of the workers is pumped back into the system - further investment in raw materials or new machinery. This allows the successful capitalist to improve is production process, stealing a march on his rivals.
But this also has the effect, of driving down the general profit rate in society - making it harder for the capitalist to accumulate more. The system as a whole finds it harder to use up what it is creating and overproduction of goods is one consequence. We arrive at a situation then, were economically capitalism produces huge numbers of products that are needed by millions of people, but these people are unable to afford to use them. A contemporary example would be the glut of flats and houses on the market in the UK today, at the same time as more and more families live in overcrowded or temporary housing.
Choonara goes one to demonstrate how this localised crisis of profit rates mean that "the least efficient capitalists are driven under", but this has a snowball effect on the system as a whole - leading to a generalised economic crisis.
But as capitalism has aged, it has become increasingly based on bigger and bigger blocks of capital. Companies have swallowed their competitors up (The revenue of the top 100 corporations in the world is now over $10 trillion, bigger than the GDP of the 174 poorest nations) and these means that the knock on effect of a single failure is far greater than in the past. Witness the desperate attempts by contemporary governments to keep banks and multi-nationals afloat.
This is a detailed and well written book. The centrality of the economic situation to political discourse at the moment makes this a must read for any radical trying to understand the ins and outs of the system. It should also be on the reading list for every economics student in the country, clearing away the confusions that a myriad of mainstream commentators have spread about Marxism.
But this book is also a weapon in the struggle for a better world. Choonara hasn't ignored the other aspects of Marx's thought. Economics isn't something outside the political struggle, but something that influences and is influenced by the wider picture. And by reasserting the central exploitation at the heart of capitalism, the author has put the exploited back at the heart of changing the world. Capitalism has created it's own gravediggers. This book shows both the urgency of getting rid of this outdated economic system and points the way forward for doing just that.
Related Reviews
Fine & Saad-Filho - Marx's Capital
Choonara & Kimber - Arguments for Revolution
Marx - Value, Price and Profit
Roberts - The Long Depression
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Unravelling Capitalism: A Guide to Marxist Political Economy (Second Edition) Paperback – July 1, 2017
by Joseph Choonara (Author)
5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 5 ratings
3.8 on Goodreads
57 ratings
Karl Marx was the greatest critic of capitalism. Yet his ideas are widely dismissed or misunderstood.
But Marx is indispensable for anyone who wants to grasp why capitalism is a system of exploitation, instability and repeated crises.
Joseph Choonara introduces Marx’s approach to understanding capitalism—developed above all in the three volumes of Capital. He also outlines how this can be applied to capitalism as it has developed since Marx’s time.
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Publisher : Bookmarks (July 1, 2017)
Language : English
Paperback : 142 pages
ISBN-10 : 1910885444
ISBN-13 : 978-1910885444
Item Weight : 5.4 ounces
Dimensions : 6.89 x 0.47 x 4.33 inchesBest Sellers Rank: #5,184,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)Customer Reviews:
5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 5 ratings
Joseph Choonara
Lecturer in Management & Organisations at Leicester University School of Business. Former teaching fellow in International Political Economy at King's College London.
Recently completed a PhD at Middlesex University researching precarity and insecurity in the UK labour market.
Interests include classical Marxist approaches to political economy and class analysis. Frequent contributor to International Socialism, and author of Unravelling Capitalism: A Guide to Marxist Political Economy (Bookmarks, 2009), A Reader's Guide to Capital (Bookmarks, 2017; Haymarket, 2019) and Insecurity, Precarious Work and Labour Markets: Challenging the Orthodoxy (Palgrave, 2019).
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Michael m.
5.0 out of 5 stars A must readReviewed in the United States on May 24, 2021
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Phil Webster
5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding CapitalismReviewed in the United States on July 28, 2017
This is a new (2017) second edition of a book first published in 2009. It is a really excellent introduction to Marxist economics. The Marxist theorist and activist Alex Callinicos has summed the book up with the following comment:
“Joseph Choonara has updated and revised his excellent introduction to Marxist political economy. Remarkably, he’s improved on what was already a first-class book, which succeeds in making Marx’s ideas accessible without dumbing them down.”
Choonara follows Marx in showing that there are two key features of the capitalist system. Firstly, there is the fact that the capitalists make their profits by exploiting the working class. (The working class today includes ordinary white collar workers as well as manual workers.) Choonara clearly explains the process by which the capitalists extract surplus value from the workers. As Marx himself wrote, “Capital...vampire-like, only lives by sucking living labour...”
Secondly, there is the competition between rival capitalists which drives on the exploitation and which leads to the anarchy of the market system, with its booms, slumps and crises, as we are seeing today. This economic competition between units of capital also leads to military competition between rival capitalist/imperialist states.
In relation to the crises which flow inevitably from this capitalist competition, Choonara clearly explains, and shows the importance of, what Marx called “the law of the tendency of the rate of profit to fall”.
The author also takes us through the changes to the capitalist system since Marx’s day, and through its ups and downs, such as the long boom of the 1950s and 1960s, and the return to crises since the 1970s.
Marx’s “Capital” is not just a technical economic treatise. Marx’s humanism and democratic instincts shine out throughout that book. There are marvellous indictments of the alienating, exploitative and undemocratic nature of the capitalist system, as well as some remarkably vivid historical sections.
I particularly like how Marx shows that people are alienated under capitalism, in the sense of their work being turned into soulless degradation, and also in the sense of having lost control of their lives to something they themselves have created - capital. Marx wrote: “As, in religion, man is governed by the products of his own brain, so in capitalist production, he is governed by the products of his own hand.” Again, Choonara has a chapter on this concept of alienation.
To many people Marxism is a dirty word because of its association with the bureaucratic tyranny of the Stalinist regimes of Russia, Eastern Europe, China etc. But Choonara shows that these regimes had/have nothing to do with genuine Marxism. The so-called “communist” states were/are actually state capitalist systems controlled by a ruling class of bureaucrats who betrayed the aims of the 1917 Russian Revolution and turned on its head Marx’s aim of a democratic workers’ state and classless society.
Of course, it is not enough just to understand capitalism, we need to get rid of it. I’ll end by quoting the final part of the last chapter of Choonara’s excellent book:
“… while socialism is far from inevitable, the constant tussle between capital and labour… will continue as long as capitalism continues. In that conflict lie the seeds of something very different: a world structured according to the needs of its population, rather than the drive for profit; run democratically from below, rather than from on high by capitalists and their supporters; a world of socialism rather than a world of barbarism.”
Phil Webster.
(England)
One person found this helpful
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See more reviews
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nigel newton-smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Must readReviewed in the United Kingdom on December 17, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 12 reviews
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Martin Empson
Author
16 books
142 followers
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December 23, 2014
This is a detailed and well written book. The centrality of the economic situation to political discourse at the moment makes this a must read for any radical trying to understand the ins and outs of the system. It should also be on the reading list for every economics student in the country, clearing away the confusions that a myriad of mainstream commentators have spread about Marxism....
http://resolutereader.blogspot.com/20...
2 likes
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Profile Image for Nathan Fisher.
Nathan Fisher
161 reviews
37 followers
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October 2, 2019
The first two parts are a fairly lucid attempt at extreme concision — the last part is where Choonara moves from what is an admirable compression of Marxism toward a rendition of the SWP's particular line on imperialism / state capitalism / the permanent arms economy — contested positions which I find smuggled in here in a somewhat objectionable manner (alas, yes, because I disagree with them).
2 likes
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Comment
Profile Image for river.
river
51 reviews
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July 9, 2022
a great intro to marxist PE + covered basically everything that i learned in my intro political economy class but obviously in a much more succinct way . would recommend if you’re just getting into PE/marxist PE
1 like
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Moth
57 reviews
2 followers
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May 14, 2018
Contrary to the other reviewers, I found this a bit hard to follow. I usually like short-and-to-the-point reads but Choonara was a bit too concise for me, and I'm assuming a bit too concise for any reader who is a complete economy dummy.
male-authors
marxism-etc
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Profile Image for gaverne Bennett.
gaverne Bennett
220 reviews
21 followers
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May 25, 2022
I am trying to understand the standard of living crisis from a different perspective. Very interesting.
Like
Comment
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William Brown
9 reviews
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February 11, 2023
Almost all of this is incorrect and fraught with peril. Avoid!
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Profile Image for system-müde.
system-müde
10 reviews
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March 13, 2023
Good and short explanation of the basic ideas of Marxs "Kapital". Sometimes well explained, sometimes a little hard to understand but still suitable for beginners or interested people.
Like
Comment
Profile Image for Joshua.
Joshua
79 reviews
4 followers
Follow
December 7, 2011
I read this book because I wanted to learn more about Marxist political economy. This has become interesting to me because of the global economic crisis of recent years. Overall I feel that this book is a good introduction to the field. I would say that this is an intermediate level book about Marxism in general, but a beginner level book in the field of Marxist political economy.
Marx's economic theory is explained using straight forward language with examples. Concepts like surplus value, living and dead labour, variable capital, constant capital, the organic composition of capital and the tendency for the rate of profit to fall are all introduced and explained fairly well. There are also brief chapters on the role of finance and credit which facilitates capitalist expansion while also increasing the crisis prone voltatility of the capitalist system.
The final third of the book is devoted to explaining five different eras of capitalism. The five eras are divided into the classical era, the birth of imperialism, the slump and state capitalism, the long boom, and the return to crisis (the era of capitalism we live in). These chapters were interesting because they build up explanations using the ideas introduced in the earlier chapters. There is of course a bias towards explanations worked out by theoreticians from the International Socialist Tendency. This is not surprising given that this book is published by Bookmarks, which is the publisher for the International Socialist Tendency.
I found the level of discussion to be not too difficult, although there were some areas that I had to read more than once to get my head around, specifically those found in the chapter on Prices and the general rate of profit. This chapter is a brief account of ideas outlined in Marx's third volume of Capital. Apparently this is a contentious area and there is something called the 'transformation problem'. I'm still not sure what the transformation problem is exactly. Apparently Marx asserts that the rate of profit in an economy tends to equalise across different branches of industry. Apparently capital flows from branches with a high organic composition of capital to areas with a low organic composition of capital. Somehow this leads to a 'general rate of profit' for the whole economy which capitalists grab a share of in proportion to the amount of capital they invest...
Overall I reckon this is a pretty good book to start looking at Marxist political economy. There are several pages worth of further reading suggested. I think I will return to Unravelling Capitalism and get more out of it as I read more about this fascinating area.
economics
marxism
philosophy
...more
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Profile Image for Jacob Pointon.
Jacob Pointon
3 reviews
31 followers
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March 23, 2012
Great introduction to Marxian Political Economy. I would recommend reading this along with Wage-Labour and Capital Value Price and Profit before starting Capital Vol. 1
Like
Comment
Profile Image for Robin.
Robin
125 reviews
5 followers
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January 25, 2012
Easy enough to read, and quite helpful in dealing with some complex issues
Like
Comment
Joseph Choonara - Unravelling Capitalism, A Guide to Marxist Political Economy
Economics is one of those subjects that those who are proficient in it, often like to pretend is beyond the understanding of most mortals. Unfortunately, recent economic news, the reactions to failing banks and the inability of governments around the world to protect ordinary people from the effects of recession, would prove that most economists know little about economics.
There is a secondary, but related myth. That Marxist economics is even more difficult to comprehend. Marx had some interesting insights we are told, but they don't really explain what capitalism is about.
Joseph Choonara's excellent new book is a fantastic introduction to Marx's economics. Starting from the fundamental basics of economics, Choonara builds up a picture of a complete economic system. In doing this, he helps even those with little grounding in economics understand precisely what is wrong with the system we live in, and why, once again we are living through an era of economic crisis.
For Marx, capitalism is different to other, pre-existing class systems because of the nature of the basic exploitation at the heart of the system. Capitalists employ workers, who are paid less than they generate in value for their boss. As Choonara explains;
The secret of surplus value, is the secret of the capitalist system. The world around us is based on pumping surplus value out of one billion or so wage workers.
Choonara goes on to show how, the need of the capitalists to constantly accumulate more and more value, in blind competition with the other capitalism leads to an anarchic and chaotic system. What is good for the individual capitalists is bad for the system as a whole. Unlike pre-existing economic systems, the surplus value that is generated from the exploitation of the workers is pumped back into the system - further investment in raw materials or new machinery. This allows the successful capitalist to improve is production process, stealing a march on his rivals.
But this also has the effect, of driving down the general profit rate in society - making it harder for the capitalist to accumulate more. The system as a whole finds it harder to use up what it is creating and overproduction of goods is one consequence. We arrive at a situation then, were economically capitalism produces huge numbers of products that are needed by millions of people, but these people are unable to afford to use them. A contemporary example would be the glut of flats and houses on the market in the UK today, at the same time as more and more families live in overcrowded or temporary housing.
Choonara goes one to demonstrate how this localised crisis of profit rates mean that "the least efficient capitalists are driven under", but this has a snowball effect on the system as a whole - leading to a generalised economic crisis.
But as capitalism has aged, it has become increasingly based on bigger and bigger blocks of capital. Companies have swallowed their competitors up (The revenue of the top 100 corporations in the world is now over $10 trillion, bigger than the GDP of the 174 poorest nations) and these means that the knock on effect of a single failure is far greater than in the past. Witness the desperate attempts by contemporary governments to keep banks and multi-nationals afloat.
This is a detailed and well written book. The centrality of the economic situation to political discourse at the moment makes this a must read for any radical trying to understand the ins and outs of the system. It should also be on the reading list for every economics student in the country, clearing away the confusions that a myriad of mainstream commentators have spread about Marxism.
But this book is also a weapon in the struggle for a better world. Choonara hasn't ignored the other aspects of Marx's thought. Economics isn't something outside the political struggle, but something that influences and is influenced by the wider picture. And by reasserting the central exploitation at the heart of capitalism, the author has put the exploited back at the heart of changing the world. Capitalism has created it's own gravediggers. This book shows both the urgency of getting rid of this outdated economic system and points the way forward for doing just that.
Related Reviews
Fine & Saad-Filho - Marx's Capital
Choonara & Kimber - Arguments for Revolution
Marx - Value, Price and Profit
Roberts - The Long Depression
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