Our ninth episode reviews chapters 16-22, starting with a discussion of the commonly misunderstood concept of “productive labor.” We clarify Marx’s use of this concept and the role it plays in Marxist theory and organizing. We then reconsider the relationship between relative and absolute surplus value, viewing them as a contradictory unity and as strategies capital pursues to exploit workers. In the second part, we turn from the value of labor to its money expression: the wage. In addition to revealing the ideological role that wages play in capitalism--what we might call the “wage fetish”--we think through different forms of wages and the distinct functions each form embodies for capitalists and workers in the class struggle. Finally, we touch on national differences in wages and the relevance this has for analyzing imperialism and international trade.

Contact us with questions or feedback at ReadingCapital@LiberationSchool.org

#9: COLLECTIVE LABOR (Ch. 16-22)

Our tenth episode marks a transition from examining the production of capital on an individual scale to capitalism as a totality that continually reproduces and expands. We begin with the introduction to Part 7 of the book (the only part that has one), where Marx defines the circulation of capital and articulates the assumptions he makes in the following 3 chapters. Then in chapter 23, we define simple reproduction, a logical schema Marx uses to set the the stage for the next two chapters on reproduction on an expanding scale. Simple reproduction allows us to see that the reproduction of capital is the reproduction of the class relation--of the command of capital over labor--and that it is the working class that reproduces the totality of capital. Next, we return to Marx’s concept of productive labor in light of this analysis, because here Marx shows that workers--even those who are unemployed or engaged in non-waged forms of work--are still crucial to reproducing capitalism. With chapter 24, we move from simple reproduction to reproduction on an expanding scale--or the accumulation of capital--where Marx corrects some erroneous assumptions of bourgeois political economy, attends to the relationship between economic production, the legal system, and ideology, and explains how the logic of capital requires the constant revolutionizing of the means of production. We again draw out his mention of communism and consider its relationship to his earlier remarks.

Article mentioned in this episode: https://liberationschool.org/social-reproduction-a-theoretical-framework-with-organizing-potential/

Contact us with questions or feedback at ReadingCapital@LiberationSchool.org

#10: REPRODUCTION (Ch. 23-24)

Coast 102 in Biloxi/Gulfport, Mississippi uses the Big Time Honolulu package from TM Studios.

Here are some cuts recorded off their webstream in June 2021.

WGCM Biloxi, MS - Coast 102 Jingle Package - TM Studios Big Time Honolulu - June 2021

01 - Antonio Ortíz - Poseed la tierra - Clase 1

On this week’s Global Research News Hour, on the 59th anniversary of President Kennedys untimely demise, we will examine the incident yet again alongside the work of solid JFK assassination researcher Jim DiEugenio, and probe much of what’s been revealed in the wake of renewed releases of documents since the 1991 release of OLIVER STONE’s movie JFK. Towards the end of the hour, we will also get a point of view by additional JFK writer, researcher and Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization, Edward Curtin.

“Death of the Rising Sun.” 59 years since the assassination of JFK.

Disquiet Junto Project 0572: Rhythm Kit
The Assignment: Make a beat that someone else will add to.

Note: This project is the first of a two-parter. You don’t need to participate in both, and you can easily participate in the second one (next week) even if you don’t participate in the first one.

Instruction: Record a beat with the intension that someone other than yourself will add something to it at a later date. It’s preferable that you record something that lasts between one and three minutes, but it’s also fine to record something shorter with the intention that someone will loop it — or something longer, for that matter.

More on this 572nd weekly Disquiet Junto project – Rhythm Kit (The Assignment: Make a beat that someone else will add to) – at: https://disquiet.com/0572/ 1

More on the Disquiet Junto at: https://disquiet.com/junto/

Subscribe to project announcements here: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Rock the bells - disquiet0572

Métier d'art [Piano]

Juan Luna | Descanso para el cansado | 02/05/23

Political economists Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson discuss the fracturing international order between the NATO/West bloc and the Global Majority, analyzing Israel's war on Gaza, Ukraine's defeat in the proxy war against Russia, and the rise of the far-right in Argentina and Europe.

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Io0H1i7Xf8s

You can watch other episodes of their program Geopolitical Economy Hour here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAi0NdlN8hMl9DkPLikDDGccibhYHnDP

NATO/West or Global Majority? Unipolar destruction or multipolar development? The world must choose

Song Info

DAW:
Tracktion Waveform Free 12.5.11

Synth:
Vital (11)

Internal FX:
None

External FX:
MEqualizer (9)
MAutopan (2)
kHs Trance Gate (1)

Analyzing:
SPAN (4)
WaveObserver (3)

Mastering:
TDR VOS SlickEQ (1)
SPAN (1)
LoudMax (1)

SynthDX7 - Vital Virus Visions (OSC #179 Vital)

An interactive, chapter-by-chapter class on Karl Marx's 'Capital' Volume 1 for all skill levels, taught in 12 episodes by socialist educators.

#9: COLLECTIVE LABOR (Ch. 16-22)

Reading Capital With Comrades

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