Grundrisse

Karl Marx developed his foundational thought and research for Capital in his notes of 1857-58 written during the first global economic crisis.  Undiscovered for nearly fifty years and with only a few copies reaching the West from a limited 1939-40 publication in the USSR, these notes were first published in English as the Grundrisse:  Foundations of the Critique of Political Economy in 1973.

In the Grundrisse Marx arguably bridges his early writings on philosophy and Hegel, and the writing and revisions of Capital. We will undertake a close, word by word reading of the text with a view to understanding the concepts that evolve within it. This first term will begin with the chapter on money. Subsequent sessions on the chapter on capital will comprise two additional following terms. We will be using the current Penguin edition.

The Capital Studies Group has been meeting on and off for seven years. We are a diverse group of students, activists and teachers who have dedicated themselves to a chronological reading of the Grundrisse and then Volume One through Three of Capital.