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A New Introduction To Karl Marx: New Materialism, Critique of Political Economy, and The Concept of Metabolism 6th Edition Ryuji Sasaki
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MARX, ENGELS, AND MARXISMS
A New Introduction
to Karl Marx
New Materialism, Critique of
Political Economy, and
the Concept of Metabolism
Ryuji Sasaki
Marx, Engels, and Marxisms
Series Editors
Marcello Musto
York University
Toronto, ON, Canada
Terrell Carver
University of Bristol
Bristol, UK
The Marx renaissance is underway on a global scale. Wherever the critique
of capitalism re-emerges, there is an intellectual and political demand for
new, critical engagements with Marxism. The peer-reviewed series Marx,
Engels and Marxisms (edited by Marcello Musto & Terrell Carver, with
Babak Amini, Francesca Antonini, Paula Rauhala & Kohei Saito as
Assistant Editors) publishes monographs, edited volumes, critical editions,
reprints of old texts, as well as translations of books already published in
other languages. Our volumes come from a wide range of political per-
spectives, subject matters, academic disciplines and geographical areas,
producing an eclectic and informative collection that appeals to a diverse
and international audience. Our main areas of focus include: the oeuvre of
Marx and Engels, Marxist authors and traditions of the 19th and 20th
centuries, labour and social movements, Marxist analyses of contemporary
issues, and reception of Marxism in the world.
A New Introduction
to Karl Marx
New Materialism, Critique of Political Economy,
and the Concept of Metabolism
Translated by
Michael Schauerte
University of Miyazaki
Miyazaki, Japan
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2021
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
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The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the
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Titles Published
v
vi TITLES PUBLISHED
vii
viii TITLES FORTHCOMING
xi
xii PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION
1
K. Marx, “Letter to Otechestvenniye Zapiski,” in Marx and Engels Collected Works, vol.
24 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1989), p. 201. Hereinafter quotes from Marx and Engels
Collected Works will be abbreviated as “MECW.”
PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION xiii
Political economy has indeed analyzed value and its magnitude, however
incompletely, and has uncovered the content concealed within these forms.
But it has never once asked the question why this content has assumed that
particular form, that is to say, why labor is expressed in value, and why the
measurement of labor by its duration is expressed in the magnitude of the
value of the product.2
2
K. Marx, Capital, vol. 1 (London: Penguin Books, 1990), pp. 173–74.
xiv PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION
3
K. Marx, Marx’s Economic Manuscript of 1864–1865 (Leiden and Boston: Brill,
2016), p. 885.
PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION xv
the “new social movements,” such as the feminist and ecological move-
ments, are by their very nature an integral part of the class struggle.
The concept of metabolism has been attracting increasing attention in
recent years, as humanity faces a climate crisis, pandemics, and risks related
to biotechnology. As we try to envisage a new society beyond capitalism,
Marx’s critique of political economy remains our most valuable theoretical
tool. My hope is that this introductory book will lead many readers to
examine (or re-examine) Capital and other works by Marx.
* * *
What this book aims to convey, above all, is that Marx’s ideas remain our
greatest theoretical weapon today for transforming the society in which
we live.
Marx’s theories have been subject to all sorts of abuse, both in aca-
demia and in the realm of public opinion. Quite a few people imagine that
his ideas form a hardened ideology that is outdated and irrelevant or that
they were the cause of the despotic political systems in the Soviet Union
and elsewhere. But consider for a moment what has occurred under capi-
talist globalization since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Has capitalism
in the years since then overcome crisis to rejoice in prosperity? Haven’t we
seen instead the advanced capitalist nations suffering from prolonged eco-
nomic stagnation and swelling national debt? Hasn’t the “financializa-
tion” of the economy created one bubble after another, each with its
painful aftermath? Consider also what has become of the policies based on
market fundamentalism introduced around the world to break through
economic stagnation. Have those policies reignited competitiveness to
generate prosperity, narrowed economic disparities, or lowered poverty?
That fact is, as Marx so powerfully demonstrated in Capital, such phe-
nomena in the real world are historical tendencies of the capitalist mode of
production.
Some may point out, in response, the failure of all the communist
movements that raised the banner of Marxism. Indeed, the political par-
ties and groups composed of self-styled “Marxists” have been in steady
decline or in many cases have completely dissolved. But there is a
xvii
6 R. SASAKI
6
K. Marx, “Letter From Marx to His Father in Trier: Berlin, November 10 [11, 1837],”
in MECW, vol. 1, p. 11.
7
Ibid., pp. 17–18.
8
Ibid., p. 17.
9
Ibid.
1 THE PATH TOWARD QUESTIONING CAPITALISM (1818–1848): THE YOUNG… 7
From the idealism, which, by the way, I had compared and nourished with
the idealism of Kantian and Fichte, I arrived at the point of seeking the idea
in reality itself. If previously the gods had dwelt above the earth, they
became its center.
I had read fragments of Hegel’s philosophy, the grotesque craggy mel-
ody of which did not appeal to me. Once more I wanted to dive into the sea,
but with the definite intention of establishing that the nature of the mind is
just as necessary, concrete and firmly based as the nature of the body. My
aim was no longer to practice tricks of swordsmanship, but to bring genuine
pearls into the light of day.10
Marx, who had once been too romantic and idealistic to grapple with
Hegel or bend his ear to that “grotesque craggy melody,” now sought to
go beyond his previous standpoint. Dissatisfied with the pursuit of ideals
separate from reality, he wanted to seek the idea (Idee) within reality itself.
The great significance of Hegel’s philosophy for Marx was its grasp of the
idea penetrating reality, rather than a separation of the two. This turning
point was far more than just an intellectual change: it meant that, instead
of pursuing artistic or scholarly ideals detached from reality, ideals must be
sought within reality itself. For Marx, this was a completely new way of
looking at the world, wherein the confrontation with reality becomes the
vital task.
10
Ibid., p. 18.
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Netter, A.
Newsholme, A.
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Form B.—Individual Record obtained for each person in every
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Form B.—(Continued.)
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and
variations in spelling.
2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings
as printed.
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