Louis
Althusser
Reading
Capital

Étienne
Balibar


 
 
 
 

 
Translated by Ben Brewster


 
 
First published
by François Maspero, Paris, 1968
© 1968 by Librairie François Maspero

 
This translation first published 1970
© NLB 1970

Prepared © for the Internet by David J. Romagnolo,
djr@marx2mao.com (September 2002)
    The English language edition of Reading Capital consists of three essays and each has been prepared as a separate file for downloading. There is NO single large file encompassing the entire text. In addition to the files containing the essays, there is a fourth file consisting of the glossary and index that accompanied the text. With respect to the latter, NEITHER the terms contained in the glossary NOR the subject headings and page references in the index are linked to the various sections of the text. Still, I think both will prove useful once you have downloaded and saved all sections of the book (in one folder) on your hard drive. You will need to use two browsers at the same time: one for viewing the text (say, Netscape), and the other for viewing the glossary/index (Internet Explorer). Using Netscape's "Find..." command, key words from the index can be entered, or, you can go to specific page references by entering "page x" (where "x" is a number -- there must be a space between the word "page" and the number). Below is the complete table of contents.


 



[ Part 1 - 209k ]
 

Translator's Note   6

Foreword to the Italian Edition   7

Part I: From Capital to Marx's Philosophy   11
(Louis Althusser )



[ Part 2 - 426k ]
 

Part II: The Object of Capital   71
(Louis Althusser )

1. Introduction   73

2. Marx and his Discoveries   79

3. The Merits of Classical Economics   83

4. The Errors of Classical Economics:
   An Outine for a Concept of Historical Time   91

5. Marxism is not a Historicism   119

6. The Epistemological Propositions of Capital (Marx, Engels)  145

7. The Object of Political Economy   158

8. Marx's Critique   165

9. Marx's Immense Theoretical Revolution   182

Appendix: On the 'Ideal Average' and the Forms of Transition  194



[ Part 3 - 368k ]
 

Part III: The Basic Concepts of Historical Materialism   199
(Étienne Balibar )

1. From Periodization to the Modes of Production   209

2. The Elements of the Structure and their History   225

3. On Reproduction   254

4. Elements for a Theory of Transition   273



[ Part 4 - 132k ]
 

Glossary   309

Index   325



From Marx to Mao

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