However I suggest the term "The Dialectic", in the singular, is a Hegelian usage and not a usage common in orthodox marxism, and may have misleadingly idealist implications.
Chris Burford
London
At 23:09 08/03/99 -0500, Andrew Kliman wrote:
>Announcing a new series of discussions beginning in March...
>
>
> THE DIALECTIC OF MARX'S C A P I T A L AND TODAY'S GLOBAL
>CRISIS
>
>
>AT EACH NEW CRISIS POINT and period of transition, Marx's work has
>taken on
>new importance. This remains so today. The 150th anniversary of the
>Communist Manifesto has led to new discussions of Marx worldwide,
>with
>workers and intellectuals feeling a shock of recognition over the
>importance of Marx for understanding today's globalized capitalism.
>
>The economic meltdown in East Asia, Russia, and parts of Latin
>America and
>the possibility that it might spread to the entire world economy has
>likewise led to renewed interest in Marx's greatest theoretical
>work,
>Capital. However, many of these discussions have viewed Marx without
>regard
>for the dialectical philosophy and humanism which informed all of
>his work.
>
>This series of meetings takes a different approach, by exploring
>Capital in
>light of Hegel's dialectic and the freedom struggles of our time. We
>aim to
>speak to a new generation of thinkers and activists who are
>searching for
>an alternative to both "free market" capitalism and the
>state-capitalism
>that once called itself Communism. Returning to Marx's Capital with
>eyes of
>Hegel's dialectic can open new doors to projecting a concept of a
>new,
>human society which is demanded by today's forces of liberation.
>
>THESE MEETING CENTER ON READINGS of select chapters of Capital, as
>well as
>writings on it by Raya Dunayevskaya, the founder of Marxist-Humanism
>in the
>U.S. The philosopher Louis Dupré once said of her, "I doubt whether
>any
>commentator since Jean Hyppolite has succeeded better in a Hegelian
>reading
>of Capital." To help explore the dialectical underpinnings of
>Capital, the
>readings also include her "Rough Notes on Hegel's Science of Logic,"
>which
>are being published over four issues of News & Letters.
>
>Each meeting will consist of brief presentations followed by free
>and open
>discussion. No prior knowledge of Capital or the work of Marx and He
>gel is
>necessary. Admission is free. Copies of all reading material, as
>well as a
>list of supplemental readings by various thinkers on Capital, is
>available
>from News and Letters Committees.
>
>For a syllabus and a schedule of classes, contact the News and
>Letters
>Committee nearest to you (See below).
>
>
>
>CLASS 1 //////
>
>THE ORIGIN OF CAPITAL: MARX'S RE-CREATION OF HEGEL'S DIALECTIC
>
>This meeting discusses the origin and development of Marx's Capital,
>and
>especially the impact of the Civil War in the U.S. and the struggle
>for a
>shorter working day upon the restructuring of his greatest
>theoretical
>work. We will explore how, instead of placing limits on what Marx
>called
>"the power of abstraction," his integrating of revolutionary
>subjects into
>his analysis of the law of motion of capitalism helped unchain the
>power of
>revolutionary thought itself.
>
>
>CLASS 2 //////
>
>THE PHENOMENON OF CAPITALISM: THE COMMODITY-FORM
>
>This meeting focuses on the most difficult, controversial, and
>important
>chapter in Capital-"The Commodity." Of foremost importance,
>especially in
>light of today's high-tech, fully commodified society, is the
>section "The
>Fetishism of Commodities." The readings for this meeting can greatly
>aid
>comprehension of the fundamental phenomenon of capitalism which
>contains,
>in embryo, the whole of its contradictions.
>
>
>CLASS 3 //////
>
>THE ESSENCE OF CAPITALISM (I): THE LABOR PROCESS
>
>This meeting focuses on the essence of capitalism- the labor process
>and on
>the production of what Marx called "absolute surplus value." We will
>explore such aspects of Capital as the chapter on "The Working Day,"
>which
>is where Marx also discusses the conditions and struggles of working
>women.
>
>
>CLASS 4 //////
>
>THE ESSENCE OF CAPITALISM (II): THE LABOR PROCESS AND THE
>TRANSFORMATION OF
>THE VALUE OF LABOR POWER INTO WAGES
>
>This meeting continues the focus on the essence of capitalism, the
>labor
>process, by exploring what Marx called "relative surplus value." It
>also
>takes up Marx's theory of wages, one of his three original
>contributions to
>the critique of political economy, along with the split in the
>concept of
>labor and the treatment of surplus value independently of profit.
>
>
>CLASS 5 //////
>
>THE NOTION OF CAPITALISM: THE ABSOLUTE GENERAL LAW OF CAPITALIST
>ACCUMULATION
>
>This meeting focuses on the absolute general law of capitalist
>accumulation- the concentration and centralization of capital at one
>pole
>and the socialization of labor at the other, from which spring "new
>passions and new forces for the reconstruction of society." In
>exploring
>the "Absolute" of capitalist society, this meeting also has us
>return, on
>higher ground, to chapter 1 of Capital itself.
>
>
>CLASS 6 //////
>
>THE LOGIC OF CAPITALIST CRISIS: OVERPRODUCTION, 'UNDERCONSUMPTION,'
>OR
>MARX'S CONCEPT OF THE TENDENTIAL FALL IN THE RATE OF PROFIT?
>
>This meeting focuses on the dialectic and humanism of Vols. II and
>III of
>Capital, which has long served as the arena of debate in the radical
>movement over the cause and consequences of capitalist crisis, the
>relation
>between capitalism and imperialism/racism, and the kinds of human
>relations
>needed to transcend class society.
>
>
>>>CHICAGO<<
>All classes on Sundays at 6:30 p.m.
>News & Letters Library, 59 E. Van Buren St., Room 707, Chicago Loop.
>Call 312 663 0839
>
>Class 1 March 14
>Class 2 March 28
>Class 3 April 11
>Class 4 April 18
>Class 5 May 2
>Class 6 May 16
>
>
>
>>>NEW YORK<<
>All classes on Sundays at 6:30 p.m.
>133 West 4th St., parlor of Parish House of Washington Square
>Church,
>between Ave. of Americas (6th Ave.) and Wash. Sq. Park (near all
>trains)
>Call 212 663 3631
>
>Class 1 March 21
>Class 2 April 4
>Class 3 April 11
>Class 4 April 25
>Class 5 May 9
>Class 6 May 23
>
>
>
>>>SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA<<
>Call 510 658 1448
>
>
>
>>>DETROIT/FLINT<<
>Contact News & Letters, P.O. Box 27205, Detroit MI 48227
>
>
>
>>>MEMPHIS/MISSISSIPPI<<
>Contact News & Letters, 1910 Madison Ave, #59, Memphis, TN 38104
>
>
>
>>>LOS ANGELES<<
>Contact News & Letters, P.O. BOX 29194, Los Angeles, CA 90029
>
>
>++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>"Human Power Is Its Own End."--Karl Marx
>
>News and Letters Committees / NEWS & LETTERS
>
>59 E. Van Buren Ave., Room 707, Chicago IL 60605, USA
>
>www.newsandletters.org
>
>nandl at igc.apc.org
>
>
>
>
>
>
>