
Reading Capital
Verso Books (Publisher)
Published on 17. February 1998
Book
Paperback/Softback
340 pages
978-1-85984-164-8 (ISBN)
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Description
Together with Louis Althusser's book For Marx, Reading Capital represents one of the foundational texts of the school of "structuralist Marxism" which transformed the face of modern philosophy and social theory. Presided over by the magnetic and intellectually coruscating figure of Althusser, the structuralist Marxists attempted no less than an intellectual revolution against dominant interpretations of Marx. Seeking to cleanse Marx of all Hegelian impurities and recast his thought on a rigorously scientific basis, in this work Althusser and one of his most brilliant students and colleagues, Etienne Balibar, subjected Marx's method in Capital, his critique of classical political economy, and the fundamental terms of historical materialism, to searching textual analysis and challenging conceptual reconstruction. Inaugurating a new way of reading Marx that was to prove both intensely stimulating and capable of generating fierce controversy, Reading Capital is a work that cannot be bypassed by anyone interested in Marxism, and in theory more generally, in this century.
Reviews / Votes
The strength of Althusser's objections to the Hegelian interpretation of Marx is substantial, the acuteness of his analysis of certain weaknesses of the thought of Gramsci and of Sartre is impressive, the critique of 'model-building' is to the point One reads his passionate study with attention, even excitement. -- Eric Hobsbawm * Times Literary Supplement *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 137 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-85984-164-8 (9781859841648)
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Etienne Balibar | Louis Althusser
Reading Capital
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Persons
Etienne Balibar is a French Marxist philosopher and the most celebrated student of Louis Althusser. He is also one of the leading exponents of French Marxist philosophy and the author of Spinoza and Politics, The Philosophy of Marx and co-author of Race, Nation and Class and Reading Capital. Louis Althusser was born in Algeria in 1918 and died in France in 1990. He taught philosophy for many years at the Ecole Normale Superieur in Paris, and was a leading intellectual in the French Communist Party. His books include For Marx; Reading Capital (with Etienne Balibar); Essays in Ideology; Politics and History: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Marx; Machiavelli and Us; and The Spectre of Hegel.