The Violence of Abstraction The Analytic Foundations of Historical Materialism

historical categories, 21-2, 53, 57, 126–30, 139-41; abstract labour as, 128–9, 138–9; civil society as, 98–9; class as, 105, 138-9; economy as, 63, 70, 73, 75, 94, 110, 138–9; and fetishism, 42, 48; individual as, 138–9, 140; state as, 98, 138–9, 140; value as, 41

historical sociology, 44, 77, 97, 137

history: and categories, 126; and critique, 132, 135–6; and definition, 21-2; Engels on, 11; historicophilosophical theory, 12; idealist, 10-11, 84–8, 89, 91; ‘superstructures’ not marginal to, 89–90; work in its own right, 135, see also empirical analysis; see also materialist conception of history, theory

Hodgskin, T., 42

household, 80, 103, 144

Hume, D., 123

idealism, 10–11, 12, 54, 74, 75, 81–91, 145, 153; see also Hegel, Young Hegelians

ideas, 26, 42, 83–8, 92, 95, 126, 137, 153; see also consciousness

ideology, 16, 66, 69, 74, 89, 91, 93, 94–7, 104, 111, 131, 141, 154; domestic, 80; Engels on, 6, 7, 18; reification of concept, 95; see also critique

India, 45, 154

individuals, 25, 29, 37, 43, 45, 59, 60, 61, 63–6, 68, 69, 76, 77, 79, 85, 87, 96, 137; abstract, 95, 100, 102, 104, 106, 111, 127, 130, 137, 138, 140; bourgeoisie an individualized class, 107; capacities of, 29, 144; in civil society, 97–109 passim, 138; and fetishism, 136, 140; in feudalism, 100; fundamental level of Marx's explanation, 84, 88, 94–6, 125, 132, 135-6, 147; historical product, 99, 102; ideal, 100, 104, 112; Natural,

100, 140; and patriarchy, 80, 103; and society, 94, 99, 140; and state formation, 102, 112, 138; subjects of history, 86, 94, 136, 137; Victorian individualism, 80

industry, 27, 29, 30–39 passim, 134, 135; see also productive forces, real subordination, technology

internal relations, 19–23, 25, 87–8, 90, 109, 110, 111, 137, 147, 152, 153 Ireland, 154

Jones, R., 48

iuridical person, 102, 108–9, 130, 140; see also ław

jurisprudence, 21, 139–40

Kant, I., vii, viii, 131

Kautsky, K., 2, 17, 150

Keat, R., 124

Keynes, J. M., vii kinship, 10, 67, 69–70, 73, 78, 92, 143, 154–5; see also clan, family

Kolakowski, L., viii, 152

Kracauer, S., 138

Krader, L., 45

Kuhn, T., vii, 141

labour: abstract, 128-30, 135; forced, 108; free, 132; human, 28, 87; labour/labour-power distinction, 46, 132; in political economy, 127–9, 138–9, 141; productive forces of, 26–8, 29, 35, 37, 46–7, 144; social, 144, see also co-operation; useful, 128–30; see also serfdom, slavery, wage labour, working class

labour power, 46, 109, 133, 137; value of, 80-1, 132

labour process, 23, 25, 40, 57, 58, 79, 153; ancient, 67; capitalist, 31–2, 42; feudal, 42, 100; primitive, 64; and property forms, 64, 67, 69

labour theory of value, 127, 134–5
Lamarck, J.-B., 117-19

language, 4, 25, 60, 64, 68, 69, 92, 148, 152–3; Marx's and Engels's use of, 14, 19, 43, 110, see also definition Laslett, P., 139, 156

law, 3, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 20, 50–1, 55, 59, 60, 73, 88–9, 90, 91, 94, 97, 105, 125, 136, 144–5, 147; and bourgeois rule, 109–10; and class struggle, 107; in England, 51–3, 80, 96, 102-3, 122-3, 148–9; in feudalism, 10, 52, 73, 100–1, 147; forms of, 108-9, see also juridical person

Leibniz, G., 19

Lenin, V., 53, 84–5, 87, 93, 152

Luddites, 136

MacIntyre, A., 91

McLennan, G., 76

manufacture, 30–39 passim

Mao Zedong, 150

market, 43, 92, 108, 137, 138; see also world market

Marx, K.: early writings, 27, 29, 44, 60–3, 98; 1840s writings, 12, 97, 98, 111; on India, 45; late writings, viii, 12–13, 63, 64, 98, 111, 154; and Marxism, 6, 150; and Rheinische Zeitung, 16, 150; individual works: Capital, ix, x, 1, 3, 13, 19, 23, 28, 29, 30–39 passim, 40, 45, 47, 62, 63, 72, 80, 90, 93, 97, 106, 108, 127, 128, 132, 133, 136, 152, afterword to, 86, volume 1 part 8 of, 34–5, 61, 89, 111, 136, volume 3 of, 12, 59–60, 71-3; 'Chronological Notes', 13; Civil War in France, 98, 111–12; The Communist Manifesto, 79; Critique of Gotha Programme, 111; Critique of Hegel's Rechtsphilosophie, 16, 97, 151, 154; Critique of Political Economy, 128, 1859 Preface, 1–5, 6, 11, 13, 14, 15–17, 18, 21, 22, 30, 34–5, 50–1, 59, 70, 72, 83, 84, 90, 97, 98, 113, 141, 142, 151, 155; Eighteenth Brumaire, 13, 84, 87, 89, 96; German Ideology, ix, 11, 24–5,

28–9, 35, 37, 44–5, 62, 63, 67, 69,
76, 77, 78–9, 84, 85–6, 89, 90, 98,
105-8, 133, 149; Grundrisse, ix, 19,
25, 27, 29, 33, 37, 43, 45, 46, 60,
63–9, 70, 71, 72, 76, 79, 92, 106,
108–9, 111, 1857 General

to Annenkov, 88; letters to

Kugelmann, 23–4, 97; letter to

Otechestvenniye Zapiski, 12; 1844

Manuscripts, 61–2, 63, 154;

'Moralizing Criticism', 58-9; Notes on Wagner, 40; Poverty of

Philosophy, 5, 58; Results of the

30–9 passim; Rheinische Zeitung

articles, 61, 151; Theories of Surplus

Feuerbach, 87; Wage Labour and Capital, 24, 133

Marxology, vii-ix, x

master/servant relations, 60–1, 72–3, 78, 92, 99, 106, 143

materialism, 24, 74, 84–8, 131; see also reproduction

materialist conception of history, 6, 11, 13–14, 16, 17, 77

material relations, 38, 57–8, 75, 77, 154; see also production relations

material/social distinction, 3, 25, 38–9, 47, 57-8, 68–9

Meillassoux, C., 10, 70, 143

mode of production, 1, 15, 53, 69, 70, 73, 75, 77, 95, 151; and feminist concerns, 78–82; specifically

capitalist, 32-4, 36

modernity, 97, 137

money, 20–1, 133, 134, 135; ancients on, 106; fetishism of, 41, 47, 106, 130; productive force and production relation, 29

morality, vii-viii, 50, 53, 89, 106, 107, 138, 145, 147

Murray, P., xii, 93, 152 nationality, 110; see also state nature, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 68–9, 87, 131, 132, 152

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Ollman, B., xii, 19–22, 25, 152

ontology, 19–23, 124, 152

oriental despotism, 45, 65, 139; see also Asiatic society

ownership, see property

Pareto, V., 19

Paris Commune, 112

parliamentary democracy, 108

Pashukanis, E., 108

patriarchy, 79-82, 103, 139; see also age, feminism, gender, household periodization, 82

personal dependence, 72–3, 92, 99, 105, 137, 143

Petty, W., 127

phenomenal forms, see Erscheinungsformen

philosophy, 7, 85–6, 92, 142, 149; analytic, 18–19, 20, 21, 125, 152; of science, 54, see also positivism,; realism; see also idealism, materialism

physiocrats, 127

Plekhanov, G., 2, 17, 84, 150

polis, 67, 69, 70, 78, 101, 139

political economy, 16, 20, 24, 25, 27, 39, 48, 61, 99, 127–30, 136, 140, 141, 142, 147; of working class, 107; see also Ricardo, D., Smith, A.

political science, 139-40

Popper, K., 14

population, 20, 29

positivism, 54, 117, 123-5, 141

Poulantzas, N., 9

pre-capitalist societies, 10, 63–75 passim, 79, 92; forced labour in, 108; personalized domination in, 105–6, see also personal dependence; property in, 70; superstructures in, 73–4, 110; see also ancient society,

Asiatic society, commune, feudal society

price, 43

primacy thesis, 3, 4, 8–9, 35, 37–8, 113, 148; see also correspondence, functional explanation

primitive accumulation, 111, 136, 156

private property, 45, 59–60, 61-2, 97, 106, 132; in ancient society, 66–7; and division of labour, 62; in Germanic society, 67–8

private spheres, 97, 100–2, 138

production, 20, 24–5, 76–7, 147–8; Colletti on, 17; double relation, 28, 69, 76, 78–9; in general, 23–5, 39-40, 131, see also transhistorical categories; and reproduction, 77–82, 148; and superstructures, 89–90; see also economic structure, mode of production, production relations, productive forces, reproduction

production relations, 9–10, 33-4, 50–82 passim, 98, 131, 136, 142, 146; age as, 10, 70; in ancient society, 66–7, 69, 70; in Asiatic society, 65-6, 69; capital as, 46–7, 62, 133–4, 135, 136; Cohen on, 3–4, 22, 57–8, 136, 142–3, 154; contradiction with forces, 4, 34–5, 38–9, 144; division of labour as, 22; and economic structure, 15, 50, 59, 63, 69, 70, 75, 76–7; in eighteenthcentury Engiand, 52–3; exchange value as, 41, 133; in feudal society, 71–5, see also master/servant relations; ideology as, 69;

jurisdiction as, 10, 73, 147; kinship

relations’ as, 57–8; money as, 29;

production of society, 77, 142; and

75, 76; real history of, 136; and

reproduction, 77-82; technology and, 26, 144; undefined in Marx, 15, 59; see also economic structure, material relations, society, superstructure

productive forces, 18, 25-49 passim 50, 80, 81, 131, 136, 142-3, 144; capacity of individuals, 29, 144; capital relation and, 34, 35, 46–7; capitalist, 30–49 passim, 132, 144; Cohen on, 2–3, 4, 22, 47-8, 136, 142; community as, 29; consciousness as, 36; consumption as, 29; a contextual concept, 27, 36; contradiction with relations, 34–5, 38–9, 144; co-operation as, 26, 28–9, 35, 36–7, 44, 48, 147; development of, 144, see also development thesis; division of labour as, 22–3, 26, 29, 35, 44; fetishism of, 28, 35, 39, 44–9, 61, 75, 142; human beings as, 29; increase in population as, 29; industrial, 29, 31–9 passim, 143–4; labour as, 46–7; liberty as, 23, 36; money as, 29; open-ended category, 21-3; pre-capitalist, 48, 143; as relational concept, 27, 36; in Russia, 12; scale as, 36–7; of social labour, 26–8, 29, 35, 37, 46–7, 144; state and, 29, 36; superstructure as, 36; theory as, 23; trade as, 29; undefined in Marx, 15; versatility and, 36; see also productive powers, technology
wodvotiva labow 40 –47 120

productive labour, 40, 46, 129

productive powers, 27, 35, 37, 39, 46–7; see also productive forces

property, 3, 50–77 passim, 84, 98, 99, 126–7, 135, 140, 143; and alienated labour, 61-2; ancient form of, 66-7, 69; Asiatic form of, 64–6, 69; bourgeois, 106–7, 108, 137, 142, 144, see also private property; in eighteenth-century England, 52-3; in family, 62–3, 79; and fetishism, 61, 106, 142; feudal, 60–1, 70-5, 100; form and content of, 55;

franchise qualification, 103; impossibility of general definition, 21, 58–9, 76; in Marx's early writings, 61–2; modern landed, 59–60, 71, 97, 99; and morality, 147; power over labour power, 62, 133; in pre-capitalist societies in general, 68–9, 70, 72–3, 97, 98, 99, see also personal dependence; in primitive commune, 64–6, 67, 69; and production relations, 15, 50–1, 69, 76, 77, 144; rechtsfrei, 50–7, 73, 74–5, 110; and socialism, 144; as social relation, 59–63; and women, 103; see also produçtion relations

Protestantism, 26, 96, 122–3, 125, 135,138

Proudhon, P.-J., 76, 88

realism, 117, 123–5, 151

real subordination, 31–9

reification, 54–8, 85–8, 111, 130-1, 135, 140, 143, 147, 153; of essential relations, 136; of ideology, 95; of superstructures, 89–94, 111; see also abstraction, alienation

relations of production, see production relations

relative autonomy, 7, 8–9, 14, 17, 22, 51-2, 83, 89, 143

relative surplus value, 31, 33, 34, 136

religion, 26, 41, 66, 72, 73, 80, 89, 90, 91, 93, 96, 122–3, 125, 135, 138; analogy with state, 103–4

rent, 71, 73, 124, 128

reproduction, 70, 77–82, 149

Rheinische Zeitung, 16, 151

Ricardo, D., 47, 100, 129

Rousseau, J.-J., 99–100

Rubin, I., 134

Russia, 12–13; see also Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Saint Paul, 101

science: Marx on, 93, 126; see also philosophy

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Shanin, T., viii, 12, 154

Simmel, G., 137–8

socialism, 26, 144, 145; see also communism

social relations, see essential relations, production relations, society

Solidarity, 145 species being, 27–8, 37, 99 speculative construction, 11, 54, 85–8, 91, 148, 153; see also abstraction, idealism, reification

Spinoza, B., 19, 87

state, 4, 7, 16, 20, 73, 88–9, 90, 91, 94, 97-112 passim, 130, 136, 140, 144, 145; abstraction of, 97-8, 130, 133, 138; in ancient societv, 66–7, 139; in Asiatic society, 65, 139; a bourgeois form, 103, 105–7, 109–10, 139, 145; bourgeois state formation, 102-3; and class, 103–4, 105–8, 109-11, 133; and division of labour, 105–8, 109, 111–12; English, 80, 96, 103, 123; essential relation of capitalism,

Germanic society, 68; historicity of, 98, 139; ideal, 84, 101–2, 103–4,

Stirner, M., 85, 87, 91, 95

subject/predicate inversion, 56–7, 86; see also abstraction, reification

109, 132; pre-capitalist, 71–5, 143; see also absolute surplus value, relative surplus value

surplus value, see absolute surplus value, relative surplus value

Taylor, F. W., 30

technology, 3, 17, 26, 29, 30, 77, 123, 135, 144; capitalist, 31–3, 144

trade, 29, 97

Urry, J., 124

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 18,65

use value, 40, 128–30; of labour power, 132

value, 41, 48, 127, 132, 133, 134, 135, 140

villeinage, 65; see also serfdom

value-form, see exchange value

Warren, B., 154

Wittfogel, K., 65

working class, 107, 133; see also wage labour

work relations, see material relations

world market, 19, 99

Wright, E. O., 146

Young Hegelians, 11, 54, 85, 92; see also Bauer, B., Stirner, M.

Zweckrationalität, 138

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