Marx’s 1859 Preface predates and differs from his mature Capital theory
Evidence
This clarifying but over-condensed paragraph contains all the elements of the base/superstructure problem as Marx formulated it in the middle, transitional period of his work up to the verge of the preparation of the first volume of Capital . Here, not only is material production and its relations the determining factor, but the “corresponding” social relations are given —definite, indispensable, and independent of men’s will: objective conditions of a social mode of production. — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 486
Categorization
- DEFINE: Hall dates the Preface to Marx’s transitional period, a context claim that matters for reading later debates about whether Marx was a determinist.
- XREF: connects to: Althusser read Marx’s Preface as essentialist and historicist — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 488; Marx’s early historical-specificity claims are general where Capital specifies them — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 480; Marx’s concept of historical specificity deepened between German Ideology and Capital (+5 more)
- yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Althusser read Marx’s Preface as essentialist and historicist — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 488; Marx’s early historical-specificity claims are general where Capital specifies them — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 480; Marx’s concept of historical specificity deepened between German Ideology and Capital (+5 more)