The 1847-8 crisis proved capitalism generates crises from its own internal workings.
Evidence
There had been many economic and political crises before, but most could reasonably be attributed to natural calamities (such as harvest failures) or wars and other geopolitical struggles. But this one was different. Though there were bad harvests here and there, this crisis could not easily be attributed to God or nature. Capitalism had matured by 1 847- 8 to a sufficient degree, so that even the blindest bourgeois apologist could see that financial conditions, reckless spec ulation, and over-production had something to do with events. The outcome, in any case, was a sudden paralysis of the economy, in which surpluses of capital and labour lay side by side with apparently no way to reunite them in profitable and socially useful union. — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 1643
Categorization
- DEEPTHINKING: The image of surpluses of capital and labour lying side by side, unable to reunite, is a compressed statement of capitalism’s structural absurdity that also grounds Harvey’s whole argument that crises shift cultural/representational regimes.
- XREF: connects to: Class position shaped rival explanations of the 1847-8 crisis. — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity: An…, 1646; The 1846-7 depression was the first pure crisis of capitalist overaccumulation. — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity: An…, 1642; Late capitalism survives crises by incorporating whatever previously stood outside it — Grant Bollmer, Katherine Guinness, The Influencer Factory: A Marxist…, 102 (+3 more)
Broader Connections
- The 1848 financial crisis revealed an antagonism between credit and specie money
#exemplifies(0.82) — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 1658 - Late capitalism survives crises by incorporating whatever previously stood outside it
#qualifies(0.80) — Grant Bollmer, Katherine Guinness, The Influencer Factory, 102 - Inflationary crises endanger capitalism by exposing its unjust distribution of goods.
#expands(0.78) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 277 - Marx’s historical method centers capitalism as the primary lens by 1847.
#corroborates(0.75) — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 315