Reading Capital

Description

A landmark of French thought,Reading Capitalis no less than an attempt to topple the edifice of Western Marxism and rebiild it from the original foundations. Establishing a rigorous programme of ‘symptomatic reading’ that cuts through the silences and lacunae ofCapitalto reveal its philosophical core, Louis Althusser interprets Marx’s structural analysis of production as a revolutionarybreak- the basis of a completely new science. Building on a series of Althusser’s conceptual innovations that includes ‘overdetermination’ and ‘socal formation’, Etienne Balibar explores the historical and structural facets of production as Marx understood them, scrutinizing many of the most fundamental points inCapital, as though for the first time.

‘One reads his passionate study with attention, even excitement.’

– Eric Hobsbawm,Times Literary Supplement

Louis Althusserwas born in Algeria 1918 and died in France in 1990. His other publications in English includeFor Marx, Politics and History, andOn Ideology.

Etienne Balibaris Professor of Philosophy at the Universite de Paris-X. His other publications in English includeThe Philosophy of Marxand, with Immanuel Wallerstein,Race, Nation, Class.