Method and the Structure of Capital

Abstract

In this book we present and intervene in debates between Marxists concerning the study of the capitalist mode of production (CMP). This mode was the object of Marx’s mature work (in particular of Capital and Theories of Surplus Value) and he brought to bear on it a specifically materialist method of study. We take Marx’s work as our benchmark in appraising the debates. This does not mean that Marx’s conclusions are incontrovertible, but that subsequent writings must be judged in the light of Marx’s method. If a particular theory (such as the body known as neo-Ricardianism) produces a conclusion in opposition to Marx’s, we ask first whether it does so by contravening Marx’s method and, if it does, we attempt to judge whether there are any grounds for thinking that the alternative method is in some sense better.