Time in Marx: The Categories of Time in Marx’s Capital

Historical Materialism #61

by Stavros Tombazos

Time in Marx demonstrates that the basic concepts of the three volumes of Capital come under different categories of "time of production" in volume one is linear, “time of circulation” in the second is circular, while in the third volume “organic time” is the unity of the two. Capitalist relations emerge as a definite organization of social time that obeys its own intrinsic criteria and operates as an autonomous, social subject.

Genres: Nonfiction

327 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

While there were aspects of this book that I honestly didn't fully grasp -- I'm terrible at math, for example -- this book was remarkably clear on the conceptual plane. Tombazos' presentation of all three volumes of Capital using the Hegelian syllogistic form, to demonstrate how each circuit of capital represents a determinate relationship within the total social capital, along with how each volume of Capital looks at how the relations of production and circulation are organized along time, linear, circular, and organic time, in volumes 1, 2, and 3 respectively, made me a more capable reader of not only Marx but also Hegel's categories of logic.

Each section of the book, which are dedicated to the primary lines of inquiry in each volume, will greatly help any reader better understand Marx's categories, such as fixed and circulating capital, and concepts, Marx's law of the tendency of the rate of profit to fall and crisis theory, to name a few topics.

While this book assumes the reader has read each volume beforehand, it is many ways a more useful commentary on Capital than Michael Heinrich's, in my opinion. It most certainly has cleared up some of the confusion that I've had as I study Volume 2 presently.

[Arbi · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're reading the English edition published in 2014 by Haymarket there is an error on page 93. When defining variables the author uses a twice. According to an email from the author the "time of surplus labour" variable should be a' rather than just a.