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The Making of Marx's Capital-Volume 1
Roman Rosdolsky investigates the relationship between various versions of Capital and explains the reasons for Marx’s successive reworking.
452 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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80 people want to read
About the author
Roman Rosdolsky
14 books8 followersRoman Osipovich Rosdolsky (Russian: Роман Осипович Роздольский; Ukrainian: Рома́н О́сипович Роздо́льський Roman Osipovič Rozdol's'kyj) was an important Marxian scholar and political revolutionary.
As a youth, Rosdolsky was a member of the Ukrainian socialist Drahomanov Circles. He was drafted in the imperial army in 1915, and edited with Roman Turiansky the journal Klyči in 1917. He was a founder of the International Revolutionary Social Democracy (IRSD) and studied law in Prague. During World War I he founded the antimilitaristic "Internationale Revolutionäre Sozialistische Jugend Galiziens" (International Revolutionary Socialist Youth of Galizia). He became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Eastern Galicia, representing its émigré organization 1921-1924 and a leading publicist of the Vasylkivtsi faction of the Ukrainian Communists. In 1925, he refused to condemn Trotsky and his Left Opposition, and was later, at the end of the 1920s, expelled from the Communist Party.
In 1926-1931, he was correspondent in Vienna of the Marx-Engels Institute in Moscow, searching for archival materials. At that time, in 1927, he met his wife Emily. When the labour movement in Austria suffered repression, he emigrated in 1934 back to L'viv, where he worked at the university as lecturer. He published the Trotskyist periodical Žittja i slovo 1934-1938, and was arrested by the Gestapo in 1942, but survived internment for three years in the concentration camps of Auschwitz, Ravensbrück and Oranienburg. He emigrated to the USA in 1947, and worked there as independent scholar - failing to obtain a university post. He published also under pseudonyms such as "Roman Prokopovycz", "P.Suk.", "Tenet" and "W.S.".
Rosdolsky is mainly known in the Anglo-Saxon world for his careful scholarly exegesis The Making of Marx's Capital, a collection of essays some which had previously been published, which overturned many previous interpretations of Das Kapital. Yet he published much more, especially on historical topics (see below). During his life, he corresponded with numerous well known Marxist writers including Isaac Deutscher, Ernest Mandel, Paul Mattick, and Karl Korsch. Mandel called Rosdolsky's work on the National Question the only Marxist criticism of Marx himself.
As a youth, Rosdolsky was a member of the Ukrainian socialist Drahomanov Circles. He was drafted in the imperial army in 1915, and edited with Roman Turiansky the journal Klyči in 1917. He was a founder of the International Revolutionary Social Democracy (IRSD) and studied law in Prague. During World War I he founded the antimilitaristic "Internationale Revolutionäre Sozialistische Jugend Galiziens" (International Revolutionary Socialist Youth of Galizia). He became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Eastern Galicia, representing its émigré organization 1921-1924 and a leading publicist of the Vasylkivtsi faction of the Ukrainian Communists. In 1925, he refused to condemn Trotsky and his Left Opposition, and was later, at the end of the 1920s, expelled from the Communist Party.
In 1926-1931, he was correspondent in Vienna of the Marx-Engels Institute in Moscow, searching for archival materials. At that time, in 1927, he met his wife Emily. When the labour movement in Austria suffered repression, he emigrated in 1934 back to L'viv, where he worked at the university as lecturer. He published the Trotskyist periodical Žittja i slovo 1934-1938, and was arrested by the Gestapo in 1942, but survived internment for three years in the concentration camps of Auschwitz, Ravensbrück and Oranienburg. He emigrated to the USA in 1947, and worked there as independent scholar - failing to obtain a university post. He published also under pseudonyms such as "Roman Prokopovycz", "P.Suk.", "Tenet" and "W.S.".
Rosdolsky is mainly known in the Anglo-Saxon world for his careful scholarly exegesis The Making of Marx's Capital, a collection of essays some which had previously been published, which overturned many previous interpretations of Das Kapital. Yet he published much more, especially on historical topics (see below). During his life, he corresponded with numerous well known Marxist writers including Isaac Deutscher, Ernest Mandel, Paul Mattick, and Karl Korsch. Mandel called Rosdolsky's work on the National Question the only Marxist criticism of Marx himself.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 22, 2015
a very oddly-structured book that begins with a long excursus on the changing plans for _Capital_, which then moves to a step-by-step presentation of Capital (which is somewhat annoying for those wishing to skim--it mixes genuine insights with standard explications), and then finally a discussion of some of the theoretical problems of traditional marxist economics (reproduction schema, the law of the falling rate of profit, and so on). overall, though, a great work of philology that brings out the importance of some of these arcane theoretical struggles. it also has a nice commentary on Joan Robinson that effectively defends Marx from a bastard Keynes. also of historical importance and worth reading for Mandel fans (who was a close friend of Rosdolsky). this information has now been presented in much more readable format in Historical Materialism and in Capital and Class, not to mention books like Felton Shortall's Incomplete Marx or Heinrich's Introduction (or Bertell Ollman, even). still--worth a read for Marx scholars and those wanting a full grasp of Marx's theory of value.
January 27, 2021
Despite not sharing some of Rosdolsky’s interpretations, this is a classic for a reason and those critical dissensions are much less significant than the wider areas of agreement. Marx’s mature work and some of its interlocutors are treated with rigor and care here. Concedes very little to readability and is bone dry, so it’s a bit “fans only,” but this is a strong contribution.
November 1, 2012
The limitations of this book are necessitated by its genre. It is a work of philology. This book does not try to assess the accuracy of the categories that Marx develops in his critique of political economy. Also, it is worthless to read this book if you do not already have an extensive knowledge of Marx's mature critical theory, and of the debates in Marxian and heterodox Keynesian Political Economy. That said, if you are interested in a rigorous exploration of the development of Marx's thought, and the status of his theoretical categories in relationship to his unpublished notes, then this is perhaps the best book for you.
January 25, 2026
This book, originally published in German, was written when Marx's notebooks - now known as the Grundrisse - came to light. In it Roman Rosdolsky follows the construction of Marx's economic work. This is the first of two volumes into which this English translation is split. The first chapters of this volume are indispensable for understanding the development of Marx's Capital, describing how Marx's plan for the work developed and what this development meant for the completed work (and for the parts that remain incomplete on Marx's death).
After that initial section Rosdolsky examines each part in turn, working from the Grundrisse and showing the development of Marx's thought using primarily Capital and the Theories of Surplus Value (but also touching some of Marx's other writings). It's a fascinating detailed analysis, section by section. It is clear that Rosdolsky is drawn to the visibly Hegelian expression that can be seen in Grundrisse and is more hidden in Capital. That works for me, but may be a barrier for some. My own view is that you can't fully understand Marx without getting to grips with the dialectic, and that makes this comparison especially valuable. Rosdolsky shows how the developed expression in Capital draws on a more Hegelian analysis in Grundrisse.
David Harvey's Companion to Grundrisse is a more modern work (which I wrote about here https://marxadventure.wordpress.com/2... ) that is probably a more practical way to get to grips with Marx's book, but Rosdolsky's remains incredibly valuable.
After that initial section Rosdolsky examines each part in turn, working from the Grundrisse and showing the development of Marx's thought using primarily Capital and the Theories of Surplus Value (but also touching some of Marx's other writings). It's a fascinating detailed analysis, section by section. It is clear that Rosdolsky is drawn to the visibly Hegelian expression that can be seen in Grundrisse and is more hidden in Capital. That works for me, but may be a barrier for some. My own view is that you can't fully understand Marx without getting to grips with the dialectic, and that makes this comparison especially valuable. Rosdolsky shows how the developed expression in Capital draws on a more Hegelian analysis in Grundrisse.
David Harvey's Companion to Grundrisse is a more modern work (which I wrote about here https://marxadventure.wordpress.com/2... ) that is probably a more practical way to get to grips with Marx's book, but Rosdolsky's remains incredibly valuable.
October 25, 2023
Rosdolsky spent something like fifteen years, starting from the early fifties, writing this critical summation of Marx's Grundrisse: Foundations of the Critique of Political Economy. As far as I know it is the only major work about the Grundrisse, at least in English (though David Harvey published a book on it this this year, A Companion to Marx's Grundrisse), and since it was first published in 1977 it has had a large impact on Marxist thinking, clarifying many of Marx's thornier theoretical positions.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews