The original intention of historical materialism was to provide a theoretical foundation for interpreting the world in order to change it. This was not an empty slogan. It had a very precise meaning. It meant that Marxism sought a particular kind of knowledge, uniquely capable of illuminating the principles of historical movement and, at least implicitly, the points at which political action could most effectively intervene… [T]he purpose was to provide a mode of analysis especially well equipped to explore the terrain on which political action must take place.
— Ellen Meiskins Wood, Democracy Against Capitalism Renewing Historical Materialism
This website explores the end of the capitalist system and the emergence of a new political economy from the perspective of Karl Marx’s proposition of historical materialism. It takes as its starting point Marx’s Preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, written in 1859. My focus is to apply these precepts to our present day, particularly with regard to what has been termed the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or the Rise of the Robots. Marx’s insights are strikingly prescient in this context.
If you are not familiar with the Critique, you may wish to start by reading it here.
An annotated version, in which I include my comments, can be found here.
Other introductory posts: What is a Society? What Does “Post-Capitalist” Mean?
Why Historical Materialism? Why Karl Marx?
