Among the classics of political literature that mark the libertarian communist current, we
can not miss the Abstract of Capital Cafiero. This author was one of the first to break
with the authoritarian communism while claiming the economic analysis of Marx, which makes
him one of the first thinkers of our current policy. ---- Written in 1878, Abstract
Capital reflects the desire extension of Marx's Capital, a work considered the best
economic analysis of capitalism but as complex inaccessible. And Carlo Cafiero, close to
Marx and Engels in the First International and Bakunin ally, was then set a goal to make
it affordable Book I of Capital so it can be read by the workers class affected by the
project revolutionary it.
This paradox of the revolutionary character of a speech or a book and its limited
accessibility, which still exists in activist circles, is nevertheless not insurmountable.
The Abstract of Capital is an example. Cafiero wanted to go beyond this difficulty to
popularize the work that Bakunin considered " a death sentence, scientifically motivated
and irrevocably pronounced against them not as individuals but against their class[the
bourgeoisie]. "
The challenge is indeed managed to Carlo Cafiero: the Compendium contains 10 chapters of
less than 10 pages, the style is fluid and thought embodied in specific examples to
materialize concepts. The birth of the capital, the issue of accumulation through
appreciation, salary and the division of labor, we find the bases of Marxist economics.
Successive demonstrations are increasingly not devoid of humor, making the use of a second
very pleasant reading level.
Simplifying the work does not in any way lose strength analysis. Marx considered himself
as the Compendium of Cafiero was " a very good popular summary of his theory of surplus
value. "
The Abstract of Capital is an excellent tool for political education that allows you to
become familiar with Marxist economics and grasp of key concepts in the struggle for
social and libertarian revolution.
Flo (AL Montpellier)
o Carlo Cafiero, Ab?g? Capital of Karl Marx. New revised and expanded edition, The 2013
Red Dog, 10 euros.
Home »
» (en) France, Alternative Libertaire AL #234 - Classics of subversion: Carlo Cafiero "Abstract of Capital" (fr, pt)