Das Kapital

Analyze what Marx means by “capital.” What are the strengths and weaknesses of Marx’s definition? How does his understanding of what capital is shape his analytical approach?

Discuss the fetishism of commodities in Capital. What is the wider significance of fetishism in Marx’s economic analysis? How does it reflect some of the contradictions of the capitalist system? What examples, if any, of fetishism exist in today’s capitalist economies?

What is the labor theory of value? What are the strengths and weaknesses of this theory? What factors, if any, may Marx have overlooked? How does the labor theory of value relate to materialist ideas of base and superstructure?