Intro to Marxism & Politics

This seminar consists of three lectures on the basic structure of capitalism and its relation to political power. We examine how the specific class structure of capitalism generates its laws of motion, and how these laws bind together labor and capital in conflict. We then explore how, within this conflict, capitalists enjoy a massive advantage over labor. Crucial to this is the structural power that capitalists enjoy because of their control over the means of production, but we also show that the state is also compelled to privilege capital's interests over those of the working class. Finally, we explore the conditions under which workers can successfully organize against capital.