Debate on Capital

[Biko Agozino]

This may interest some:

Capital Is Not Eurocentric

Capital Is Not Eurocentric Micco Raiden Sarno By Micco Sarno

[Gloria Emeagwali]

Biko,

Thanks for sharing this illuminating article by Micco Sarno on the

Pradelka- Rabaka - Agozino debate on

the issue of  whether or not Marx was

Eurocentric. 

Well Carlos Moore in 1972 did not pussyfoot around but came out directly and asked: “Were Marx and Engels White racists?” and to that I

responded that Moore asked the wrong question. The question is not whether Engels and Marx were  White  Racists but rather, how, given the period of cumulative racism on the part of their European counterparts, how they were able to transcend to such a large extent the prevailing prejudices of their time. They did not completely transcend “the illusions of the epoch” but succeeded in doing so better than many, to a remarkable degree.

Commenting on British colonialism in India, for example, Marx said:

“The profound hypocrisy and inherent barbarism of Bourgeois civilization lies unveiled before our eyes turning from its home where it assumes respectable forms, to the colonies where it goes naked......These are the men of Property, Order, Family and Religion.” Marx. Collected Works.vol. 12. pp. 222 - 3. 

Another interesting quote:

“......... Labor in the white  skin can never free itself as long as labor in the black skin is branded.”Capital. Vol one.

GE

On Jul 24, 2020, at 3:51 PM, 'Biko Agozino' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> wrote:



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[Biko Agozino]

Thanks Sister Glo, for the appreciation. Bro Carlos was writing against a background in Cuba where racism did not completely vanish once the magic wand of Marxism was waved. But even Carlos would agree that Cuba is unrivaled as an ally of people of African descent in the struggle against racism-sexism-imperialism. Marx and Engels did not choose the conditions under which they made history but we have people today who could choose to advance the struggle for justice and still choose to yearn for the good old days of slavery and apartheid when things were 'great'.

On India, Marx is given a hard time for talking about Oriental despotism as part of the Asiatic Mode of Production. I believe that what he was referring to is the fact that capitalism, as barbaric as it was, could be seen as a qualitative improvement on feudalism, on caste and on slavery. As your quote indicates, he believed that capitalism was not as good as it gets for human productive and reproductive capacities. Surely, we can do better than racist-sexist-wage slavery.

Biko

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CA71F7CC-0787-4FC6-B983-DD88EE145169%40gmail.com

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