A New Introduction to Karl Marx: New Materialism, Critique of Political Economy, and the Concept of Metabolism

By Ryuji Sasaki

​This book provides a concise overview of Marx’s philosophy and political economy, tracing various changes of his theoretical views over time through his practical and theoretical engagements with contradictions of capitalism from the unique perspective of Japanese Marxism. While it offers an objective introduction to Marx’s critique of capitalism, Sasaki uniquely pays particular attention to the concept of “metabolism,” whose disruption under the capitalist mode of production causes exhaustion of labour-power as well as natural resources. Sasaki reconstructs Marx as a revolutionary thinker, whose devoted his entire life for the sake of establishing a more free and equal society beyond capitalism. Sasaki’s book shows that Marx’s passion for the socialist revolution in his last years is recorded in his late excerpt notebooks that become available through the Marx-Engels-Gesamtausgabe.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Release date: Jan 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9783030529505

Book preview

Book cover of A New Introduction to Karl Marx

Marx, Engels, and Marxisms

Series Editors

Marcello Musto

York University, Toronto, ON, Canada

Terrell Carver

University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

The Marx renaissance is underway on a global scale. Wherever the critique of capitalism re-emerges, there is an intellectual and political demand for new, critical engagements with Marxism. The peer-reviewed series Marx, Engels and Marxisms (edited by Marcello Musto & Terrell Carver, with Babak Amini, Francesca Antonini, Paula Rauhala & Kohei Saito as Assistant Editors) publishes monographs, edited volumes, critical editions, reprints of old texts, as well as translations of books already published in other languages. Our volumes come from a wide range of political perspectives, subject matters, academic disciplines and geographical areas, producing an eclectic and informative collection that appeals to a diverse and international audience. Our main areas of focus include: the oeuvre of Marx and Engels, Marxist authors and traditions of the 19th and 20th centuries, labour and social movements, Marxist analyses of contemporary issues, and reception of Marxism in the world.

More information about this series at http://​www.​palgrave.​com/​gp/​series/​14812

Ryuji Sasaki

A New Introduction to Karl Marx

New Materialism, Critique of Political Economy, and the Concept of Metabolism

1st ed. 2021

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Logo of the publisher

Ryuji Sasaki

Department of Economics, Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan

Translated by Michael Schauerte

ISSN 2524-7123e-ISSN 2524-7131

Marx, Engels, and Marxisms

ISBN 978-3-030-52949-9e-ISBN 978-3-030-52950-5

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52950-5

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

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Titles Published

1.

TerrellCarver &​ Daniel Blank, A Political History of the Editions of Marx and Engels’s German Ideology Manuscripts, 2014.

2.

Terrell Carver & Daniel Blank, Marx and Engels’s German Ideology Manuscripts: Presentation and Analysis of the Feuerbach chapter, 2014.

3.

Alfonso Maurizio Iacono, The History and Theory of Fetishism, 2015.

4.

Paresh Chattopadhyay, Marx’s Associated Mode of Production: A Critique of Marxism, 2016.

5.

Domenico Losurdo, Class Struggle: A Political and Philosophical History, 2016.

6.

Frederick Harry Pitts, Critiquing Capitalism Today: New Ways to Read Marx, 2017.

7.

Ranabir Samaddar, Karl Marx and the Postcolonial Age, 2017.

8.

George Comninel, Alienation and Emancipation in the Work of Karl Marx, 2018.

9.

Jean-Numa Ducange & Razmig Keucheyan (Eds.), The End of the Democratic State: Nicos Poulantzas, a Marxism for the 21st Century, 2018.

10.

Robert X. Ware, Marx on Emancipation and Socialist Goals: Retrieving Marx for the Future, 2018.

11.

Xavier LaFrance & Charles Post (Eds.), Case Studies in the Origins of Capitalism, 2018.

12.

John Gregson, Marxism, Ethics, and Politics: The Work of Alasdair MacIntyre, 2018.

13.

Vladimir Puzone & Luis Felipe Miguel (Eds.), The Brazilian Left in the 21st Century: Conflict and Conciliation in Peripheral Capitalism, 2019.

14.

James Muldoon & Gaard Kets (Eds.), The German Revolution and Political Theory, 2019.

15.

Michael Brie, Rediscovering Lenin: Dialectics of Revolution and Metaphysics of Domination, 2019.

16.

August H. Nimtz, Marxism versus Liberalism: Comparative Real-Time Political Analysis, 2019.

17.

Gustavo Moura de Cavalcanti Mello and Mauricio de Souza Sabadini (Eds.), Financial Speculation and Fictitious Profits: A Marxist Analysis, 2019.

18.

Shaibal Gupta, Marcello Musto & Babak Amini (Eds), Karl Marx’s Life, Ideas, and Influences: A Critical Examination on the Bicentenary, 2019.

19.

Igor Shoikhedbrod, Revisiting Marx’s Critique of Liberalism: Rethinking Justice, Legality, and Rights, 2019.

20.

Juan Pablo Rodríguez, Resisting Neoliberal Capitalism in Chile: The Possibility of Social Critique, 2019.

21.

Kaan Kangal, Friedrich Engels and the Dialectics of Nature, 2020.

22.

Victor Wallis, Socialist Practice: Histories and Theories, 2020.

23.

Alfonso Maurizio Iacono, The Bourgeois and the Savage: A Marxian Critique of the Image of the Isolated Individual in Defoe, Turgot and Smith, 2020.

24.

Terrell Carver, Engels before Marx, 2020.

25.

Jean-Numa Ducange, Jules Guesde: The Birth of Socialism and Marxism in France, 2020.

26.

Antonio Oliva, Ivan Novara & Angel Oliva (Eds.), Marx and Contemporary Critical Theory: The Philosophy of Real Abstraction.

27.

Francesco Biagi, Henri Lefebvre’s Critical Theory of Space.

28.

Stefano Petrucciani, The Ideas of Karl Marx: A Critical Introduction.

29.

Terrell Carver, The Life and Thought of Friedrich Engels, 30th Anniversary Edition.

Titles Forthcoming

Giuseppe Vacca, Alternative Modernities: Antonio Gramsci’s Twentieth Century.

Kevin B. Anderson, Kieran Durkin & Heather Brown (Eds.), Raya Dunayevskaya’s Intersectional Marxism: Race, Gender, and the Dialectics of Liberation.

Paresh Chattopadhyay, Socialism in Marx’s Capital: Towards a De-alienated World.

Gianfranco Ragona & Monica Quirico, Frontier Socialism: Self-organisation and Anti-capitalism.

Vesa Oittinen, Marx’s Russian Moment.

Kohei Saito (Ed.), Reexamining Engels’s Legacy in the 21st Century.

Kolja Lindner, Marx, Marxism and the Question of Eurocentrism.

Jean-Numa Ducange & Elisa Marcobelli (Eds.), Selected Writings of Jean Jaures: On Socialism, Pacifism and Marxism.

Adriana Petra, Intellectuals and Communist Culture: Itineraries, Problems and Debates in Post-war Argentina.

Marco Di Maggio, The Rise and Fall of Communist Parties in France and Italy.

George C. Comninel, The Feudal Foundations of Modern Europe.

James Steinhoff, Critiquing the New Autonomy of Immaterial Labour: A Marxist Study of Work in the Artificial Intelligence Industry.

Spencer A. Leonard, Marx, the India Question, and the Crisis of Cosmopolitanism.

Joe Collins, Applying Marx’s Capital to the 21st century.

Levy del Aguila Marchena, Communism, Political Power and Personal Freedom in Marx.

Jeong Seongjin, Korean Capitalism in the 21st Century: Marxist Analysis and Alternatives.

Marcello Mustè, Marxism and Philosophy of Praxis: An Italian Perspective from Labriola to Gramsci.

Satoshi Matsui, Normative Theories of Liberalism and Socialism: Marxist Analysis of Values.

Shannon Brincat, Dialectical Dialogues in Contemporary World Politics: A Meeting of Traditions in Global Comparative Philosophy.

Stefano Petrucciani, Theodor W. Adorno’s Philosophy, Society, and Aesthetics.

Francesca Antonini, Reassessing Marx’s Eighteenth Brumaire: Dictatorship, State, and Revolution.

Thomas Kemple, Capital after Classical Sociology: The Faustian Lives of Social Theory.

Tsuyoshi Yuki, Socialism, Markets and the Critique of Money: The Theory of Labour Note.

V Geetha, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar and the Question of Socialism in India.

Xavier Vigna, A Political History of Factories in France: The Workers’ Insubordination of 1968.

Atila Melegh, Anti-Migrant Populism in Eastern Europe and Hungary: A Marxist Analysis.

Marie-Cecile Bouju, A Political History of the Publishing Houses of the French Communist Party.

Gustavo Moura de Cavalcanti Mello & Henrique Pereira Braga (Eds.), Wealth and Poverty in Contemporary Brazilian Capitalism.

Peter McMylor, Graeme Kirkpatrick & Simin Fadaee (Eds.), Marxism, Religion, and Emancipatory Politics.

Mauro Buccheri, Radical Humanism for the Left: The Quest for Meaning in Late Capitalism.

Rémy Herrera, Confronting Mainstream Economics to Overcome Capitalism.

Tamás Krausz, Eszter Bartha (Eds.), Socialist Experiences in Eastern Europe: A Hungarian Perspective.

Martin Cortés, Marxism, Time and Politics: On the Autonomy of the Political.

João Antonio de Paula, Huga da Gama Cerqueira, Eduardo da Motta e Albuquer & Leonardo de Deus, Marxian Economics for the 21st Century: Revaluating Marx’s Critique of Political Economy.

Zhi Li, The Concept of the Individual in the Thought of Karl Marx.

Lelio Demichelis, Marx, Alienation and Techno-capitalism.

Michael Brie & Jörn Schütrumpf, Rosa Luxemburg: A Revolutionary Marxist at the Limits of Marxism.

Dong-Min Rieu, A Mathematical Approach to Marxian Value Theory: Time, Money, and Labor Productivity.

Salvatore Prinzi, Representation, Expression, and Institution: The Philosophy of Merleau-Ponty and Castoriadis.

Agon Hamza, Slavoj Žižek and the Reconstruction of Marxism.

Kei Ehara, Japanese Discourse on the Marxian Theory of Finance.

Miguel Vedda, Siegfried Kracauer, or, The Allegories of Improvisation.

Marcello Musto, Karl Marx’s Writings on Alienation.

Preface to the English Edition

It seems appropriate in this preface to provide an overview of some of the features and underlying positions of this apparently straightforward introduction to Marx . This may be more information than some readers would desire or require, however, so they can of course proceed straight to the beginning of the book.

As many scholars of Marx already know, Marxism has long been influential in Japan , not only in the socialist and labor movements but also within academia. That influence declined rapidly after the collapse of Soviet-style socialism, to the point where the fields of Marxist philosophy and Marxist historiography have nearly disappeared, but researchers specializing in Marxian economics continue to secure tenure positions in the economics departments of many universities.

Thanks to this tradition, Japan is said to have accumulated an unparalleled variety of works of Marxian scholarship. This is indeed true to some extent, and this book benefits from that tradition. In particular, the interpretation of the early Marx’s work in Chapter 1 and of Capital in Chapter 2 relies in large part on past research by Japanese scholars. Therefore, one primary contribution this book can make is to provide English-speaking readers with a glimpse of how Marx has been interpreted in Japan .

Nevertheless, the image of Marx developed in this book is not consistent with the mainstream of Marxian scholarship in Japan . One characteristic of Japan , as the influential political scientist Masao Maruyama pointed out, is that Marxism was the vehicle for introducing modern forms of thought such as rationalism and positivism. As a result, the so-called Stalinist interpretation of Marx was far more powerful than in the West. In Japan , as in Russia and China, Marxism functioned as a sort of modernization ideology. Not only intellectuals close to the Japanese Communist Party (JCP), but also representative Marxists like Wataru Hiromatsu and Kozo Uno, who were critical of the JCP, continued to be heavily constrained by Stalinism and modernism. This book is a clear departure from the Marxian interpretation that was so dominant in Japan .

What this book inherits from the tradition that has existed in Japan is careful textual analysis. Some of the arguments in the book that might seem, at first glance, to be general statements are in fact based on a close examination of the writings of Marx. A closer look can reveal that some of the seemingly straightforward descriptions differ in subtle ways from other introductory works. And those subtle differences can lead toward a quite different overall image of Marx. Here I would like to point out a few of the most significant differences from other works.

The first difference concerns the understanding of the early Marx. There have already been critiques of the interpretation of Marx by Stalinists, who understood his theoretical basis as dialectic materialism, a combination of the philosophical worldview of materialism with dialectics as a universal law of motion, but most of those critiques presented a sort of philosophical interpretation of Marx rather than a theory of his actual ideas. Typical examples of this are the attempts to reinterpret Marx on the basis of Hegelian dialectics. Even after such reinterpretations became outdated, various philosophical interpretations of Marx appeared, such as Althusser’s structuralism and the phenomenology of Hiromatsu in Japan . A humanist interpretation that combined existentialism and the ideas of Freud was also highly influential. However, it must be said that all of those critiques remained within the sphere of Stalinist Marxism in the sense that they presupposed some kind of philosophical thought or supra-historical universal theory. Marx himself totally opposed the all-purpose formula of a general historico-philosophical theory whose supreme virtue consists in being supra-historical.¹ What concerned him was not a general historico-philosophical law, but particular historical laws. Underlying this theoretical outlook is Marx’s critique of philosophy , as described in Chap. 1, which clarifies the significance of this critique by further developing ideas from previous research in Japan on the early Marx.

The second main difference of this book is that its understanding of Capital focuses on economic determination of form. As Michael Heinrich , a leading German scholar of Capital, has emphasized, Marx’s critique of political economy is fundamentally distinct from all other economics in that it critically analyzes economic determinations of form, as is clearly expressed in the following passage from Capital:

Political economy has indeed analyzed value and its magnitude, however incompletely, and has uncovered the content concealed within these forms. But it has never once asked the question why this content has assumed that particular form, that is to say, why labor is expressed in value, and why the measurement of labor by its duration is expressed in the magnitude of the value of the product.²

Most works of Marxist economics to date have either ignored or minimized the importance of this decisive factor for Marx’s critique of political economy . One reason for the disregard of economic determinations of form is that Marxist economists have tended toward property-based theories and exploitation reductionism, which locate the foundation of capitalism in the private ownership of the means of production and in the resulting exploitation of workers. As a result, they have not been able to grasp that the source of the power of the capitalist mode of production lies in economic determinations of form continually generated by a specific form of labor. Hence, in practice, overcoming the capitalist mode of production has been reduced to the mere act of the expropriation of private property by state power. From this perspective, it becomes impossible to grasp the significance of Association as an essential element of Marx’s revolutionary theory.

Interpretations of Capital that focus on economic determinations of form had been developed by the Russian scholars Isaak Illich Rubin and Evgeny Pashukanis, Western Marxists like György Lukács, and members of the Frankfurt School (most notably Theodor Adorno); the issue was also raised in the 1970s in West Germany and elsewhere within the context of the debates over the value form and derivation of the state . In Japan as well, Samezo Kuruma , his younger colleague Teinosuke Otani, and others extensively analyzed economic determinations of form. Within debates over the value form in West Germany, the analysis of value form was insufficient due to the tendency to understand the concept of value based on the value form rather than the value form based on the concept of value, but Kuruma’s meticulous analysis of what Marx had written resulted in perhaps the first coherent interpretation of theory of value form. Kuruma did not systematically present his interpretation of Capital, but it is outlined in the multi-volume Marx-Lexicon zur Politischen Ökonomie that he edited. Chapter 2 of this book basically inherits Kuruma’s interpretation and develops it to be more coherent.

The third, and perhaps most significant, difference of this book from other introductory works is its emphasis on the importance of the theory of metabolism to Marx’s later theoretical work. Great progress has been made in recent years regarding the study of Marx’s excerpt notes thanks to recent volumes of the new Marx Engels Gesamtausgabe (New MEGA). Representative works of such scholarship include Kevin Anderson’s Marx at the Margins, which deals with premodern community and non-Western society; Kohei Saito’s Karl Marx’s Ecosocialism, which introduces Marx’s ecological views; and Heather A. Brown’s Marx on Gender and the Family, which focuses on gender . Chapter 3 draws on the results of such scholarship to trace the development Marx’s thought later in life centered on the concept of metabolism .

Western Marxism has tended to focus on economic determinations of form within the capitalist mode of production in order to criticize the Marxist interpretations that neglected the unique character of the capitalist mode of production as a result of viewing the private ownership of the means of production as the basis for exploitation and class struggle. What was at stake, in other words, was to separate the form (Form) from the material (Stoff) by criticizing the fetishism that takes the adhesion of material and form for granted. Of course, Marx brilliantly accomplished the separation of material and form, but that is not the only point that is important with regard to his critique of political economy . The fundamental problem for Marx was to grasp the various contradictions within the capitalist mode of production as conflicts and contradictions between its determination of form (Formbestimmung) and metabolism (Stoffwechsel), thereby clarifying the prospect for transformation of this mode of production. His view of communism is not merely a society that consciously controls production and distribution, and that realizes human freedom, but also (as he wrote) a society in which the associated producers will govern the human metabolism with nature in a rational way, […] accomplishing this metabolism with the least expenditure of energy and in conditions most worthy and appropriate for their human nature.³ From this perspective, it becomes clear that the new social movements, such as the feminist and ecological movements, are by their very nature an integral part of the class struggle.

The concept of metabolism has been attracting increasing attention in recent years, as humanity faces a climate crisis , pandemics, and risks related to biotechnology. As we try to envisage a new society beyond capitalism, Marx’s critique of political economy remains our most valuable theoretical tool. My hope is that this introductory book will lead many readers to examine (or re-examine) Capital and other works by Marx.

This book is an English translation of Karl Marx : Shihonshugi to tatakatta shakaishisoka (Karl Marx: The Social Thinker Who Fought Capitalism), published by Chikuma Shobo in 2016. The English edition is an expanded version of that earlier Japanese edition. Footnotes, which were not included in the Japanese edition, have been added, and the text was enlarged. In particular, the description of relative surplus value and capital accumulation in Chap. 2 has been substantially enhanced.

The English edition also includes two appendices (not included in the original book) to provide additional discussions that may be of interest to scholars of Marx or to Marxists. Appendix A deals with Marx’s theoretical methodology, while Appendix B looks at the theoretical structure of Book One of Capital. The appendices are an opportunity to explain in more theoretical terms some points that could not be treated in detail within the book’s main text, given its introductory nature. Ideally, this edition would have also included an appendix on the theory of value, but that would have required too much space. Readers interested in that subject can consult a German article I co-wrote with Kohei Saito titled, Abstrakte Arbeit und Stoffwechsel zwischen Mensch und Natur, Beiträge zur Marx-Engels-Forschung. Neue Folge 2013, 2015.

Finally, let me mention that this English edition has been prepared through my collaboration with the translator, Michael Schauerte. I became aware of Michael through his previous translations of works by Samezo Kuruma and Teinosuke Otani. Michael and I were able to work closely throughout the several rounds of revising his draft translation. In this sense, I also bear responsibility for the end result. We both hope that this English edition conveys the book’s intended meaning in a form that is as accessible and readable as possible.

Ryuji Sasaki

Tokyo, Japan

Preface

What this book aims to convey, above all, is that Marx’s ideas remain our greatest theoretical weapon today for transforming the society in which we live.

Marx’s theories have been subject to all sorts of abuse, both in academia and in the realm of public opinion. Quite a few people imagine that his ideas form a hardened ideology that is outdated and irrelevant or that they were the cause of the despotic political systems in the Soviet Union and elsewhere. But consider for a moment what has occurred under capitalist globalization since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Has capitalism in the years since then overcome crisis to rejoice in prosperity? Haven’t we seen instead the advanced capitalist nations suffering from prolonged economic stagnation and swelling national debt? Hasn’t the financialization of the economy created one bubble after another, each with its painful aftermath? Consider also what has become of the policies based on market fundamentalism introduced around the world to break through economic stagnation. Have those policies reignited competitiveness to generate prosperity, narrowed economic disparities, or lowered poverty? That fact is, as Marx so powerfully demonstrated in Capital, such phenomena in the real world are historical tendencies of the capitalist mode of production.

Some may point out, in response, the failure of all the communist movements that raised the banner of Marxism. Indeed, the political parties and groups composed of self-styled Marxists have been in steady decline or in many cases have completely dissolved. But there is a difference between the theories of the Karl Marx, the individual, and the doctrine of Marxism created by those who came after him. This was pointed out already more than half a century ago but has become even clearer in recent years through the advances in scholarship on Marx’s manuscripts and notes. The latest scholarly discoveries reveal that Marx’s conceptions of social transformation are a far cry from the doctrines of Marxism—and in some cases the very opposite.

If our sights are set on the future, not the past, the object to reconsider is not failed Marxism but the real image of Karl Marx himself. What this book examines is not Marxism, but the theories of Marx, particularly their significance to the transformation of society. The book’s focus is on Capital, but it is not intended to be a mere introduction to that great work. In order to grasp the significance of Capital for social transformation, we must also understand why Marx took political economy as his primary object of study, and what conception of social transformation he constructed on the basis of the theoretical understanding gained through writing Capital.

The content of Capital is explained in Chap. 2, which is preceded, in Chap. 1, by a look at the ideas of the young Marx, describing the intellectual journey that took him from a youthful interest in literature to the study of political economy. Chapter 3 then shifts the focus to the way Marx, in his later years, deepened and expanded his conception of social transformation on the foundation of the theoretical understanding gained from struggling to complete Capital. Chapter 3 draws on the most recent research on Marx’s manuscripts and notes in an attempt to clarify the theoretical endeavors of his final years. The image that emerges from those last years is of Marx’s relentless quest to uncover the concrete logic of the metabolism between human beings and nature, and the magnificent conception of social transformation that arose, encompassing ideas related to ecology , the premodern community , and gender .

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my colleagues Hideto Akashi, Kohei Saito, Soichiro Sumida, and Tomonaga Tairako, who have inspired me over the past 15 years with so many ideas; Marcello Musto, the editor of the Marx, Engels and Marxisms series, for encouraging me to publish this book; and Masato Takeda for his help in creating this English version. I am also grateful to Michael Schauerte for his tremendous work on the translation. Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the late Teinosuke Otani, who prompted me to pursue a career in Marx studies and taught me the importance of grasping Marx’s theories from the perspective of human history.

This book is published as a volume of Rikkyo University College of Economics Series, with a grant from the Rikkyo University College of Economics.

Contents

1 The Path Toward Questioning Capitalism (1818–1848):​ The Young Marx and New Materialism 1

The Real Karl Marx 1

A Sensitive University Student 4

From Literature to Philosophy 6

Encounter with the Young Hegelians 7

The Young Hegelians 8

Impact of Bauer on Marx 11

The Move to Journalism 14

From the Critique of Religion to That of Politics 15

Critique of Hegel’s Theory of Right and the Modern State 16

Influence of Feuerbach 18

Limits of Marx’s Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right 19

Marx’s Two Articles in Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher 21

Transformation of Marx’s View of Social Change 23

Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 25

Private Ownership and Alienated Labor 26

Going beyond the Enlightenment Vision 28

Meeting Engels Again and the Split with Bauer 30

Toward a Criticism of Feuerbach 31

Theses on Feuerbach and the New Materialism 33

Breaking Away from Philosophy 35

New Concept of Social Change:​ The Materialist Conception of History 39

The Limits of the Bourgeois Mode of Production 41

Association as the Condition for Freedom 42

Toward a Critique of Political Economy 44

2 A Changing View of Capitalism (1848–1867):​ Marx’s Critique of Political Economy 47

From the Upheaval of 1848 to the Heart of Capitalism 47

Days of Researching Political Economy 49

Capital as a Critique of Political Economy 51

Mystery of the Commodity 51

Source of the Power of Money 71

The Power of Capital and the Specific Way of Working of Wage Labor 80

Capital Accumulation and Property 97

Why Do Crises Occur?​ 107

The Origins of Capitalism and Its Fate 118

3 How to Fight Against Capitalism (1867–1883):​ Concept of Metabolism Within the Later Thought of Marx 123

Marx’s Changing Vision 123

Appreciating Reformist Struggles 125

Communist Society as Association 129

Key Concept of Metabolism 133

The Major Premise that Human Beings Are a Part of Nature 134

Capital’s Disturbance of Metabolism 136

Metabolism as the Bastion of Resistance 138

Marx’s Notes on Social Transformation Later in Life 141

Problem of Ecology and Theory of Metabolism 144

Metabolism and the Theory of Climate Change of the Agronomist Fraas 145

From Metabolism to Research on the Community 148

Letter to Vera Zasulich as the Culmination of Marx’s Theory of Community 153

From Research on the Community