Author : Jairus Banaji
Release : 2010-03-22
Genre : Political Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 728/5 ( reviews)
Book Synopsis Theory as History by : Jairus Banaji
Download or read book Theory as History written by Jairus Banaji. This book was released on 2010-03-22. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2011 Isaac and Tamara Deutscher Memorial Prize. The essays collected here straddle four decades of work in both historiography and Marxist theory, combining source-based historical work in a wide range of languages with sophisticated discussion of Marx's categories. Key themes include the distinctions that are crucial to restoring complexity to the Marxist notion of a 'mode of production'; the emergence of medieval relations of production; the origins of capitalism; the dichotomy between free and unfree labour; and essays in agrarian history that range widely from Byzantine Egypt to 19th-century colonialism. The essays demonstrate the importance of reintegrating theory with history and of bringing history back into historical materialism. An introductory chapter ties the collection together and shows how historical materialists can develop an alternative to Marx's 'Asiatic mode of production'.