Marxism and Capitalism

Abstract

Marx did not write about ‘development’ as currently understood in development studies for example but, rather, about the development of the capitalist Mode of Production, a much more specific and grounded topic. We follow in this chapter his analysis of how capitalism emerged and spread its wings across the globe, eventually dominating every sphere of human activity. There was always an element of evolutionism in this analysis, but Marx understood complexity and contradictions much better than some of his followers. Above all, Marx was imbued with the contemporary spirit of progress and modernity best captured by his phrase ‘All that is solid melts into air’ our second subtitle. Capitalism was, for Marx, extremely dynamic as a mode of production, and was inextricably bound up with modernity and modernisation. That the advanced country showed to others what their future held was a basic tenet of his thought system. Marx the ‘developmentalist’ to put it that way was, however, well aware of the Contradictions of capitalist development which we deal with next. We see how, in relation to India in particular, Marx was clear that colonial capitalism would never result in social development and he supported calls for national independence. Capitalist development was not a smooth, unilinear process and it did not lead to a better life for all. In this chapter, we begin to establish the basis for an understanding of development as capitalist development, based on the classic Marxist understanding of capitalism as a dynamic mode of production based on the appropriation of surplus labour.