A landmark of French thought, Reading Capital is no less than an attempt to topple the edifice of Western Marxism and rebuild it from the original foundations. Establishing a rigorous programme of “symptomatic reading” that cuts through the silences and lacunae of Capital to reveal its philosophical core, Louis Althusser interprets Marx’s structural analysis of production as a revolutionary break — the basis of a completely new science. Building on a series of Althusser’s conceptual innovations that includes “overdetermination” and “social formation,” Étienne Balibar explores the historical and structural facets of production as Marx understood them, scrutinizing many of the most fundamental points in Capital, as though for the first time.

“One reads his passionate study with attention, even excitement.” ( Eric Hobsbawm, Times Literary Supplement)

A szerzőkről:
Louis Althusser was born in Algeria in 1918 and died in France in 1990. His other publications in English include For Marx, Politics and History, and On Ideology, all from Verso.
Etienne Balibar is Professor of Philosophy at the Université de Paris-X. His other publications in English include The Philosophy of Marx and, with Immanuel Wallerstein, Race, Nation, Class, both from Verso.