Primitive accumulation and Chinese mirrors

Abstract

A consensus holds that the structure of Capital I is problematic. In particular, the section 'Socalled Primitive Accumulation' discusses the origins of capitalism but appears at the end of the volume rather than the beginning. Even more anomalous, the forecast of the revolutionary overthrow of the capitalist class is in the penultimate chapter. The final chapter, on 'The Modern Theory of Colonization', is regarded by commentators as enigmatic, if they refer to it at all. The present paper, on the other hand, shows that Marx considered the structure of Capital over a number of years and that his discussion of Wakefield's theory of colonization is part of an account of the continuing centrifugal re-generation of capitalist relations beyond the sites of mature capitalism. The paper addresses the failure of commentators from Mehring to Harvey to appreciate the logic of Capital's chapter structure. The contemporary resonance of Marx's account of capitalist development at the periphery of the global capitalist system is indicated by considering primitive accumulation in two distinct phases of China's history.