The Ambivalence of Disposable Time: The Source and Remedy of the National Difficulties At Two Hundred

Abstract

Published in 1821, The Source and Remedy of the National Difficulties was an important influence on Marx’s analysis of ‘disposable time’ in a section of his Grundrisse notebooks known as the ‘fragment on machines.’ That analysis has inspired rethinking of Marx’s mature work by authors ranging from Raniero Panzieri, Antonio Negri, and Paolo Virno to Moishe Postone, yet those re-evaluations do not account for the contribution of the 1821 pamphlet. This article examines the neglect of the pamphlet and offers suggestions about what could be gained by attention to this foundational text.