Disagree with your interpretation that the workers [of Britain] had an "immediate interest" in supporting the Confederacy-- as the cotton from the South meant employment in textile mills.
What distinguishes Marxist analysis from political economy is not politics vs. economy, or politics over economic interest, but the social struggle for the emancipation of labor. Saying workers had an immediate interest in supporting the Confederacy as it meant employment is like saying GM workers have an immediate interest in the government bailout as then SOME of them might be able to keep their jobs. But Marxist analysis, as opposed to political economy in conservative or reformist dress, begins with the social organization of labor, and so the immediate interest of the working class is in fact the interest of the class as a whole, not for some, not for those employed in the textile mills, but for the class as a whole. So the immediate interest of the working class was not just for the defeat of the Confederacy, for the end to slavery, but for the emancipation of black labor. The immediate interest and the ultimate interest are not distinct and oppositional, but mediated, and when mediated by the class acting as a whole, or for itself, we get the end to political economy. Anyway, that's why I think there is no such thing as Marxist political economy.. ----- Original Message ----- From: "michael perelman" <[email protected]> To: "David Schanoes" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, September 20, 2009 11:32 PM Subject: [Marxism] Here is the correct link: sorry > Here is the correct link > > Sorry > > http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/political-economy-for-the-21st-century-marx/turkey-2-2/ > -- > Michael Perelman > Economics Department > California State University > Chico, CA > 95929 > > 530 898 5321 > fax 530 898 5901 > http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com > > ________________________________________________ > YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > Send list submissions to: [email protected] > Set your options at: > http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/sartesian%40earthlink.net ________________________________________________ YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: [email protected] Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
