Karl Marx on the transition from feudalism to capitalism.pdf

Karl Marx on the transition from feudalism to capitalism CLAUDIO J. KATZ Loyola University- Chicago Studies of Marxs theory of history are complicated by the fact that Marx himself never provided a systematic treatment of its central prin- ciples. As a result, the task of elaborating historical materialism has fallen to Marxs interpreters, who are required to distill its tenets from Marxs historical writings and from general statements in which he summarized his historical method. Within the last decade, this task has attracted considerable scholarly attention occasioned by Cohens suc- cessful restoration of an orthodox version of Marxs theory that had fallen into desuetude. On this reading, historical materialism is guided by the thesis that history is, fundamentally, the growth of human pro- ductive power, and that forms of society (which are organized around economic structures) rise and fall according as they enable and pro- mote, or prevent and discourage, that growth1 The most promising alternative to Cohens interpretation is one that awards causal primacy to class and class struggle. The best treatment of this thesis is Brenners historiography, where it guides his analysis of the transition from feudalism to capitalism in early modern Europe. 2 Brenner replaces the logic of production with the logic of exploitation at the center of his historical analysis. The relations of production and the class struggles arising from them, and not the productive forces, determine the internal composition and evolution of social formations in history. Material progress is only a by-product of the course of devel- opment of class struggle. Cohens defense of historical materialism did not neglect Marxs emp