Explain the bookclub: We are reading Volumes 1, 2, and 3 in one year and discussing it in weekly threads. (Volume IV, often published under the title Theories of Surplus Value, will not be included in this particular reading club, but comrades are encouraged to do other solo and collaborative reading.) This bookclub will repeat yearly.

I’ll post the readings at the start of each week and @mention anybody interested. Let me know if you want to be added or removed.


Just joining us? You can use the archives below to help you reading up to where the group is. There is another reading group on a different schedule at https://lemmygrad.ml/c/genzhou (federated at !genzhou@lemmygrad.ml ) which may fit your schedule better. The idea is for the bookclub to repeat annually, so there’s always next year.

Archives: Week 1Week 2Week 3Week 4Week 5Week 6Week 7Week 8Week 9Week 10Week 11Week 12Week 13Week 14Week 15Week 16Week 17Week 18Week 19Week 20Week 21Week 22Week 23Week 24Week 25Week 26Week 27Week 28Week 29Week 30Week 31Week 32Week 33Week 34Week 35Week 36Week 37Week 38Week 39Week 40Week 41Week 42Week 43Week 44Week 45Week 46


Week 47, Nov 18-24 – Chapter 39, Chapter 40, and Chapter 41 of Volume III

Chapter 39 is called ‘First Form of Differential Rent (Differential Rent I)’

Chapter 40 is called ‘Second Form of Differential Rent (Differential Rent II)’

Chapter 41 is called ‘Differential Rent II — First Case: Constant Price of Production’


https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1894-c3/index.htm


Discuss the week’s reading in the comments.

  • Doubledee [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    1 month ago

    Sorry I’ve been quiet lately. Still here and still trucking, just got life stuff going on.

    And not gonna lie. I’m just not getting much more insight beyond surface level for this ground rent stuff.

    • Kolibri [she/her]@hexbear.net
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      1 month ago

      I’m not much either and Marx’s examples just confuse me more. I did try to read this to see if I was missing anything https://themarxistproject.medium.com/marxs-theory-of-ground-rent-9495bcb93198

      and this just seems to be the important part from that article?

      The important takeaway in Marx’s theory of ground rent is that rent exists in economic margins. Rent is effectively a claim on the extra portion of surplus value produced by enterprises that are less productive than the social average. This claim is based on exclusive ownership of land or resources. As you might imagine, rents are not strictly limited to land or physical resources.

      • Finally, I somewhat understand (thanks for the article)

        Differential rent I is rent based on the yield differences between lands of varying fertility, with equal investments of capital.

        Differential rent II is rent based on different levels of capital investment across the same type of land (in terms of fertility).