Episode 112: Marx’s Critique of Darimon in the Grundrisse, Part 1

Andrew and special guest-interviewer Francisco discuss Andrew’s new article, “Marx’s Critique of Darimon in the Grundrisse: On Indirectly Social Labor and the ‘Impossible Tasks’ of Labor Money.” In 1856, Alfred Darimon, a prominent follower of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, published a book on monetary reform. The first 60 pages of Marx’s Grundrisse, written a year later, criticize the book as well as Proudhonist and related ideas about monetary reform in general.

In Part 1 of the interview, Francisco and Andrew discuss Marx’s criticisms of Darimon’s proposal to eliminate monetary crises by abolishing the gold standard (and France’s bimetallic standard). They also talk about how the critique of Darimon relates to Marx’s other critiques of Proudhonism, why Marx found Proudhonism so concerning, and Marx’s charge that Proudhonists “want the impossible.” Andrew argues that this issue was central to all of Marx’s critiques of Proudhonism. (Part 2 of the interview will air in Episode 113. Francisco and Andrew talk about two other main themes in the critique of Darimon, labor money and directly vs. indirectly social labor.)

 
Plus current-events segment: Justice Delayed. The Injustices of the US Supreme Court decide to hear Donald Trump’s immunity-from-prosecution claim. Regular cohosts Gabriel and Andrew discuss.

 
Radio Free Humanity is a podcast covering news, politics and philosophy from a Marxist-Humanist perspective. It is co-hosted by Gabriel Donnelly and Andrew Kliman. We intend to release new episodes every two weeks. Radio Free Humanity is sponsored by MHI, but the views expressed by the hosts and guests of Radio Free Humanity are their own. They do not necessarily reflect the views and positions of MHI. We welcome and encourage listeners’ comments, posted on this episode’s page.

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