Most accounts of commodity fetishism stop at the definition: under capitalism, relations between people appear as relations between things.

Welcome to the sixth entry in the Marx in Moments series. These are three-minute reads examining key Marxist concepts in a clear and accessible way. This week, we focus on so-called primitive accumulation — Marx’s account of the violence that made capitalism possible, and the reason he insisted on those first two words.

Welcome to Marx in Surplus 05. For this entry we step back to 1837 and read a single letter written by a 19-year-old law student to his father.

This week’s post is a collaboration with Alex Hobson. You can find Alex’s work here: Class Chip. Alex is doing some very creative and interesting work, so please do swing by and give him a follow/subscribe.

Why the social brain of humanity is capitalism’s next enclosure

This is the fourth entry in the Marx in Moments series.

Welcome to the first entry in my new series, Marx in Moments. My goal is to post at least one of these each month; this will act as an accessible glossary of Marxian concepts, terms, works, life events. Each entry will be concise, introductory, and free of academic jargon. Coming in under 600 words, these will be short and simple examinations, which obviously comes with some limitations; they should be read as a starting point.

Why We Are Not Separate from the Earth.

Social Metabolism: Beyond the “Thing-ness” of the World.

This is the second entry in our series exploring Marx in an approachable manner. Our first piece explored Alienation; now, we move on to the Social Character of Labour.

Marx’s Concept of Alienation.

The Germ of a New World Outlook.