Capital Vol. 2 reading group organised by Wine & Cheese (London), 30/6, time/venue tbc.

[hallblithe]

FYI

= Capital – Volume 2 Reading Group =

In our experience, most readers who finished Capital, Volume 1 and who
start reading volume 2 with considerable excitement quickly are
disappointed. Many things which can be found in the first few
chapters of volume 2 seem to be known from volume 1 and hence one is
inclined to believe that Marx already explained those there.
Furthermore, the stuff seems to be weirdly arranged, such that some
have the impression everything is rather confused and repetitive.

Hence, we – who recently attended a rather good reading group on
volume 2 together – want to start a new volume 2 reading group to help
others to find their way through it. Facilitating this group also has
the added benefit for us that we get check how well we really
understood what we discussed in our previous group.

= Schedule =

The idea is that we meet one Saturday every 1-2 months for 6-8 hours,
so it’s like a “block seminar” thingy. We estimate that we would need
between 15-20 such meetings to go through the whole book together.
The first meeting will be on the 30 June, 2012 around noon. Venue
TBC.

= Format =

The aim of this reading group is not to cover as much material as
possible per session, but to go as slow as necessary. Questions
should be asked and answers, discussions should develop.

This is particularly important because this reading group is a bit of
an experiment: different people who haven’t necessarily read and
discussed volume 1 together attempt to read volume 2 together. So we
will have to find out whether we have something meaningful to say to
each other. Also, we will probably have to revisit discussions from
volume 1. So perhaps in the beginning we will be a bit slower still.

Speaking of pace: we do not propose to read volume 2 paragraph by
paragraph like the beginning of volume 1. Instead, for the first four
chapters we will prepare excerpts which we propose to discuss during
the meeting. So it’s like a paragraph-by-paragraph format with
selected paragraphs. For the chapters afterwards we want to switch a
modell where someone presents a chapter to the rest of the group.
This might be obvious, but this means that there is no point in
attending without having read ahead.

In particular, for the first meeting attendees should have read the
first four chapters of volume 2 (hence the early announcement).

= Edition =

We will be reading the Penguin edition which was translated by David
Fernbach.

= Venue =

We don’t have a venue yet. We will let everybody who registered know
a few weeks prior to the first meeting. Of course, we’re happy to
hear recommendations, tips, etc. for venues.

= Registration =

To attend please register. This has several reasons:

– We’d like to send attendees our selection of paragraphs for chapters
1-4 so that they can prepare.
– We’d like to send attendees some guiding questions on what to look
out for when reading chapters 1-4.
– We don’t have to find a “public venue”, i.e., a venue whose address
we can publicise. This gives us more choices.
– We know how many people to expect.

To register send an e-mail to wineandcheese@hush.com.

= Haven’t finished volume 1 yet? =

Some people asked us if they could still attend if they haven’t
finished volume 1. Of course, we will not turn people away. But we
would like to emphasise that without understanding the concepts of
volume 1 there is probably little to gain from reading volume 2.
Hence, we’d like to ask people who haven’t finished volume 1 to
indicate this (and how far they’ve gotten so far) when they register.
This would allow us to give preference to those who finished volume 1
already, if – against all odds – we are too many people.

We hope this e-mail covered everything, if not then get in touch.

Cheers,
the Wine & Cheese Appreciation Society
of Greater London
www: http://junge-linke.org/en

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