Karl Marx’s monumental work, Das Kapital, is a profound application of his theory of historical materialism to the specific analysis of the capitalist mode of production. It dissects the economic laws governing capitalism through the lens of material conditions and class relations.
Marx utilizes the base and superstructure model within Das Kapital to demonstrate how the capitalist economic base – characterized by private ownership of the means of production and wage labor – shapes the legal, political, and ideological superstructure that supports and perpetuates it.
Das Kapital meticulously examines the forces of production under capitalism, including technology and the organization of labor. It shows how advancements in these forces are intertwined with the specific social relations of production between capitalists and the proletariat.
A central focus of Das Kapital is the concept of surplus value, which Marx argues is the key to understanding capitalist exploitation and profit. He analyzes how the capitalist mode of production inherently extracts unpaid labor from workers, forming the basis of capitalist accumulation.
Through a historical materialist perspective, Das Kapital traces the historical development of capitalism from its feudal origins, highlighting the changing material conditions and the ensuing class struggles that led to its emergence as the dominant economic system.
Marx argues in Das Kapital that capitalism, like previous modes of production, contains internal contradictions arising from its material base. These contradictions, such as the tendency towards economic crises and the increasing concentration of capital, drive historical change.
Das Kapital also analyzes how the capitalist drive for profit compels the constant revolutionizing of the forces of production and the expansion of markets globally. This expansion, viewed through a historical materialist lens, shapes international relations and global inequalities.
Ultimately, Das Kapital employs historical materialism to not only understand the inner workings of capitalism but also to predict its eventual demise and the rise of a socialist and ultimately communist society, driven by the material conditions and the collective action of the proletariat.