Capitalism and After: The Rise and Fall of Commodity Production

by George Derwent Thomson

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

142 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

George Derwent Thomson (Irish: Seoirse Mac Tomáis) was an English classical scholar, Marxist philosopher, and scholar of the Irish language.

Reviews

[Nacho · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great follow up to "From Marx to Mao Tse-Tung". The book exposes the different stages of historical development while summarising Marx's law of value, and the problems inherent to commodity production. The last part deals with the communal system of China, which is pretty interesting. It does so while quoting authoritative marxist figures, without getting repetitive; it also quotes from less-known sources, which is always refreshing. As a side note, I was particularly surprised when I found the term "programmed obsolescence" by the end of the book.

[Aaryan Dontula · Rating 3 out of 5]

​This was an insightful read, particularly for its clear and condensed presentation of Marxist economic theory. The author does an excellent job of pacing the arguments, building a logical sequence to show why corporate capitalism may not be the ideal economic end-state. The structure of these explanations made complex concepts very accessible. However, the book falters in a few key areas. I found several historical inaccuracies throughout various chapters that undermined the overall argument. Furthermore, the final section on socialism felt rushed and disproportionately small compared to the rest of the text. While the critique of capitalism was thorough, the book failed to address the potential downsides or historical failures of socialism, leaving that part of the discussion feeling one-sided. It’s a strong primer on Marxist thought, but it lacks the balanced scrutiny needed for a definitive economic critique.
For me in the future :
Minutes per Page: 3.02 minutes
​Pages per Hour: 19.84 pages
​Total Time Spent: 6 hours and 24 minutes
over 4 Days

[Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good explanation and application of Capital to real-world experiences of socialism. It does make the error that is found within much of Maoist literature which is the disregarding of the experiences of Central and Eastern Europe.
But all in all, it provides a good explanation of what capitalism is, where it has come from, and how relations of production have (and how they inevitably) changed. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to get an idea as a way of understanding Capital and Marx/Engels writings on political economy.